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| Research and Development on the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities |
| Sunday, May 30, 2010 |
| 4:30 PM–5:20 PM |
| 217B (CC) |
| Area: DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Ashley Greenwald (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Discussant: Toby L. Martin (St. Amant Research Centre, University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: The assessment of basic learning abilities (ABLA) began in 1977 as the auditory visual combined discrimination test developed by Kerr, Meyerson & Flora. Its purpose was to test the difficulty at which individuals with intellectual disabilities exhibited when learning to perform one simple and five 2-choice discrimination tasks. This test later became known as ABLA and is used in determining the complexity level of tasks that should be taught to individuals with intellectual disabilities. The difficulty of discrimination tasks is hierarchically ordered: position, visual, visual-visual, and auditory-visual. Conditional discriminations are tested in the ABLA at level 4 (visual-visual) and level 6 (auditory-visual). The speakers in this symposium will present current research findings involving the ABLA including: the teaching of a conditional position discrimination and where it fits into the ABLA, the use of within-stimulus fading to teach auditory-auditory identity matching, and the relation of the ABLA to outcomes of functional analysis. |
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| The Effects of Discrimination Abilities on Functional Analysis Outcomes |
| ASHLEY GREENWALD (University of Nevada, Reno), Holly Seniuk (University of Nevada, Reno), W. Larry Williams (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: Analogue functional analysis (FA) of problem behavior utilizes a multielement design in which behavior is measured under rapidly alternating conditions until differential responding is observed. Many functional analyses include discriminative stimuli in order to aid in participants’ discrimination between alternating FA conditions. Results of the FA sometimes display undifferentiated responding, indicating either an automatically maintained behavior or lack of discrimination between conditions. The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) is an assessment tool used to determine an individual’s discrimination abilities. Its purpose is to test the difficulty at which individuals with intellectual disabilities exhibited when learning to perform one simple and five two-choice discrimination tasks. At a critical level in the ABLA, an individual is said to be able to make a conditional discrimination, following an ‘if-then’ logic. The results of this study demonstrate the relationship between discrimination skills and responding between socially mediated conditions in a FA and further the clinical utility of the ABLA. |
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| The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities: The Role of Conditionality |
| HOLLY SENIUK (University of Nevada, Reno), Ashley Greenwald (University of Nevada, Reno), W. Larry Williams (University of Nevada, Reno), Marianne L. Jackson (California State University, Fresno) |
| Abstract: The assessment of basic learning abilities (ABLA) is designed to test the ease and difficulty at which individuals with developmental disabilities can learn to perform one simple and five two-choice discrimination tasks. The difficulty of discrimination tasks is hierarchically ordered: position, visual, visual-visual, and auditory-visual. Conditional discriminations are tested in the ABLA at level 4 (visual-visual) and level 6 (auditory-visual). However, conditional position discrimination has not been tested. This study tested individuals at ABLA levels 3-6 to determine where conditional position discrimination would fit in the ABLA hierarchy. It was found that some individuals at ABLA 6 could perform a conditional position discrimination whereas others at level 6 and those below level 6 could not learn this task even after numerous trials. A direct response-reinforcer procedure (Martin & Yu, 1989) was then conducted with those participants who did not acquire the conditional position discrimination task to determine its effectiveness in improving performance. |
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| Auditory-Auditory Identity Matching and the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities Test |
| SANDRA SALEM (St. Amant Research Centre, University of Manitoba), Lee MacPherson (University of Manitoba), Toby L. Martin (St. Amant Research Centre, University of Manitoba), Jon Viel (University of Manitoba), Garry L. Martin (University of Manitoba), C.T. Yu (St. Amant Research Centre, the University of Manitoba), Aynsley K. Verbeke (University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: The ability to recognize that two sounds are the same is a part of accurate vocal imitation, and teaching of vocal imitation is an important part of language programs for persons with developmental disabilities (DD). Using the assessment of basic Learning abilities as a model, researchers have developed a prototype assessment task called auditory-auditory identity matching (AAIM), in which the testee must identify a confederate (out of two options) who spoke the same word as a tester (Harapiak, Martin, & Yu, 1999). Performance on the AAIM prototype task correlates with measures of language skills (Marion et al., 2003). We used a single-subject, alternating-treatments design to compare extra-stimulus gestural prompt fading to within-stimulus prompt fading for teaching AAIM training tasks to four adults with DD who initially failed the AAIM prototype task. Within-stimulus fading involved gradually changing the auditory characteristics of the S-delta comparison stimuli that were presented by a computer. Results indicate that within-stimulus fading is an effective procedure for teaching the AAIM discrimination, and will be more effective than extra-stimulus fading for most individuals. Teaching the AAIM discrimination using these procedures may facilitate subsequent language training for persons with DD. |
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