Peer-mediated approaches to promoting children's social interaction: a review

Variant and invariant high-probability requests: increasing appropriate behaviors in children with emotional-behavioral disorders

This study examined the effects of variant versus invariant high-probability (high-p) request sequences on the performance of requests to initiate a social bid by young children with emotional-behavioral disorders. In the initial phases of the investigation, a multiple baseline design showed that the delivery of invariant sequences (i.e., high-p requests delivered in the same sequence) produced initial increases in compliance to requests to initiate a social bid to a peer. However, increases were not maintained across the invariant condition. The delivery of variant high-p sequences produced increases in compliance to requests to initiate social bids that were maintained across the variant condition. In a follow-up condition, the number of requests within the pool of the variant and invariant high-p requests were controlled. Results of the follow-up condition replicated those found in the initial condition. Implications for applied use and future research are discussed.

Redirects: a strategy to increase peer initiations

Preschoolers' verbal abilities influence their verbal interactions with play partners. Previous research has suggested that preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) are more likely to initiate conversations with adults than with peers, as compared to their typically developing peers. This study investigated a teacher-implemented procedure, redirects, as a means to facilitate initiations to peers. A redirect occurs when a child initiates to the teacher, and the teacher then suggests the child initiate to a peer, thereby redirecting the child from an adult to a peer. Four preschool boys with SLI participated in the study. The teacher training was successful in increasing the teacher's ability to redirect the children's initiations. The children consistently responded to redirects by initiating to peers, and most redirected initiations received conversational responses from peers. Generalization effects to spontaneous peer initiations following the intervention period were demonstrated for 2 of the boys.

The perception of risk over time as a factor influencing attitudes toward children with physical disabilities

The impact of perception of risk (a perception of possible psychological harm) on attitudes toward friendship with and offering help to children with physical disabilities was examined, and the stability of the perception in specific contexts, over time, was investigated. Participants were 510 children without physical disabilities between the ages of 8 and 19 years who were assigned to 1 of 12 experimental conditions in a basic 2 x 2 x 3 (Involvement x Interview x Grade) design. Results indicated significantly more favorable attitudes on helping than on friendship. Over time, attitudes toward friendship became more positive, whereas attitudes toward helping became somewhat more negative, but these effects interacted with the age of the participant and the degree of perceived risk.

Participation of children with autism and nondisabled peers in a cooperatively structured community art program

Two groups (one younger, one older) of children with autism participated in monthly art activities with same-age nondisabled peers at a children's museum. The study sought to investigate the feasibility of offering a cooperatively structured art education class for students with autism and nondisabled students, and to evaluate the effect of joint participation on the students' interactions with one another. Results indicated that both groups of children with autism were targeted for interactions from nondisabled peers significantly more often during intervention than during baseline, even though positive social interaction bids by nondisabled peers were rarely reciprocated and hardly ever initiated by peers with autism.

Effects of high-probability requests on the social interactions of young children with severe disabilities

High-probability requests were used to increase social interactions in 3 young boys with severe disabilities who had been identified as severely socially withdrawn. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of high-probability request intervention on (a) social initiations, (b) social responses, (c) continued interactions, and (d) performance of high- and low-probability requests. The students were observed in a second setting to examine generalization effects across peers who did not participate in the training sequence and settings. The results demonstrated that the high-probability requests increased the students' responsiveness to low-probability requests to initiate social behavior. Increases were also found in (a) unprompted initiations and extended interactions to the training peers, (b) unprompted initiations and extended interactions to peers who were not involved in the training procedure, and (c) generalized unprompted initiations and interactions in a second nontraining setting. The students maintained increased levels of initiations and interactions after all prompts were removed from both the training and nontraining settings.

