Developmental Study - Chaney et al Flashcards
What is the background of this study?
The Skinner Box
What was the positive reinforcement in the Skinner box?
Food
What was the negative reinforcement in the Skinner box?
Stop shock
What is asthma?
A chronic condition that affects about 1 in 10 people. Even though there are treatments, some people use their inhaler wrong (particularly children)
What is positive reinforcement?
When a behaviour is encouraged by reward. Eg. giving a child a sweet for being polite
What is negative reinforcement?
When a behaviour is encouraged by removing unpleasant stimulus eg. lifting a ban on the TV because a child has completed their homework
What is the aim of the study?
To see if operant conditioning could be used encourage children to want to use their inhaler and when they do; use it correctly
What is the research method?
Field experiment and self-report because it takes place in their own environment (home)
What was the experimental design?
Repeated measures
What was the sample?
32 children (22 boys and 10 girls) from Australia aged between 1.5 and 6 years (75% of the children were over 3) - on average, they have had asthma for 2 years - they were using the Aerochamber inhaler or the Breath-a-Tech inhaler
How was the sample obtained?
They were recruited on a random basis from seven paediatrician or GP clinics - within 51km radius of Perth, Western Australia
What was the IV?
Whether the child is using the Funhaler or the normal device
What was the DVs?
The questionnaires which were designed to measure the children’s behaviour (frequency that the child Tok the medicine and any problems had with delivery of medicine) and the attitudes of the parents and the children towards medication
What was the positive reinforcement on the Funhaler?
Whistle and spinner
What was the negative reinforcement on the Funhaler?
Asthma symptoms
What was the initial data collected?
Questions about current inhaler, measure correct adherence, current frequency of medication, problems with medication, attitudes towards medication
What was the data collected during the study itself?
Parents given Funhaler to sue with instructions, and parents were contacted randomly and asked if they had used the Funhaler the previous day
What did the children do during the study?
Used Funhaler instead of normal inhaler
What was the final data collected?
Questionnaire to measure adherence, how frequently the child was medicated and parent and child attitudes to Funhaler
What was the conclusions?
The Funhaler led to increase in usage and correct usage (4 breaths per cycle). Parents also were less likely to give up and result to a nebuliser
What ethics were upheld?
No harm and we can assume there was a debrief
Why was it better to use a repeated measures design?
All the children got the benefit of using the Funhaler rather than just some
Internal reliability point
Same questionnaire, length of time using Funhaler was the same, Funhaler was the same for all children
External reliability points
Only 32 children involved - raises questions about how consistent the effect was
Internal Validity points
Socially desirable rather than true responses are possible (parents don’t want to admit that they are giving their children the inhaler incorrectly) and improved use could also be the result of novelty of the Funhaler
External Validity points
Difficult to apply to all cultures and the other age ranged, and children use the inhaler at home so this increases the ecological validity
Ethnocentrism points
All children were from Australia, will children from all cultures fringe the design of the Funhaler appealing?
How does the study link to usefulness?
Education, parenting, health sector vs limited ages, countries other illness
What is the link to Ind/Sit debate?
Indivuduall differences in child/parent attitudes towards inhaler but sit of the inhaler influencing behaviour
What is the link to the Nat/Nur debate?
Children natured into using the Funhaler
What is the link to the Free/Det debate?
Usage determined by the inhaler
What is the link to Reduc/Holism debate?
Maybe ignoring parenting style
