A comparison of reinforcement schedules to increase independent responding in individuals with intellectual disabilities

A Tutorial for the Design and Use of Assessment-Based Instruction in Practice

Assessment-based instruction can increase the efficacy and efficiency of skill acquisition by using learner data to select an intervention procedure from a comparison of potential interventions. Although there are many published examples of assessments that guide the selection of skill-acquisition procedures, there are limited resources available to practitioners to guide the development of assessments for use in practice. This article describes a sequence of steps that Board Certified Behavior Analysts can follow to design and use assessment-based instruction in practice. These steps include (a) pick a topic to evaluate, (b) identify interventions to include in the assessment, (c) identify target behavior, (d) select an experimental design, (e) select a skill and targets, (f) equate noncritical procedures across conditions, (g) design templates for data collection, (h) conduct the assessment, and (i) use assessment results to guide practice. Included in these steps are examples and materials for how to conduct components of assessment-based instruction.

Effects of the Onset of Differential Reinforcer Quality on Skill Acquisition

Differential reinforcement of a target response is a necessary component of stimulus control transfer procedures. Recent research has further considered the timing (i.e., onset) of differential reinforcement of unprompted correct responding. To date, the onset of differential reinforcement has been inconsistently controlled in studies comparing skill acquisition programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. The current study serves as a systematic replication of prior comparative research to examine the effects of immediate and delayed differential reinforcement onset on the efficiency of acquisition for three individuals with developmental disabilities. The delayed onset of differential reinforcement required the fewest number of exposures to mastery per target across all comparisons. These findings failed to replicate those of prior research on differential reinforcement onset, possibly due to differences in participant characteristics, target tasks, or other required procedural modifications. Considerations for future research on differential reinforcement procedures in skill acquisition programs are described.

The Role of Reinforcement in Multiple Response Repetition Error Correction and Treatment Preference of Chinese Children with Autism

Error correction is a ubiquitous instructional component for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the context of alternating treatment with repeated acquisition design, we taught four young Chinese children with ASD three sets of a match-to-sample task using multiple response repetition error correction with and without reinforcement. We assessed the participants' preferences of the procedures. Results showed that the acquisition rates were similar under both conditions. However, participant's preferences varied, with three participants preferring error correction with reinforcement and one preferring the without-reinforcement procedure. The discussion addresses the results from our comparison in light of prior studies and learner preferences of error-correction procedures, as well as the research and practical implications of our findings.

Comparison of interventions to treat prompt dependence for children with developmental disabilities

Prior research has examined interventions to prevent prompt dependence from occurring during the training of novel skills. Nevertheless, the relative efficacy and efficiency of different intervention procedures may be idiosyncratic across learners, suggesting the potential benefit of an individualized assessment. The purpose of the current study was to extend the literature on prompt dependence by comparing interventions for 3 participants with developmental disabilities who consistently engaged in correct responses following prompts but did not perform tasks independently. We compared the efficacy and efficiency of 3 interventions including differential reinforcement, prompt fading, and extended response interval. Intervention results differed across participants, indicating that the most efficacious and efficient intervention for prompt dependence should be individualized via assessment.

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.

A Comparison of Prompt Delays with Trial-and-Error Instruction in Conditional Discrimination Training

Many prompting procedures exist for teaching skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability; however, direct comparisons between variations of prompt delay are rarely made. Here, we compared three variations of prompt delay (2-s or 5-s constant delay and 5-s progressive delay) alongside trial-and-error instruction. Four learners were taught a conditional discrimination task using a match-to-sample arrangement. Performances were compared using effectiveness and efficiency measures in an adapted alternating treatments design. A procedural modification, in the form of differential reinforcement, was applied to the prompt delay procedure for two of the four participants. With or without this procedural modification, results suggest progressive prompt delay may be effective and the most efficient in reducing learner errors during instruction.

A Preliminary Analysis of Procedures to Teach Children with Autism to Report Past Behavior

Deficits in reporting past behavior may have implications for a child's social development and safety. Behavioral interpretations of memory and research on do/say correspondence provide valuable strategies to teach reporting past behavior when deficits are observed. The current study examined procedures to teach accurate reporting of past behavior following a delay for two children diagnosed with autism. During baseline, both participants accurately reported past behavior when immediately probed. Neither participant emitted accurate reporting following a delay during end-of-day probes. Treatment procedures included prompting, reinforcement, and fading procedures designed to maintain stimulus control across the delay. Both participants demonstrated accurate reporting of past behavior on delayed probes, including when conducted by a caregiver.

Evaluation of a Blocked-Trials Procedure to Establish Complex Stimulus Control over Intraverbal Responses in Children with Autism

We evaluated the use of a blocked-trials procedure to establish complex stimulus control over intraverbal responses. The participants were four young boys with a diagnosis of autism who had struggled to master intraverbals. The blocked-trials procedures involved presentation of stimuli in separate trial blocks. The trial blocks gradually reduced in size contingent upon correct responding, until the stimuli were presented in quasi-random order. All participants acquired multiple discriminations with the blocked-trials procedure, although additional procedures were needed to teach the first discrimination with two participants. Following acquisition of multiple discriminations, two participants acquired a novel discrimination with quasi-random presentation of stimuli, and a third participant demonstrated discriminated responding in intraverbal probes.