Reinforcement Probabilities and Ratios Based on Baseline Probabilities - Essay Example

? Reinforcement Probabilities and Reinforcement Ratios Based on Baseline Probabilities Reinforcement Probabilities and Reinforcement Ratios Based on Baseline Probabilities Purpose Statement This study will assess whether reinforcement probabilities and ratios that result when experienced newborns are reinforced with their target story are determined by standard probabilities (DeCasper 1986; DeCasper, Lecanuet, Busnel, Deferre, & Maugeais, 1994). The prenatal experience increases the reinforcing efficiency of the target stories. The result with the reinforcer increases the chance of the newborn reacting (DeCasper, 1986). It is argued that these reinforcement probabilities and ratios that are used on experienced infants are mostly determined by the typical pregnancy conditions (Harlene, 2003). Generally, these reinforcement probabilities and ratios are determined by baseline probabilities. It is through these that newborns understand or stick to their target story. Literature review Different studies previously conducted on the target stories reveal that maternal conditions influence an infant. The immediate conditions particularly influence the resultant infant. The underlying factors have a causal effect on the infant. Many studies seek to find out the relationship between the fetus and the environment. Especially people and the environment around the pregnant mother have previously been subjects of study. Successful studies reveal an increased level of communication b between the mother and the fetus. Mostly, this communication takes place in form of what the mother takes in. however, other studies have focused on whether the speech of people around a pregnant mother have any effect on the unborn. While results revel no connection, those of the mother tests positive. Such are the baseline probabilities that the study aims to look at, and their causal reinforcement probabilities and reinforcement ratios. In line with this reasoning, DeCasper and Spence (1986) undertook a study on the influence of pre-maternal speech on the newborns’ perception of sound. The study involved the recitation of a particular speech by pregnant women in their last 6 weeks of their pregnancy. During birth, their new-borns were tested with an operant-choice procedure to determine whether the sounds of the recited passage were more reinforcing than the sounds of a novel passage (DeCasper and Spence, 1986). Results from their study reveal that the immediate pre-maternal speech influences how the newborn perceives sound. The probability of the maternal speech influencing the speech of a newborn is positive (DeCasper and Spence, 1986). There is a correlation between the two. Newborns prefer listening to their own mother’s voice to voices of other females. Nonetheless, they prefer listening to other female voices to that of the men. Further, they prefer their father’s male voice to that of other male. This shows of a silent communication between the children and the people around the mother. As they analyze the reasons for this, DeCasper and Spence (1986), they point out that the prenatal experience with their mother’s speech and heartbeat influences a newborn’s auditory preferences. DeCasper et al (1994) point out that normal prenatal exposure to maternal speech significantly influences the early speech development by the child. Their argument holds that there is the presence of women’s speech in the utero possessed by the late-term fetuses. In fact, the influence of these perceptions on the child is perpetual to the child. However, there is a high probability of the exposure to maternal speech altering the fetal speech perceptions.       For a long time now, studies have revealed that late-term pregnancies respond to sound frequently. There is increased intensity of communication in form of ultra-sound between the fetus and the mother. As such, the fetus portrays certain behaviorisms to signify they feel the communication. These studies lead to the conclusion of the existence of communication between the mother and fetus. To prove of the evidence of this communication, DeCasper & Spencer (1986) report that intrauterine recordings taken towards the end of the tem indicate audibility of maternal speech and heartbeats in the utero. However, absence of other voices for instance, the male speech is explainable through the attenuation by maternal tissue or the masking of the intrauterine sounds. This lowers the probability of the sound from penetrating to the fetus. Studies did trying to find the connection between the newborn and the recognition of the mother’s voice has proven futile. At the prenatal age, no preference takes place between the child and the mother, significantly lowering the probability of the child recognizing the mother’s voice. There is however, the influence of the old to the development of the child in their early stages of life (Hayne, 2003). However, since the fetus at the final stage of development has the capability of hearing, this forms the biggest linkage between the child and the mother (DeCasper & Spencer, 1986). According to DeCasper et al (1994), research related to newborns reveals that prenatal experience with maternal speech significantly influences the children’s perceptions of cues in speech that leads to discrimination among different speakers. Children have no choice of people they discriminate against whenever listening to different speakers. However, their maternal speech and communication potentially lead to this. As a fetus, there is a higher probability of the infant picking these cues, acquired from the mother, develops into serious discriminative elements in a speech. They also affect the certain cues that a child considers as linguistically important in a speech. Hayne (2003) argues that although people cannot recall the various things that took place in their early developmental stages, the reality is that the childhood influences people’s behaviour in their adult. In their study however, DeCasper et al (1994), argue that not only are the infants affected by the maternal speech, but the fetus too. In their study that required pregnant women to recite a specific rhyme, “the target” each day for a month and then testing done on the fetal reactions to these recordings, of the rhyme and control system, the results indicated of the existence of some form of stimulation in the fetus. This raised the probability of the fetus hearing the mother’s speech. As such, these are likely to influence the child’s speech as it gets