Developmental (CONTEMPORARY) - external influences on children's behavior- CHANEY

Question 1

operant conditioning

Answer 1

behavior is learnt from experiences and consequences of behavior - positive or negative

Question 2

positive reinforcement

Answer 2

receiving a rewarding or positive consequence will form and subsequently strengthen the SR connection causing the behavior to be repeated next time

Question 3

negative reinforcement

Answer 3

used whereby an unpleasant consequence is removed strengthening the SR connection and makes the behavior more likely to be repeated

Question 4

punishment

Answer 4

where receiving a negative consequence will reduce the SR connection eventually resulting in the behavior being less likely to be repeated

Question 5

aim

Answer 5

test whether use of positive reinforcement via the funhaler could improve medical compliance in young asthmatics compared to the use of a conventional asthma inhaler with no additional features

Question 6

sample

Answer 6

32 children (22 male, 10 female, meanage 3.2 years, average duration of asthma 2.2 years)
children recruited from clinics across a large geographical area - Perth Australia

Question 7

sampling method

Answer 7

random from asthmatic children who had been prescribed drugs delivered by the standard inhaler and spacer

Question 8

research method and design

Answer 8

field experiment which used repeated measures

Question 9

independent variables

Answer 9

1.standard inhaler
2. a novel device known as the funhaler

Question 10

dependent variable

Answer 10

amount of adherence to the prescribed medical regime

Question 11

pre procedure

Answer 11

comparison made between aerosal output and standard inhaler and funhaler (pilot study = making more ethical by protecting participants from harm with changes in medication)
no significant differences observed indicating that use of the funhaler rather than a standard inhaler does not compromise delivery

Question 12

procedure

Answer 12

study took place in participants homes. Children’s parents completed a structures closed question questionnaire with an interviewer about their child’s current asthma device. Questions included how easy device was to use, both parents and child’s attitudes towards medication and their compliance levels. Participants asked to use funhaler instead of normal inhaler for 2 weeks with adult supervision

Question 13

describe the funhaer

Answer 13

incorporated standard inhaler and spacer along with additional attachment which included incentive toys designed to distract children from the drug delivery itself and to provide a mean of self reinforcing technique. It has been designed that the toy module can be replaced with alternative toys in the future preventing boredom
deep breathing pattern causes toy to spin and whistle rewarding the child

Question 14

post procedure

Answer 14

after 2 weeks of using the funhaler, parents completed a matched questionnaire - (same questionnaire as the first) on the use of the funhaler to allow direct comparison with the standard device. During the course of the study each parent was telephoned at random to find out whether they had attempted to medicate their child the day before

Question 15

results

Answer 15

a number of problems when taking the medication such as screaming when the device was brought close to the child’s face or unwillingness to breathe through the device were all significantly reduced when using the funhaler
of the patients who were unsuccessful with the conventional spacer, 17 became successful with time and practice in medicating their child leaving 11 who never succeeded
when these 11 changed to the funhaler, 7 were immediately successful, 1 became successful with time and only 3 continued to have problems

Question 16

parents report child was medicated the previous day

Answer 16

standard = 59%
funhaler = 81%

Question 17

children report pleasure whn using

Answer 17

standard = 10%
funhaler = 68%

Question 18

conclusions

Answer 18

compliance to the regular inhaler was 59% compared with 81% to the funhaler concluding that improved adherence suggests that the funhaler may be useful for management of young asthmatics
the 11 parents who never succeeded medicating their child with the conventional spacer became successful in doing so when they changed to the funhaler concluding that the use of the funhaler could possibly be translated to improved measures of clinical outcome