Emergence of verbal responses using instructive feedback: A replication and extension

Teaching the Function of Auditory Stimuli Using Secondary Target Instruction

It is important for children to learn to identify safety stimuli in their environment; however, there has been limited research in the field of behavior analysis related to effective and efficient strategies for teaching these skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using secondary targets to teach tacts of visual stimuli, little research has evaluated procedures to teach children with ASD to tact auditory stimuli. The purpose of this study was to teach individuals with ASD the function of auditory safety stimuli using secondary target instruction across two different instructional arrangements (Condition 1-Single Presentation and Condition 2-Re-presentation). Sessions to mastery and total training time were used to evaluate the efficiency of procedures. The results showed that participants learned all primary targets that were directly taught and that the secondary targets emerged in the absence of direct teaching in both conditions. Results also suggested that Condition 1-Single Presentation, resulted in more efficient learning across target sets for both participants, with one exception.

Teaching Problem Explanations Using Instructive Feedback: A Replication and Extension

Instructive feedback (IF) is a teaching strategy where extra information, or secondary targets, are presented in the consequence portion of an instructional interaction. Unlike teaching primary targets, no response is required from the learner after presentation. In the current investigation, the procedures from Tullis et al. (2017, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 33(1), 64-79) were replicated and extended to include measures of maintenance and generalization. For all participants, primary and secondary targets were acquired and maintained up to 2 months. Generalization from training to naturalistic environments was observed for two participants.

A Comparison of Telehealth-Based Instruction with or without Instructive Feedback

Language delays are commonly displayed by children on the autism spectrum. To help facilitate the development of verbal behavior, practitioners often implement intensive one-on-one, face-to-face instruction. However, the COVID-19 pandemic hindered typical face-to-face service delivery and caused practitioners to assess alternative approaches to facilitate clients' continued progress. Instructive feedback (IF) is one teaching strategy to enhance instruction or make it more efficient. During this teaching procedure, instructors provide formal teaching of target responses and embed demonstrations of secondary target responses within sequences of instruction. In the current study, we investigated the efficacy of IF provided within telehealth instruction. Four participants on the autism spectrum participated in the study. Participants received two forms of telehealth instruction that targeted speaker-responding. The first form consisted of discrete trial instruction (DTI), and the second form combined DTI with IF. These results indicate that both forms of instruction improved speaker-responding of primary targets for all participants. Additionally, a secondary analysis of secondary targets indicated that two of the four participants acquired some secondary targets. These results suggest that including IF within DTI might be beneficial for some participants receiving DTI via telehealth.

The Use of Instructive Feedback to Promote Emergent Tact and Intraverbal Control: A Replication

Instructive feedback (IF) involves incorporating additional acquisition targets into skill-acquisition programs. A recent study by Frampton and Shillingsburg (2020) found that IF led to emergent verbal operants with two elementary-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study replicated Frampton and Shillingsburg with two children with ASD. Therapists conducted sessions of mastered listener-by-name trials (e.g., "Show me otter," with pictures of otter, dog, and elephant) with IF statements for features of the target stimuli (e.g., "It lives in rivers.") embedded during the consequence portion of the trial. We evaluated the acquisition of secondary targets and emergent responses using a concurrent multiple baseline across sets design. We observed increased correct responding for secondary targets and emergent responses for all three sets of stimuli with one participant. The other participant emitted correct responses for secondary targets and emergent operants with the first set but not with the other two sets of stimuli. Results suggested that IF can lead to emergent verbal operants, but the extent of emergence may be idiosyncratic.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40616-022-00171-y.