THE EFFECTS OF RESPONSE INTERRUPTION AND REDIRECTION AND SERTRALINE ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY

Although response interruption and redirection (RIRD) has been shown to be successful in reducing vocal stereotypy, recent reports have suggested that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may also reduce these behaviors. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the effects of RIRD with and without sertraline on automatically maintained vocal stereotypy of a 4‐year‐old boy with autism. Results suggested that vocal stereotypy decreased when RIRD was implemented and that sertraline did not affect the participant's vocal stereotypy.     

THE EFFECTS OF MATCHED STIMULATION AND RESPONSE INTERRUPTION AND REDIRECTION ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY

Stereotypy has been classified as repetitive behavior that does not serve any apparent function. Two procedures that have been found to reduce rates of vocal stereotypy effectively are response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and noncontingent access to matched stimulation (MS). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of RIRD alone, MS alone, and MS combined with RIRD. One participant's results suggested similar suppressive effects on vocal stereotypy across treatment conditions. For the second participant, a slightly greater suppression of stereotypy was associated with MS + RIRD. In addition, both participants emitted a greater frequency of appropriate vocalizations in conditions with RIRD. Data suggest that the addition of MS might facilitate the implementation of RIRD in applied settings.     

EFFECTS OF NONCONTINGENT MUSIC ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY AND TOY MANIPULATION IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Noncontingent music has been shown to reduce engagement in vocal stereotypy in children with autism spectrum disorders, but its effects on appropriate collateral behavior remain unknown. Given that noncontingent music is typically implemented during periods of free play, clinicians may be concerned with the effects of the intervention on toy manipulation. Thus, we examined the immediate and subsequent effects of noncontingent music on engagement in vocal stereotypy and toy manipulation in four children with autism spectrum disorders by using a three‐component multiple schedule combined with a multi‐element design. The results suggest that noncontingent music (i) reduced immediate engagement in vocal stereotypy for three of four participants, (ii) never increased subsequent engagement in vocal stereotypy, and (iii) produced idiosyncratic effects on immediate and subsequent engagement in toy manipulation for two participants. The clinical implications of the results are discussed in terms of improving the treatment of vocal stereotypy using noncontingent music. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AN EVALUATION OF GENTLE TEACHING AND VISUAL SCREENING IN THE REDUCTION OF STEREOTYPY

Gentle teaching and visual screening techniques have been used to control severe behavior problems in persons with mental retardation. An alternating treatments design was used to compare gentle teaching, visual screening, and a task-training condition in the reduction of the high-level stereotypy of 3 persons with mental retardation. Following a baseline phase, a task-training condition using standard behavioral techniques was implemented to establish the effects of training the subjects on the tasks. Results showed a modest decrease in stereotypy. This phase was followed by an alternating treatments phase in which visual screening, gentle teaching, and baseline conditions were compared. Both procedures were superior to the control condition in reducing stereotypic behavior, with visual screening being more effective than gentle teaching. When compared with data from the prior phase, gentle teaching was found to be more effective than task training for 2 subjects but less effective for the 3rd, whose stereotypy increased during gentle teaching. Two succeeding phases in which visual screening was implemented across two and then all three daily conditions reduced stereotypy further to near-zero levels. An additional phase with 1 subject demonstrated that the treatment effects of visual screening were easily replicated across therapists. Mixed and idiosyncratic changes in collateral behaviors occurred. For example, “bonding,” the goal of gentle teaching, occurred at the same low levels under both treatments, contrary to the predictions of gentle teaching's proponents. The results indicate that gentle teaching may not be the universal treatment of choice for stereotypy its proponents suggest, and that it requires further empirical evaluation.     

