|
| Skill Acquisition Criterion and Its Effects on Maintenance |
| Monday, May 27, 2019 |
| 3:00 PM–3:50 PM |
| Fairmont, Second Level, Gold |
| Area: EDC/DDA; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Erica Jowett Hirst (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale) |
| CE Instructor: Erica Jowett Hirst, Ph.D. |
| Abstract: Few studies have evaluated the effects of mastery criterion on skill maintenance, and evaluating necessary levels of initial acquisition for maintenance of skills is extremely important. This symposium is comprised of a variety of studies evaluating the effects of different mastery criteria on skill maintenance. The first study compared the effects of 80%, 90%, and 100% mastery criteria across three consecutive sessions on the maintenance of tacting skills taught with most-to-least prompting during four weekly follow-up probes. The second study compared the effects of 90% mastery criteria at 1 day versus 3 days on 1-month maintenance probes with four children with developmental disabilities. The third study evaluated the effects of fluency-based mastery criterion using a treatment package consisting of pre-exposure, a wordbank, single-response repetition, and visual feedback on the maintenance of intraverbal skills related to Alabama sex laws for three individuals adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior; mastery criteria included 100% accuracy across three consecutive days in addition to a specific rate of responding. Results of each study are presented and discussed with respect to recommendations for practice. |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Keyword(s): mastery criterion, skill maintenance |
| Target Audience: Board Certified Behavior Analysts |
| Learning Objectives: Participants will understand best practice for selecting the level of accuracy for mastery
Participants will understand best practice for selecting the number of days with accurate responding for mastery
Participants will learn how to incorporate fluency into mastery criteria |
| |
The Effects of Varying Mastery Criteria on Skill Maintenance: A Replication With Most-To-Least Prompting |
| EMILY BROOK LONGINO (Auburn University), Cassidy McDougale (Auburn University), Sarah M. Richling (Auburn University), Jessica Palmier (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: Previous evaluations have compared the effects of varying mastery criteria on the maintenance of skills taught with a least-to-most prompting procedure. Researchers found that 80% and 90% mastery criteria were not always sufficient in promoting maintenance. The present study evaluates the effects of 80%, 90%, and 100% mastery criteria across three consecutive sessions on the maintenance of tacting skills taught with most-to-least prompting during four weekly follow-up probes. The results indicate high levels of correct responding for skills taught to a 100% mastery criterion during follow-ups. For the two participants that mastered the 90% criterion target set, responding maintained above 90% three- and four-weeks following mastery. For all three participants, mastery levels of correct responding were not maintained for target sets taught to an 80% mastery criterion. Results support the use of more stringent mastery criteria in an effort to promote the maintenance of skills. Future research and clinical implications are discussed. |
| |
A Comparison of 90% Mastery Criterion at One Day Versus Three Days on Skill Maintenance at One Month |
| MONIQUE BARNETT (The University of Texas at Austin), Anna Budd (Queens College, CUNY), Erica Jowett Hirst (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale), Daniel Mark Fienup (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is a widely used and effective strategy for teaching various skills, and although many components of DTT are well established in the literature, little research exists concerning the criteria set for mastery (i.e., the point at which a skill is considered known and teaching is discontinued). In both research and practice, mastery criteria are commonly set at 80%-100% accuracy for two or three consecutive days or sessions; however, the rationale and necessity of this standard is unknown. Therefore, the current study compared the effects of 3-day and 1-day mastery criterion (with 90% accuracy) on skill maintenance at 1-month following mastery. Across two experiments that included different sets of students and target responses, we observed that both criteria produced skill acquisition and maintenance. The data suggest that some individuals may not need to have a skill tested for accuracy for 3 consecutive days or sessions prior to introducing a new target. |
| |
| Fluency and the Maintenance of Skills Related to Sex Laws for Individuals Adjudicated for Illegal Sexual Behavior |
| SALLY A HAMRICK (Auburn University ), Sarah M. Richling (Auburn University), Kristen Brogan (Auburn University), Will Davis (Auburn University), John T. Rapp (Auburn University) |
| Abstract: Previous research has evaluated the use of various mastery criteria on skill maintenance. This research has directly manipulated the accuracy component of mastery, as well as, the sessions across which these accuracy levels must be demonstrated. The current evaluation adds to this research by including a speed of responding dimension within the mastery criterion and extending this research to a unique population. Specifically, we evaluated the effects of a fluency treatment package consisting of pre-exposure, a wordbank, single-response repetition, and visual feedback on the maintenance of intraverbal skills related to Alabama sex laws for three individuals adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior. Additionally, we systematically faded both the pre-exposure and wordbank in a subsequent phase prior to mastery. We evaluated the effects of a 100% across 3 consecutive days mastery criterion on maintenance of accuracy across time. In addition, the mastery criterion included a rate of responding per unit of time component based on normative data. We examined the effects of this component on the maintenance of the speed of responding across time. The benefits of including a fluency-based mastery criterion are discussed as well as directions for future research. |
|
| |