An evaluation of choice on instructional efficacy and individual preferences among children with autism

Direct and indirect effects of and preferences for feedback during the Good Behavior Game in elementary classes

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective procedure for reducing disruptive classroom behavior. Students in three fifth-grade classes selected the rules of the GBG and then experienced the GBG with different forms of feedback for rule violations (vocal and visual, vocal only, visual only, no feedback). Following an initial baseline, the four feedback versions of the GBG and a baseline condition were alternated across sessions in a multielement design. All versions of the GBG substantially reduced disruptive behavior below baseline levels. Additionally, in one of the three classes losing the GBG produced an increase in negative peer interactions immediately following the GBG. Following the multielement comparison, we implemented a group-arrangement concurrent-chains preference assessment in which students selected one of the conditions to experience each day. The most selected condition across all classes was the GBG condition, which included both vocal and visual feedback.

Toward Efficiency and Effectiveness: Comparing Equivalence-based Instruction to Progressive Discrete Trial Teaching

Research has found equivalence-based instruction (EBI) to be effective and efficient, with recent research extending these finding to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EBI has also been compared with more traditional approaches to teaching, such as traditional lectures, reading assignments, and video lectures. However, the authors are unaware of any comparisons of EBI to other similar behavior analytic approaches such as discrete trial teaching (DTT). The purpose of the first experiment was to compare EBI to progressive DTT using an adapted alternating treatments design with typically developing adults. Experiment 2 compared the two teaching methods with children diagnosed with ASD. The teaching approaches were evaluated with respect to mastery of trained relations, emergence of untrained relations for the EBI condition, and participant preferences. Results of the two experiments found that both teaching methods were effective, progressive DTT was found to be more efficient for six participants, EBI was found to be more efficient for two participants, and overall progressive DTT was found to be more preferred by participants.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-022-00687-8.

Applied Behavior Analysis in Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Scoping Review

This manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of applied behavior analysis (ABA) on children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Seven online databases and identified systematic reviews were searched for published, peer-reviewed, English-language studies examining the impact of ABA on health outcomes. Measured outcomes were classified into eight categories: cognitive, language, social/communication, problem behavior, adaptive behavior, emotional, autism symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes. Improvements were observed across seven of the eight outcome measures. There were no included studies that measured subject QoL. Moreover, of 770 included study records, only 32 (4%) assessed ABA impact, had a comparison to a control or other intervention, and did not rely on mastery of specific skills to mark improvement. Results reinforce the need for large-scale prospective studies that compare ABA with other non-ABA interventions and include measurements of subject QoL to provide policy makers with valuable information on the impacts of ABA and other existing and emerging interventions.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-022-00338-x.

Assessing Parameters of Reinforcement on Efficiency of Acquisition: A Systematic Review

Discrete-trial training (DTT) is a common method of instruction used in early intervention amongindividuals with autism spectrum disorder and related neurodevelopmental disorders and is an effective method of teaching different skills such as tacting, listener responding, and matching. Delivery of effective reinforcers is a key component of DTT. Although general recommendations have been made for effective reinforcement delivery in DTT, no review has synthesized the available research on the efficiency of various reinforcer parameters on efficiency of acquisition. The current systematic review assessed the efficiency of various reinforcer parameters on acquisition in DTT. Results were idiosyncratic, and a general paucity of repeated measures examining specific reinforcer parameters within and across studies was observed. In general, (1) maintaining high levels of treatment integrity, (2) delivery of tangible (i.e. leisure items) or edible reinforcers in comparison with contingent praise as a reinforcer, and (3) delivery of edible reinforcers in comparison with other topographies of reinforcement were the most successful reinforcer parameter manipulations and always resulted in more efficient skill acquisition. The results of this review provide clinicians with information regarding what reinforcer parameter manipulations may be more or less likely to support efficient acquisition. The present review also provides considerations and makes recommendations for future research.

Comparing paired-stimulus and multiple-stimulus concurrent-chains preference assessments: Consistency, correspondence, and efficiency

Concurrent-chains preference assessments have been used to assess preferences for leisure activities, teaching strategies, behavioral interventions, and other protracted events. This assessment model involves presenting an array of representative stimuli (e.g., pictures or colored cards), providing participants with an opportunity to select a representative stimulus from the array, arranging access to the associated activity, and then rank-ordering activities based upon their accumulated selection frequency across trials. The predominant model for presenting stimuli has been one in which all stimuli are presented in arrays simultaneously (i.e., a multiple-stimulus model). Activities selected repeatedly are identified as highly preferred and are then sequentially removed from the array to determine a preference hierarchy. The current study compared this approach with an alternative in which representative stimuli were presented to participants in paired arrays. Assessments conducted in the paired-array format were completed more rapidly than the multiple-stimulus format with a high degree of correspondence between preference rankings generated by both approaches.