used to the recited words. It is in line of these previous researches that this study will seek to undertake to determine the effect of probability on the newborns using pregnant women in their last four weeks of pregnancy. The main aim of this study is to determine the likelihood of the maternal speech on the fetus and the resultant newborn by the use of probability. Testing on the influence of baseline probabilities will determine the results of either reinforcement probabilities or ratios. The study will involve the recitation of a phrase by the pregnant mothers, and determining the probability of this influencing the resultant probabilities. Research methodology To complete this research, the study will use an exploratory case study. Experimental study design on pregnant woman will be used in collecting the required data for the results and the analysis of the case. Since the study focuses on determining how baseline probabilities result into reinforcement probabilities and reinforcement ratios, the most reliable method of research is a qualitative study. An experiment allows testing of the collected data to check its validity and reliability. This study as such requires the testing of the data collected and proves the validity of the data collected. Thus, statistical conclusions drawn from the data will help in determining how valid the data is from the field. There is a high bias risk, due little monitoring of the respondents. As the study will take a long time, with the respondents required to record their observations on a daily basis, the research suffers from bias as there can be little monitoring of the subjects and the progress of the study. There are difficulties in determining the validity of the data collected as a subject could chose to cook up data to avoid undergoing through the entire process. To reduce this bias however, the study will use volunteer women and those who are ready to take part in the study. This increases their level of dedication to the study and strives to carry the experiment to completion. Population of study While selecting the study population, this research will mainly focus on volunteer women who will show readiness to take part in the study. Moreover, this increases their dedication levels of taking part in the entire study to completion. Thus, a group of thirty volunteer women in their thirty-fifth week of pregnancy will be recruited for this study. Focusing on recruiting these women from one healthcare institution ensures that the subjects are not far from each other geographically. This helps in monitoring of the study progress from one central point, which is at the health institution. Additionally, the researcher could pay a random visit to the subjects and offer them any form of support necessary during the progress of the study. Thirty is a reasonable number for this study. It will allow for distribution of the collected data, and still avoid collecting too much data that could end up being useless. Procedures and material The volunteer women will be divided into two groups. Both groups will be taught how to recite a particular phrase every day. The subjects will be required to recite their specific phrase for the next four weeks, three times every day and record their observations after every recitation. The subjects will then record the date and the time of each recitation in the log form to indicate that they followed the instructions. After the four weeks, their fetuses will be stimulated with the recording of both phrases by using one as the target and the other as the control. Data collection tools During the study, every respondent will use a questionnaire comprising of both structured and unstructured questions to fill and record their observations on a daily basis. There will be an evaluation form attached to the questionnaire, where the respondents will record their progress. The questionnaire will act as a tool for recording individual observations and feelings as they recite the phrase. If a subject either skipped to recite the phrase, they will be required to record this too. Structured questionnaires allow for ease of data analysis and tabulation. They help in reducing responses that does not make sense, as they limit a respondent to the provided answers and choosing from the ones provided. They also help in reducing the level of bias in the responses given by the respondents. Data collection plan Every time a woman recites the phrase, she will be required to record the time and the date of the recitation. In case they forget to recite the phrase, they will be required to record this too in the questionnaire. How to reduce the bias Top reduce bias of the study, the research will use only volunteer pregnant women from an identified health institution. Volunteerism makes sure that the respondents remain dedicated in taking part in the study. Since the study is likely to take a month, only dedicated people and those who have interest in taking part in the research will participate. There will also be need for recording of information daily, which is a tedious exercise. Thus, the study population has to show readiness to take part in the study. In addition to the log to fill the required data of the study, there will be a questionnaire where a respondent will indicate in case they forget to recite the phrase. This helps in avoiding cooking up of data by the respondents. Data analysis After the four weeks of data collection, analysis and tabulation of the collected data will take place. Mainly, the study will draw its conclusions on acceptable simulations. Fetuses with acceptable simulations will be used in the data analysis while those that do not will be excluded from the study. Drawing of probabilities will then take place in reference to the collected data, and the simulated fetuses. References DeCasper, A., & Spence, M. (1986). Parental maternal speech influences newborns’ perception of speech sounds. Infant behavior and Development, 9, 133–150. DeCasper, A., Lecanuet, J., Busnel, M., Deferre, C., & Maugeais, R. (1994). Fetal reactions to recurrent maternal speech. Infant Behavior and Development, 17, 159–164. Harlene, H. (2003). Infant memory development: Implications for childhood amnesia. Elsevier, 23, 33–73. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&ved=0CH8QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F222560357_Infant_memory_development_Implications_for_childhood_amnesia%2Ffile%2F9fcfd50634ee50b94d.pdf&ei=-JHlUdTmEI3w0gX294HgBA&usg=AFQjCNEypEA-FLRWG8kQrWRttQ_YG8gKMA&sig2=6uyL8Vy2SlMlglrPGXMKpA&bvm=bv.48705608,d.d2k Read More