A STIMULUS CONTROL PROCEDURE TO DECREASE MOTOR AND VOCAL STEREOTYPY

A changing criterion design was used to examine the effects of two stimuli (a green card and a red card), conditioned via discrimination training, on reducing motor and vocal stereotypy in a youngster with autism while he looked at books. During discrimination training, motor and vocal stereotypy was not interrupted in the presence of a green stimulus, but was interrupted in the presence of a red stimulus using manual guidance and appropriate behavior was reinforced. After the participant demonstrated successful discrimination of the stimuli (i.e., the absence of stereotypy in the presence of a red stimulus and the engagement in stereotypy in the presence of a green stimulus), intervention began. During intervention, upon meeting criterion for latency to engage in motor and vocal stereotypy in the presence of the red stimulus for a target duration, the participant was provided access to the green stimulus, which signaled that motor and vocal stereotypy would not be interrupted. The criterion latency to engage in stereotypy in the presence of the red stimulus was systematically increased. Simultaneously, the duration of access to the green stimulus was systematically decreased. The red and green stimuli were faded from poster boards to colored 10 × 10 cm cards, and stimulus control was generalized to the participant's classroom and to a community setting (i.e., public library). Results are discussed in terms of discrimination training as a useful intervention for reducing motor and vocal stereotypy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE EFFECTS OF RESPONSE INTERRUPTION AND REDIRECTION (RIRD) AND DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY AND APPROPRIATE VOCALIZATIONS

The relation between contextually appropriate vocalizations (AV) and vocal stereotypy (VS) has yet to be established within the response interruption and redirection (RIRD) literature. RIRD may promote AV by suppressing VS and/or by functioning as incompatible responses. The occurrence of VS and AV was assessed during baseline, RIRD alone, and RIRD combined with a differential reinforcement system for AV (RIRD + DRI) for a 5‐year‐old child with autism. Results showed an increase in AV once RIRD was implemented and further increases in AV and decreases in stereotypy when the token system of reinforcement for AV was implemented. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN AN EVALUATION-INTERACTION ANALOGUE1

Forty men were selected from a larger pool of 235 college students who had completed three questionnaires designed to measure social competence. Twenty high socially competent and 20 low socially competent college men were given either positive or negative feedback by a woman confederate in a five-minute dyadic interaction. The confederate made either four all-positive or all-negative statements on the impression she was forming about the men during the interaction. Measures were taken of the amount of time the men spoke, the latency of their response to the confederate's statements, and the number of topics and topic changes used during the interaction. Judgements were also made on the men's physical attractiveness and social skill. Finally, the men's verbal reactions to the confederate statements were content analyzed for direction (self, confederate, or other) and valence (positive, negative, or neutral). A 2-by-2-by-4 (competence by feedback by statements) ANOVA indicated that subjects differed over trials (statements) in their reaction latencies as a function of their competence level and feedback: low competent men took considerably longer to react to the confederate's negative feedback than did men in other conditions. There were no differences among groups on the amount of conversation time or number of topics and topic changes. High competent men were judged to be more attractive and more socially skilled than low competent men. Content analysis revealed that high competent and low competent men did not differ in their verbal responses when receiving positive feedback. During negative feedback, however, high competent men employed a wider range of responses than low competent men. These findings suggest that high and low socially competent men may differ in their responses to evaluative feedback such that high competent men are both quicker to respond and have a broader repertoire of response than do low competent men.     

THE UTILITY OF ASSESSING MUSICAL PREFERENCE BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION OF NONCONTINGENT MUSIC TO REDUCE VOCAL STEREOTYPY

We conducted a modified paired‐choice preference assessment and used a multielement design to examine the effects of noncontingent access to high‐ and low‐preference music on vocal stereotypy exhibited by children with autism. For 3 of the 4 participants, high‐preference music (a) produced lower levels of vocal stereotypy than low‐preference music and (b) reduced vocal stereotypy when compared to a no‐interaction condition. Results underscore the potential importance of assessing musical preference prior to using noncontingent music to reduce vocal stereotypy.     

A BRIEF COMPONENT ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL TREATMENT PACKAGES IN AN OUTPATIENT CLINIC SETTING WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to develop outpatient clinic assessments that allowed us to assess multiple treatment variables, produce relatively quick effects, and isolate active treatment components. Assessment began by evaluating a treatment package consisting of antecedent and consequence variables followed by a component analysis to determine the separate effects of the treatment variables. Three examples of the findings are presented.     

