Association for Behavior Analysis International

This symposium will present some of the latest research that utilizes technology in the form of videos and iPads with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The first study evaluated the speed of acquisition and level of generalization of tacts across three different stimulus modes: picture-flashcard, video clip, and 3D object. Results indicated that two of the three participants learned tacts slightly faster when using the video clip mode compared to the other two modes. The second study evaluated if participants engaged in higher rates of problem behavior when using traditional materials or an iPad to complete school work. Results indicated that one participant only engaged in problem behavior when using traditional materials and all three participants chose to do work on the iPad when provided a choice between the two materials. Implications from the results for both studies will be discussed in detail.

Labeling everyday objects and actions is a foundational skill for the development of language (Sundberg & Partington, 1998) which is vital for reading comprehension and proficiency in vocal communication (Wood, 2001). Tacting is a complex task that encompasses objects or events with arbitrary and particular names (Greer, Yuan, & Gautreux, 2005). This study evaluated the speed of acquisition and level of generalization of tacts across three different stimulus modes: picture-flashcard, video clip, and 3D object. Three young children diagnosed with autism participated in this study. The acquisition of tacts was evaluated during Discrete Trial Training sessions (DTT). Two of the three participants learned the tacts more rapidly in the video clip condition in contrast with the picture condition. All three participants generalized the three tacts learned through a specific stimulus mode to the remaining stimulus modes. One week after the generalization test, all participants generalized to all novel 3D objects. The use of video clips to teach tacts to children with autism may be a useful method for teachers or instructors who do not have easy access to a variety of settings, as well as for the development of verbal behavior teaching programs.

Tablets are being incorporated into interventions with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. So far research has focused mainly on academics and communication, but only one study has evaluated using tablets to decrease escape maintained behaviors. The purpose of this study was to replicate the effects of the study by Neely et al. (2013) and also determine if the tablet served as a reinforcer for three participants with escape maintained behaviors. A multiple baseline with an alternating treatment design was utilized in the first phase in which academic work was completed on either traditional materials or the tablet. The following phases for each participant were dependent on the prior phase, with a final choice phase. All participants showed lower levels of problem behaviors and higher levels of compliance when tablets were introduced contingent upon completing work. For all participants, the tablet was chosen 100% of the time, and two participants had 100% accuracy and compliance while using the tablet.