Integrated play groups: a model for promoting the social and cognitive dimensions of play in children with autism

This investigation provides a description of a multifaceted model to promote peer play, and an evaluation of its impact on the social and cognitive dimensions of play in three children with autism. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the model application. A multiple-probe design across participants demonstrated (a) decreases in isolate play and collateral gains in more social forms of play, and (b) decreases in stereotyped object play and collateral gains in functional object play. While no symbolic play was observed in any of the participants during baseline, two participants demonstrated symbolic play in the final condition. Generalization and social validation measures indicated (a) advances in play behaviors were not limited to the play groups but observed in other contexts, and (b) were accompanied by language gains. Implications are discussed in terms of preferred service delivery models as well as of the importance of social interaction for the development of play and language.

Training supervisors in a collaborative team approach to promote peer interaction of children with disabilities in integrated preschools

Three supervisors of integrated preschools were trained in a collaborative team approach to encourage resource and classroom teachers to develop strategies that promote peer interaction of all children, including children with disabilities. The focus of classroom teachers' behaviors and the interactive play of children with disabilities were measured daily in both a training (indoor play period) and a generalization (outdoor play period) setting. In a multiple baseline design, supervisors were individually trained in a collaborative team approach using a manual, modeling, and role playing; then they implemented the approach with classroom and resource teachers. We found that after supervisor training, classroom teachers increased their behaviors directed towards children with disabilities and decreased their behaviors directed towards nondisabled children. Moreover, we found a doubling of the interactive play of children with disabilities and, for two of the three classes, an increase in the interactive play of comparison children, randomly selected by the classroom teachers. Changes in both teachers' and children's behaviors were also found in the generalization setting. The implications of the results for interventions in community settings are discussed.

Promoting reciprocal interactions via peer incidental teaching

This study evaluated peer incidental teaching as a strategy for increasing reciprocal peer interactions by children with autism. Three typical preschoolers were trained as peer tutors for 3 young children with autism. During a classroom free-play session, peer tutors used incidental teaching to obtain verbal labels of preferred toys by children with autism. A multiple baseline across the 3 target children showed replicated positive effects of the intervention. Adult supervision and assistance were then faded systematically, with resulting maintenance of increased reciprocal interactions. Multiple measures of the extent and limits of generalization suggested that 1 child increased interactions in free-play periods throughout the day, but none of the children showed increases at lunch. Teacher and peer ratings supported the social validity of positive findings.

Effects of self-evaluation on preschool children's use of social interaction strategies with their classmates with autism

This study investigated effects of a self-evaluation procedure on preschool children's use of social interaction strategies among their classmates with autism. Three triads of children (comprised of 1 trained normally developing peer, 1 untrained peer, and 1 child with autism) participated. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to demonstrate that peers who were taught facilitative strategies increased their use of strategies only after the self-evaluation intervention was introduced. Improvements in social behavior of children with autism was associated with peers' increased strategy use. Untrained peers demonstrated little change in their social behavior. Treatment effects were replicated when trained peers were asked to use self-evaluation with other children with autism during other play times. Self-evaluation procedures enhanced the use of social interaction strategies on the part of normally developing peers during social skills interventions.

A peer-mediated intervention with clinic-referred socially isolated girls. Generalization, maintenance, and social validation

Peer-mediated interventions have been widely employed with seriously impaired autistic and handicapped children to modify social withdrawal. This study extends the literature by examining the impact of a peer intervention on the interactions of developmentally normal, socially isolated girls. Two to three actual classroom peers were trained to serve as helpers to initiate and maintain interactions with the subjects. The intervention was introduced sequentially across 2 girls in a multiple-baseline design, and a within-subject ABA withdrawal design was used to assess maintenance. Behavioral observations during recess periods indicated that both children's positive social interactions with peer helpers and other classmates were increased significantly during intervention and were maintained in return-to-baseline conditions and at 4-month follow-up. Increases in positive social interactions of both subjects generalized to a second recess setting, in which intervention was not introduced. Subjects' interactions in both recess settings reached levels comparable to those of social-comparison groups of peers. Teacher and self-report ratings suggested that both girls had fewer social problems and experienced less loneliness and dysphoria as a result of the intervention.

