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| Examining the Effects of Conditioned Reinforcement on Observing Responses |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2010 |
| 12:00 PM–1:20 PM |
| Texas Ballroom Salon D (Grand Hyatt) |
| Area: EDC/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Jessica Singer-Dudek (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: This symposium will present 4 papers related to the effects of conditioned reinforcement on a variety of observing responses. The first paper will report the effects of a protocol to condition adult voices on the numbers of learn units to criterion across listener programs, observing responses to naturally occurring changes in the environment (e.g., adults entering the room), and intervals of attending to an adult reading a story aloud for preschoolers with disabilities. The second paper will report results of a protocol to condition adult faces as reinforcers and its effect on the learn units to criterion and observing responses for elementary-aged students with ASD. The third paper will present results of an auditory matching protocol on the listener literacy of preschoolers diagnosed with ASD. The fourth paper will present results of measures of stereotypy in the presence of peers in two educational settings. Results showed that rates of stereotypy were low or nonexistent in general education settings and increased in self-contained settings. |
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| Conditioning Adults Voices as Reinforcers for Observing Responses for Three Preschool
Students Diagnosed With Autism |
| R. Douglas Greer (Teachers College, Columbia University), Nirvana Pistoljevic (The Fred S Keller School and Teachers College, Columbia University), Claire S. Cahill (Teachers College, Columbia University), LIN DU (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: We studied the effects of a Voice Conditioning Protocol on the observing responses of three preschoolers diagnosed with autism. The participants were selected for the study because they had high numbers of learn units to criteria across their listener programs and low rates of responding to naturally occurring changes in the environment, measured as observing responses. The dependent variables in the study were the numbers of learn units to criteria across listener programs, choosing to listen to a story being read during unstructured play time, selecting to listen to recorded adult voices reading stories on tape, and observing responses to changes in the environment. The independent variable in this study was the Protocol to condition adult voices as reinforcers through stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure. During the Voice Conditioning Protocol, prosthetic reinforcers were paired with audio recordings of adults reading stories. The results showed a decrease in numbers of learn units required to master objectives across listener programs, an increase in observing responses to changes in the environment, and increase in intervals of attending to an adult reading a story aloud. |
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| Testing the Effects of the Looking at Faces Protocol on Learn Units to Criterion, Objectives Met, and Observing Responses |
| Dolleen-Day Keohane (Teachers College, Columbia University), R. Douglas Greer (Teachers College, Columbia University), JACQUELINE MAFFEI-LEWIS (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: The experimenters tested the effects of the looking at faces protocol during eye contact programs on changes in learn units to criteria, objectives met, and observing responses. Conjugate reinforcement can be defined as continuous reinforcement contingent upon the target behavior. The design of this study was a multiple probe design with a time delay across children and behaviors. There were four participants of this study who were diagnosed with developmental disabilities. The dependent variables of this study were numbers of learn units to criteria and number of observing responses emitted. The independent variable was the looking at faces protocol using conjugate reinforcement. Two types of reinforcement were delivered: vocal and tactile. The results showed that conjugate reinforcement with vocalizations and tactile touch was an effective procedure to increase eye contact, decease learn units to criteria, and increase observing responses. |
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| The Effects of an Auditory Matching Procedure on the Emergence of Listener Literacy With Elementary School Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Jinhyeok Choi (Teachers College, Columbia University), MATTHEW HOWARTH (Teachers College, Columbia University), R. Douglas Greer (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: The empirical effect of the acquisition of a computer-based generalized auditory word match-to-sample protocol on the emergence of Listener Literacy was examined. Two experiments were conducted with participants who were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a self-contained classroom under the Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS®) model. A time-delayed multiple probe design across participants was used in both experiments. The dependent variables in the study were the number of learn units to criterion prior to and following the implementation of the auditory matching procedure and the number of correct responses to probe vocal antecedents along with non-related body actions. During intervention sessions, participants were taught a discrimination task which required them to match a target sound or word by pressing a button that emitted the correct response from a field that included a rotated non-exemplar. The use of a touch-screen computer technology was used and students progressed through phases consisting of finer discriminations after criterion was met on the previous phase. Results of the study are discussed in terms of the utility of this procedure in inducing listener literacy. |
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| Audience Control: The Role of Observation of Peers on the Frequency of Stereotypy for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| VICTORIA STERKIN (Teachers College, Columbia University), Jessica Singer-Dudek (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
| Abstract: Skinner states, “within a given community a speaker will show various degrees of editing in the presence of various special audiences,” (1957, p. 394). In an alternating treatments design, we tested for the presence of audience control on the participants’ frequency of stereotypy in a self-contained special education setting versus a regular-ed setting. Three students with autism, and one student diagnosed with an emotional disability were participants in the study. All students had the capability of observational learning in their repertoires of verbal behavior. Probes were conducted at random across participants and settings, and showed high frequencies of stereotypy in the self-contained setting and low to no instances of stereotypy in the regular-ed setting. The data suggest that audience control may be an important cusp in an individual’s repertoire of verbal behavior to enable successful functioning in a regular-ed setting. Future research is needed to support these findings as well as to investigate how to induce this possible cusp. |
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