Generalization in operant speech therapy for misarticulation

Renewed behavior produced by context change and its implications for treatment maintenance: A review

Behavioral treatment gains established in one setting do not always maintain in other settings. The present review examines the relevance of basic and translational research to understanding failures to maintain treatment gains across settings. Specifically, studies of the renewal effect examine how transitioning away from a treatment setting could evoke a return of undesirable behavior, rather than newly trained appropriate behavior. Studies of renewal typically arrange three phases, with a response trained and reinforced under a particular set of contextual stimuli in the first phase. Next, that response is extinguished, often under a different set of contextual stimuli. Finally, that response returns despite extinction remaining in effect upon returning to the original training context or transitioning to a novel context. Thus, removing the extinction context is sufficient to produce a recurrence of the response. The findings suggest treatment effects can become specific to the context in which the treatment was delivered. This literature offers promising methods for systematically assessing the factors contributing to treatment maintenance and improving generalization of treatment gains across contexts. Therefore, the present review suggests basic and translational research on renewal provides an empirical literature to bring greater conceptual systematization to understanding generalization and maintenance of behavioral treatment.

A Framework for Generalization in Disordered Phonology

Generalization is an important outcome of treatment for phonological disorders. However, generalization often fails to occur. When it does not occur spontaneously, modifications must be made in the treatment program. In this article, a framework is provided for types of generalization that are potential results of treatment. The framework includes stimulus generalization (across materials, activities, people, settings) and response generalization (across word position, phonetic context, sounds, linguistic level). Within this framewor described which can increase the potential for generalization to occur. Guidelines are also given for measurement of generalization.

Assessment of Generalization and Maintenance in a Multicomponent Parent Training Program

This study evaluated the effects of a multicomponent parent training program which emphasized the acquisition of general (as opposed to task-specific) techniques on parents' ability to generalize learned skills from an academic task school setting to a structured play home setting. Training in behavior modification skills was introduced in a multiple baseline design across subjects (parents). The results showed that the training procedures facilitated spontaneous generalization of parenting skills from the school to the home for one parent but not for a second parent. After in-home generalization training was conducted for the one parent, both parents demonstrated a maintenance of learned skills over a 12-month follow-up period. The results of the study support the need for vigorous assessment of generalization and maintenance and the identification of specific intervention procedures and parent/ family variables that may be associated with treatment outcome.

The Application of Motor Learning Concepts to the Treatment of Children with Compensatory Speech Sound Errors

Children with cleft palate frequently present with compensatory speech sound errors, which are generally targeted in treatment. Often, treatment consists of different phonetic teaching methods and procedures that are delivered via an operant learning paradigm; however, there are other theoretical models of learning that may prove more efficacious for modifying compensatory errors. Motor learning is a teaching/learning methodology that has an extensive body of research to support its use in the acquisition and development of motor skills. Currently, researchers are using motor learning paradigms in the treatment of different speech disorders and evidence on efficacy is being collected. This paper will discuss motor learning as a methodology for treating compensatory speech sound errors in an effective and efficient manner.

Toward an explicit analysis of generalization: A stimulus control interpretation

Producing generality of treatment effects to new settings has been a critical concern for applied behavior analysts, but a systematic and reliable means of producing generality has yet to be provided. We argue that the principles of stimulus control and reinforcement underlie the production of most generalized effects; therefore, we suggest interpreting generalization programming in terms of stimulus control. The generalization programming procedures identified by Stokes and Baer (1977) are discussed in terms of both the stimulus control tactics explicitly identified and those that may be operating but are not explicitly identified. Our interpretation clarifies the critical components of Stokes and Baer's procedures and places greater emphasis on planning for generalization as a part of training procedures.

An implicit technology of generalization

Traditionally, discrimination has been understood as an active process, and a technology of its procedures has been developed and practiced extensively. Generalization, by contrast, has been considered the natural result of failing to practice a discrimination technology adequately, and thus has remained a passive concept almost devoid of a technology. But, generalization is equally deserving of an active conceptualization and technology. This review summarizes the structure of the generalization literature and its implicit embryonic technology, categorizing studies designed to assess or program generalization according to nine general headings: Train and Hope; Sequential Modification; Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies; Train Sufficient Exemplars; Train Loosely; Use Indiscriminable Contingencies; Program Common Stimuli; Mediate Generalization; and Train "To Generalize".

Enhancing generalized teaching strategy use in daily routines by parents of children with autism

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of facilitating generalized use of teaching strategies by parents of children with autism within daily routines.

METHOD

Five preschool children with autism participated in intervention with a parent within daily routines in the family's home. Parents learned to include 2 teaching strategies in target routines to address their child's communication objectives. Parent-child interactions in routines were videotaped for data coding and analysis. Proactive programming of generalization occurred by systematic selection of intervention routines and by embedding intervention in multiple routines. Generalization data were collected by measuring strategy use in untrained routines. A multiple baseline design across teaching strategies was used to assess experimental effects.