A BRIEF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AGGRESSIVE AND ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR IN AN OUTCLINIC SETTING

We conducted a brief functional analysis to identify maintaining variables for aggressive behavior and an alternative replacement response during a 90-min outpatient evaluation of 3 individuals with severe handicaps. During the initial analogue assessment, which focused on identifying maintaining contingencies for aggressive behavior, each participant displayed a substantially greater frequency of aggressive behavior during one condition than during any other. The contingency that produced the highest percentage of aggressive behavior was then presented for the occurrence of a specific alternative behavior (a mand). During this contingency reversal phase, each participant displayed a substantial reduction in aggressive behavior and a substantial increase in alternative behavior, thus providing a direct analysis of the equivalency of the contingency for maintaining either behavior.     

USER ACCEPTANCE OF PEER APPRAISALS IN AN INDUSTRIAL SETTING

A survey of 218 industrial employees who had used a peer evaluation system for over a year found a higher degree of user acceptance than that reported in previous research. Users were significantly more favorable in their attitudes toward peer appraisals when the appraisals were used for developmental rather than evaluative purposes. Favorable user reactions were positively associated with the satisfaction that employees expressed with prior peer ratings and with the amount of leniency perceived in the peer rating process. User reactions were negatively associated with perceived friendship bias and years of company experience. No relationship was found between peer or self-ratings of performance and reactions to the peer appraisal process.     

READING-RELATED BEHAVIOR IN AN OPEN CLASSROOM: EFFECTS OF NOVELTY AND MODELLING ON PRESCHOOLERS1

Eight preschool children were exposed initially to an unstructured (open) classroom in which, among other objects, a dozen different books were continuously available. Samples of the subjects' behavior over several weeks documented a very low frequency of reading-related activity (attention to books). Introduction of novel books into the classroom increased some children's reading-related behavior, but adults who modelled reading by reading aloud produced larger and more stable increases of such behavior. There was also a relative increase in frequency of independent and a relative decrease in mutual-peer reading-related activity, possibly as a result of modelling. The study calls attention to the need to evaluate the open-classroom setting in a manner compatible with the experimental analysis of behavior in other applied settings—a manner that is also consistent with the real aims of open education.     

USE OF SOCIAL-SKILLS TRAINING IN THE TREATMENT OF EXTREME ANXIETY AND DEFICIENT VERBAL SKILLS IN THE JOB-INTERVIEW SETTING

A 30-year-old recent college graduate, exhibiting extreme anxiety and deficient verbal skills in job interviews, was treated with a social-skills training procedure that included instructions, modelling, behavior rehearsal, and videotape feedback. Three target behaviors—focused responses, overt coping statements, and subject-generated questions—were presented using a multiple-baseline design. Galvanic skin-response activity was monitored during pre- and posttraining in vivo job interviews. In addition, independent judges unobstrusively rated the subject's social-communicative behaviors in his temporary work-setting before and after training. Training resulted in expected changes for all three target behaviors and a decrease in the rate of speech disturbances. Physiological data supported the subject's report that training enabled him to deal with his anxiety more effectively during job interviews. Training was found to generalize to novel interview questions and different interviewers. Furthermore, unobtrusive measures of eye contact, fluency of speech, appropriateness of verbal content, and composure supported the subject's report that training generalized to his daily social interactions on the job.     

READING IN VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS: AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ READING ABILITY AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

The study investigated the reading ability and classroom performance of vocational students enrolled in the second year of study in auto mechanics, carpentry, electronics, graphics, and masonry. Performance on the California Achievement Test showed average reading achievement for electronics students and below average reading achievement for students in the remaining vocational areas. Students’ ability to read their vocational textbook was measured by a cloze task, with auto mechanics students showing an adequate level of comprehension for instruction. Carpentry, graphics, and masonry students showed performance below instructional level. Significant differences were found in reading achievement between electronics students and the other four areas, and between auto mechanics and masonry. Vocational students in the present sample represented, to some extent, separate groups for reading achievement rather than the traditional view of homogeneity across vocational subjects. Teachers’ evaluations of students’ classroom performance showed statistically significant correlations with textbook reading ability in only two subjects, auto mechanics and carpentry. Correlations suggested that success may not always be dependent on the ability to comprehend the textbook, and that the vocational teachers sampled may not have placed a high value on reading ability as an indicator of competence in a vocational subject.