A preference analysis of reinforcer variation and choice

Reinforcement procedures are the cornerstone of behavioral interventions. Previous research has focused on manipulating parameters of reinforcement including quality, magnitude, and rate. In this study, we sought to better understand ways to implement reinforcer choice and variation, and to assess preference for these parameters. Across 10 participants with and without disabilities, we assessed preference for varied reinforcement conditions, as well as choice of reinforcers in a concurrent-chains arrangement. Most participants preferred varied reinforcement conditions and subsequently, choice of reinforcers, over a previously preferred varied reinforcement condition. Implications for reinforcement arrangement in teaching situations are discussed.

Memory enhancements from active control of learning in children with autism spectrum disorder

LAY ABSTRACT

Research with adults and typically developing children has shown that being able to actively control their learning experience, that is, to decide what to learn, when, and at what pace, can boost learning in a variety of contexts. In particular, previous research has shown a robust advantage of active control for episodic memory as compared with conditions lacking this control. In this article, we explore the potential of active control to improve learning of 6- to 12-year-old children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We presented them with a simple memory game on a touchscreen tablet, in which children were asked to recall as many of the presented objects as possible. For half of the objects, children could decide the order and pacing of study (active condition); for the other half, they passively observed the study decisions of a previous participant (yoked condition). We found that recognition memory was more accurate when children could actively control the order, pace, and frequency of the study experience, even after a week-long delay. We discuss how teachers and educators might promote active learning approaches in educational and pedagogical applications to support inclusive learning.

Comparing skill acquisition under varying onsets of differential reinforcement: A preliminary analysis

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of implementing differential reinforcement at different times relative to the onset of teaching new skills to learners with autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, we first determined the most efficient differential reinforcement arrangement for each participant. Using the most efficient arrangement, we evaluated if differential reinforcement from the immediate onset, early onset, or late onset is the most efficient for learners to acquire a new skill. Three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who have a history of receiving intervention based on the principles of applied behavior analysis participated in this study. The immediate onset of differential reinforcement resulted in the most efficient instruction in 6 of 7 comparisons. The results are discussed in light of previous studies and suggestions for future research are provided.

Reinforcer Choice on Skill Acquisition for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Replication

Providing students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) a choice of putative reinforcers during learning trials may confer advantage during skill acquisition programming. However, such advantage should not be assumed and may not be associated with the most efficient instructional arrangement. In the current study, we taught labels of common object or conditional discriminations to participants with ASD and evaluated efficiency of instruction across child- and experimenter-choice instructional conditions. The results indicated that the most efficient acquisition was observed during the experimenter-choice condition for both participants.

A comparison of song-lyric and prose self-instruction procedures for increasing novel skills in children

We compared the effects of the effects of self-instructions in the form of prose or song lyrics in the acquisition of gross motor tasks in 4 third-grade children. We taught participants 4 pairs of gross motor tasks, with one task in each pair taught with prose self-instructions and the other taught with song lyric self-instructions. Both self-instruction procedures were effective for teaching tasks; however, acquisition was quicker with song lyric self-instruction for 4 task pairs, acquisition was quicker with prose self-instruction for 3 task pairs; and similar for 1 task pair. Participants were then able to select their preferred method of self-instruction for a novel, applied skill. Two participants selected song-lyric self-instructions and 2 participants selected prose self-instructions.

Shifting preferences for choice-making opportunities through histories of differential reinforcer quality

Children of both typical and atypical cognitive development tend to prefer contexts in which their behavior results in a choice of reinforcers rather than a single reinforcer, even when the reinforcer accessed is identical across conditions. The origin of this preference has been attributed speculatively to behavioral histories in which choice making tends to be associated with differentially beneficial outcomes. Few studies have evaluated this claim, and those that have, have yielded mixed results. We provided five preschool-aged children experiences in which choice-making and no-choice contexts were differentially associated with higher preference and larger magnitude reinforcers, and we assessed changes in their preference for choice and no-choice contexts in which outcomes were equated. These conditioning experiences resulted in consistent and replicable shifts in child preference, indicating that preference for choice is malleable through experience.