The effects of peer social initiations on the social behavior of withdrawn maltreated preschool children

The present study evaluated the treatment and generalization effects of implementing a peer social initiation intervention with four severely withdrawn maltreated preschool children. Positive social response and initiation data were collected across the treatment (a playroom) and the natural classroom setting. A reversal design superimposed on a multiple baseline was used to evaluate the effectiveness. The results indicated increases in positive social responses and initiations across treatment and generalization settings. Follow-up data for two children indicated time and setting-time generalization effects. Teacher reports validated treatment gains.

Increasing social interactions of severely handicapped autistic children

A peer-initiation training procedure was implemented across multiple peer trainers to investigate social interactions between severely withdrawn autistic children and their nonhandicapped peers. For one subject, substantial increases in spontaneous interactions with training and nontraining peers occurred after the peer-initiation procedure was applied across two training exemplars. Spontaneous social interactions continued even after the training procedure was removed. Although experimental control was established with the second subject during training, spontaneous interactions during nontraining periods were primarily with training peers. The results contribute to an emerging data base on the social interactions of autistic and severely withdrawn handicapped children and on peer-initiation training procedures.

The effects of a classroom manager role on the social interaction patterns and social status of withdrawn kindergarten students

We examined the effects of assigning a classroom manager's role on the frequency of social interactions and the sociometric standing of three withdrawn kindergarten students. Results showed that when the three socially withdrawn students were placed in the manager's role they substantially increased the frequency of their positive social initiations during free-play time, were the recipients of many more positive and significantly fewer negative social bids from their peers, were rated more favorably by their classmates on a sociometric rating scale, and were selected more frequently as best friends by their peers. In addition, follow-up data suggested partial maintenance of treatment effects when students no longer occupied manager positions.

Peer intervention effects on communicative interaction among handicapped and nonhandicapped preschoolers

A peer-mediated intervention designed to promote communicative interaction on the part of three language-delayed children was evaluated. Two nonhandicapped preschoolers were taught strategies thought to facilitate interaction and were prompted to use these strategies during free play with three handicapped classmates. The intervention resulted in higher rates of interaction for each of the handicapped children that persisted above baseline levels after teacher prompting was withdrawn.

A comparison of peer-initiation and teacher-antecedent interventions for promoting reciprocal social interaction of autistic preschoolers

We compared two procedures for improving the social interactions of three autistic children. In a peer-initiation condition, confederates were taught to initiate interaction with the autistic children. In a teacher-antecedent condition, teachers prompted the autistic children to initiate with confederates, who had been taught to reciprocate. Using an alternating treatment design, differential effects were found. The peer-initiation procedure reliably increased the social responses of the autistic children, whereas the teacher-antecedent condition increased the initiations and responses of the autistic children. In addition, longer chains of social interaction occurred during the teacher-antecedent condition.

Increasing handicapped preschoolers' peer social interactions: cross-setting and component analysis

The purposes of our study were: (a) to train a set of observationally determined social behaviors via peer initiation; (b) to determine if effects generalized across classroom settings and to directly intervene if generalization did not occur; and (c) to analyze components of the peer-initiation intervention. After baseline, nonhandicapped preschool children (confederates) were taught to direct social initiations to the three handicapped preschool-aged students. Teachers prompted the confederates to engage the students in social interaction when necessary and rewarded the confederates with tokens. Confederates' initiations to the students resulted in increased frequencies of positive social interaction. There was no generalization to other classroom settings, and the intervention was subsequently implemented in a second and third classroom. Next, the confederates' token reinforcement system was withdrawn, with no apparent deleterious effects on the confederates' or students' social interactions. When teachers substantially reduced their prompts to the confederates, students' social interactions decreased. Finally, reinstatement of teacher prompts resulted in increases in the confederates' social initiations and, consequently, the positive social interactions of the students.