RESULTS

All parents demonstrated proficient use of teaching strategies and generalized their use across routines. The intervention had positive effects on child communication outcomes. All parents perceived the intervention to be beneficial.

CONCLUSION

Results from this study add to the limited body of evidence supporting parent-implemented interventions in natural environments with young children with autism spectrum disorder. Additional research that replicates this approach with children of varying ages and disabilities and families with diverse characteristics is needed to support the generality of these findings.

The occurrence of autistic children's self-stimulation as a function of familiar versus unfamiliar stimulus conditions

The present study was conducted to determine whether certain stimulus conditions were associated with high and low rates of autistic children's self-stimulation. Six autistic boys were assessed in situations varying along three dimensions: familiarity or unfamiliarity of setting, learning task, and therapist. Each child was observed in 10 10-min stimulus conditions, and trained observers recorded the occurrence of self-stimulation within each condition. The results of a 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA indicated that self-stimulation occurred significantly more often with an unfamiliar than with a familiar therapist. Unfamiliar versus familiar setting and task were not significant effects, and there were no significant interactions. Also, significant differences were found within each condition, with self-stimulation increasing in frequency as the sessions progressed. Finally, there was a significant and negative correlation between the occurrence of self-stimulation and correct responding. These findings suggest several treatment strategies for facilitating a generalized suppression of autistic children's self-stimulation.

Generalization and maintenance of language responses. A study across trainers, schools, and home settings

Manipulating the reinforcement contingencies in training and generalization settings facilitated school-to-home generalization of language responses. Four developmentally disabled preschool children were trained in a one-to-one school setting to point to two sets of pictures in multiple baseline fashion. Initial generalization in the presence of a second trainer in school and the mother at home was documented in both no-reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement probe conditions (in which correct responses to nonprobe items were reinforced on a VR-3 schedule). High levels of correct responding with the second trainer at school were maintained in both the no-reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement conditions, regardless of the sequence of conditions. The reversal design showed that for three of the four children, intermittent reinforcement was necessary to maintain high levels of correct responding at home. Deterioration, increased variability, and, in some instances, extinction occurred when the no-reinforcement condition was in effect in the home setting.

The modification of parent behavior. A review of generalization and maintenance

This article reviews the literature on the extratraining effects of behavioral family intervention relating to parent behavior. The review classifies generalization and maintenance into several distinct categories suggested by Drabman, Hammer, and Rosenbaum (1979). The authors conclude that only limited aspects of generalization and maintenance questions in parent training have been addressed and highlight several persisting methodological deficiencies that have hampered the development and evaluation of effective generalization programming technologies.

Acquisition of sign language by autistic children. II: Spontaneity and generalization effects

Autistic children typically do not use their language repertoire in order to communicate. Six autistic children who exhibited poor communication skills were trained to use their sign repertoire to make spontaneous requests of adults. Training consisted of imitative prompting, fading, and differential reinforcement, and included aspects of incidental teaching. The children displayed an increase in the rate and variety of spontaneous sign requests (Experiment 1). Generalization of spontaneity across adults (Experiments 1 and 2) and settings (Experiment 2) was also observed. We suggest that spontaneity may be facilitated when language is brought under the control of broadly defined stimuli such as adult attention rather than narrowly defined stimuli such as the presence of specific objects or verbal prompting in the form of questions. Finally, response generalization was observed as well (Experiment 1). Specifically, as spontaneity increased, self-stimulatory behavior decreased. This result may be accounted for in terms of reinforcer competition, reinforcer consistency, or discriminative stimulus effects.

Generalization from school to home with autistic children

This investigation assessed the generalization of verbal behavior from school to home with three autistic boys. The study attempted to expand upon previous research by Handleman (1979) by analyzing the effects of single versus multiple trainers on generalization. By the use of a multiple-baseline design counterbalanced for treatment condition, the three youngsters were taught responses to common questions in two school settings and were probed to determine transfer of learning to their homes. All three children demonstrated greater generalization when they received training at varied locations as opposed to instruction in a single setting. Results of the study suggest that manipulating the school environment to more closely simulate home conditions may facilitate transfer of treatment gains to the natural setting.

Generalization of naming responses to objects in the natural environment as a function of training stimulus modality with retarded children

Picture-cards, photographs, and real objects were compared as training stimuli in order to determine which best facilitated the generalization of naming responses learned in a special training room to real objects in the natural environments of four retarded children. The amount of transfer of naming behavior between the three stimulus modes and the average amount of training time required per stimulus mode were also assessed. Three of the four children displayed considerably more generalization to the real objects in the natural environment when they were trained with real objects. The fourth child displayed substantial generalization regardless of the training stimulus mode. No particular training stimulus mode clearly facilitated the transfer of naming responses to other modes or greatly reduced training time. The results of two supplementary procedures conducted with one child showed that: (1) training in several environments facilitated generalization to real objects in the natural environment when real objects were used as training stimuli but not when picture-cards were used, and (2) transfer from picture-cards to real objects was facilitated by training other picture-cards and the real objects portrayed by them at the same time.