Chaney et al. (2004): developmental
aim
Chaney wanted to find out if the principle of reinforcement could be applied in a health setting: will rewards increase the use of an inhaler?
sample
32 children from Australia aged between 1.5 and 6 years, the mean age was 3.3 years. 22 boys and 10 girls with an average duration of having asthma for 2.2 years.
sampling technique
opportunity- they were contacted by their GP
iv- change of inhaler
dv- changed in use of and attitude towards the inhaler
design- repeated measures
controls- used the same inhalers
procedure
parents of children who had asthma and who were using the standard aero chamber or breath-a-tech inhalers were recruited by their GP or paediatrician.
Parents were given a questionnaire to answer about their current inhaler which included a consent form for them to sign.
They were given the funhaler to use for 2 weeks with instructions that parents had to use it with the child. the funhaler was designed to intensities the children to make them use their inhaler more frequently to manage the asthma.
results
percentage of children who had used their inhaler the day before: normal device- 59% funhaler- 81%
percentage of children who achieved 4 or more breath cycles per day: normal device- 50% funhaler- 80%
percentage of parents always successfully medicating child: normal device- 10% funhaler- 73%
conclusions
from the questionnaires, it would appear that the funhaler led to an increase in use and correct use.
parents also tended to be less likely to give up and resort to a nebuliser if they were using the funhaler.
method- field experiment