Silbaugh BC, Falcomata TS, Ferguson RH. Effects of a lag schedule of reinforcement with progressive time delay on topographical mand variability in children with autism.
Dev Neurorehabil 2018;
21:166-177. [PMID:
28956673 DOI:
10.1080/17518423.2017.1369190]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Evaluate the effects of a Lag 1 schedule of reinforcement and progressive time delay (TD) on topographical mand variability in children with autism.
METHODS
Using single-subject design methodology, a multiple baseline across behaviors with embedded reversal design was employed. During Lag 0, reinforcement was delivered contingent on any independent instances of manding. During Lag 1 + TD, prompts were faded and reinforcement was delivered contingent on independent or prompted variant mand topographies.
RESULTS
Higher levels of topographical mand variability were observed during Lag 1 + TD for both participants.
CONCLUSIONS
A Lag 1 schedule of reinforcement with progressive TD increased variability across functionally equivalent vocal mand topographies for both participants. This finding extends prior literature by providing a novel model for studying reinforced mand variability in children, and by demonstrating how practitioners could use prompts and differential reinforcement to increase topographical mand variability in children with autism.
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