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| An Analysis of Teaching and Prompting Strategies for Children with Autism and Developmental Disabilities |
| Monday, May 25, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 126 |
| Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Julie S. Weiss (New England Center for Children) |
| CE Instructor: Dan Hursh, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Four presentations analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of various teaching and prompting strategies on the acquisition of behavior chains will be presented.
The first presentation will discuss a comparison of backward and forward chaining on the acquisition of a play construction model using most-to-least prompting with a fixed delay. The effectiveness of the 2 chaining strategies was evaluated with a multi-element design. Results showed that the efficiency and effectiveness of the chaining procedures varied across learners.
The second presentation investigated if independently established related repertoires would emerge as a single chain of behavior when an opportunity was provided for them to occur simultaneously. For all participants, the independent repertoires did occur as a single chain when the opportunity was provided.
The third presentation assessed the effects of an intervention package to teach children with developmental delays individual exercise skills in the form of yoga.. . Video modeling and parents training using graduated guidance were utilized to teach the skills. All participants acquired the chains with two participants demonstrating generalization to new videos of yoga exercises.
The fourth presentation involves transfer of instructional control to written task sets. Although there have been several investigations of the use of visual prompts with task analyses, none of these clearly demonstrated control by the prompts. Two four year old children with autism spectrum disorders have participated in this study to date. Participants were taught to follow 4, five-step instructional sets using textual prompts and a least to most prompt hierarchy. Although neither participant showed generalization across sets, the single instruction training was never required by the third set and both showed significant savings effects across sets. |
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| A Comparison of Backward and Forward Chaining on the Acquisition of Play and Vocational Skills |
| EMILY BENNETT (The New England Center for Children), Julie S. Weiss (New England Center for Children), Myrna E. Libby (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of a forward chaining versus backward chaining sequence on the rate of acquisition of a behavior chain. Three individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder participated and the dependent variable was the number of trials to acquisition for three different behavior chains: two 8-step play construct figures, two 12 step play construct figures and two vocational tasks. Each session consisted of one probe trial and 10 training trials. Generalization probes across a novel teacher and one new setting were conducted after acquisition. Most-to-least prompting with a constant delay was utilized for all conditions. Results showed that both training procedures were effective. Efficiency varied across participants but was consistent across replications with play constructs. Findings generalized across new teachers and settings. Additional data will be collected on vocational tasks. IOA data were collected for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. Procedural integrity data were taken for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. |
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| Generating Novel Play and Vocational Skills Sequences of Responding by Teaching Components: Adduction |
| KERRI P. SHANAHAN (New England Center for Children), Julie S. Weiss (New England Center for Children), Myrna E. Libby (New England Center for Children), William H. Ahearn (The New England Center for Children) |
| Abstract: Three individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder were taught two separate but related play and vocational behavior chains. Participants were then given the opportunity to combine the two related units into a longer, previously untrained sequential chain of behaviors. All participants independently generated a novel chain of behaviors for the play skills after acquiring all components. Furthermore, this skill generalized across novel play materials. Data will be collected on the vocational tasks. All sessions were videotaped. IOA data were collected for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. Procedural integrity data were collected for at least 40% of sessions and averaged 95%. |
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| Teaching Yoga Skills to Young Children with Developmental Delays with Parents as Intervention Agents |
| DEBORAH J. GRUBER (Queens College and The Graduate Center CUNY), Claire L. Poulson (Queens College/CUNY) |
| Abstract: Children with disabilities often lack the skills required to participate in physical fitness activities. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of an intervention package to teach children with developmental delays individual exercise skills. These skills were taught with yoga as the method of exercise. The study was conducted in the home environment, with parents teaching the yoga skills. The video-modeling baseline procedure consisted of presenting a videotape showing a certified yoga instructor providing verbal instructions and physical demonstrations of each step in a 24-step response chain that made up two yoga poses. The experimenter trained the parents to use graduated guidance and reinforcement procedures. The intervention was introduced in a multiple-baseline-experimental design across three participants. The graduated-guidance procedure was provided to the participant, enabling the participant to execute the correct physical alignment for each step in the response chain. Baseline data indicated correct matching of the yoga response chain occurred with no greater that 17% accuracy. Systematically with the introduction of treatment, all participants matched the response chain with 71% accuracy or better. Correct implementation of the graduated guidance procedure occurred for all three parents with the introduction of parent training. |
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| Stimulus Control by Textual Prompts When Completing Task Sequences |
| CARA L. PHILLIPS (University of Florida), Timothy R. Vollmer (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Stimulus control by textual prompts for task sequence completion might facilitate independence, maintenance, and generalization of tasks. Although there have been several investigations of the use of visual prompts with task analyses, none of these clearly demonstrated control by the prompts. Two four year old children with autism spectrum disorders have participated in this study to date. Participants were taught to follow 4, five-step instructional sets using textual prompts and a least to most prompt hierarchy. The sets consisted of independent toy play responses that could be arranged in any sequence. For each set, after initial training in a single response sequence, a novel sequence of the same responses was probed. Single instruction training followed (textual prompts were presented one at a time in any order) if needed. A novel order probe followed. The multiple probe experimental design allowed for tests of both stimulus control by the textual prompts and generalization within and across sets. Although neither participant showed generalization across sets, the single instruction training was never required by the third set and both showed significant savings effects across sets. |
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