Computer-Presented Video Prompting for Teaching Microwave Oven Use to Three Adults with Developmental Disabilities

We evaluated the use of a video prompting procedure for teaching three adults with developmental disabilities to make popcorn using a microwave oven. Training, using a 10-step task analysis, was conducted in the kitchen of the participant’s vocational training program. During baseline, participants were instructed to make popcorn, but were given no further instructions or prompts. Video prompting consisted of first watching a video clip of a step being performed and then giving participants the opportunity to imitate that step. This prompting procedure was introduced in a delayed multiple-probe across subjects design. Following acquisition, video prompting was removed and maintenance in the absence of video prompting was assessed at 2, 6, and 10 weeks. Two of the three participants acquired the task when video prompting was introduced and performed at 80–100% correct during follow-up sessions. These data suggest that video prompting may be an effective instructional strategy for teaching daily living skills to adults with developmental disabilities.     

Using Self-Directed Video Prompting to Teach Students with Intellectual Disabilities

This study examined the effects of self-directed video prompting presented via an iPod Touch on teaching four adolescents with moderate-to-severe intellectual and developmental disabilities two daily living tasks. Students were taught to wash a table using instructor-delivered video prompts. After reaching 80 % correct for at least three consecutive sessions, a system of most-to-least prompts was used to teach them to use the iPod Touch and a video prompting app (inPromptu) independently. In the final phase, students used inPromptu on the iPod Touch to teach themselves to vacuum with self-directed video prompts. Results of the study demonstrate that all four students learned to wash a table with instructor-directed video prompts, they all learned to use inPromptu on the iPod Touch independently, two students used inPromptu on the iPod Touch to teach themselves to vacuum, and a third student was learning to vacuum using inPromptu.     

Deviations from Prescribed Prompting Procedures: Implications for Treatment Integrity

The acquisition of new skills may be hindered when teaching procedures vary from previously validated approaches or contain errors. In the present study, we compared the acquisition and maintenance of response chains taught using a perfectly implemented system of least prompts and a multiple verbal prompts procedure (i.e., addition of multiple verbal prompts and failure to follow through with more intrusive prompts). Four children, aged 6–9, participated in the study. An adapted alternating treatments design was used to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of learning during the system of least prompts and the alternative system of least prompts. Results were consistent with those obtained in previous studies in that the perfectly implemented and alternative prompting procedures were effective in teaching new skills for all participants. However, the perfectly implemented treatment required fewer trials to mastery for 4 of the 5 evaluations. Response chains taught under the multiple verbal prompts condition had poorer maintenance for 2 of the 5 evaluations. The results of the current study suggest that deviations from empirically identified teaching procedures may reduce the speed with which new skills are acquired.     

A Comparison of Least-to-Most Prompts and Progressive Time Delay on the Disruptive Behavior of Students with Autism

We compared the effects of two instructional strategies on the frequency of errors and episodes of disruptive behavior of 4 students with autism. In Phase I, easy and difficult tasks were presented to determine whether the tasks were associated with differential rates of disruptive behavior. Phase II compared the effects of a least-to-most prompting procedure (LTM) to a progressive time delay procedure (PTD) on errors and disruptive behavior when difficult tasks were presented. Observers sequentially recorded instructor instructions, response prompts, prompts for appropriate sitting, and feedback statements; and student disruptive, correct, error, and no responses during 1:1 sessions. Results showed PTD produced fewer errors than LTM for all 4 students, and lower rates of disruptive behavior for 2 students. When PTD was implemented as the final phase with 2 of the students, rates of disruptive behavior associated with the task previously taught with LTM immediately decreased. Conditional probability statements indicated that disruptive behavior occurred infrequently with all 4 students when effective response prompts were used.     

The Effectiveness of Using a Video iPod as a Prompting Device in Employment Settings

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a video iPod as a prompting device for teaching three job-related tasks to a young man with developmental disabilities in a community-based employment setting. The effectiveness of the prompting device was evaluated using a multiple probe across behaviors design. Results indicated that the introduction of the video iPod was associated with immediate and substantial gains in independent correct responding with an associated decrease in the number of prompts given from a job coach. In addition, the participant used the video iPod independently. Instructional implications and future research will be discussed.     

Combining video modeling and least‐to‐most prompting for establishing response chains

Video modeling combined with least‐to‐most intrusive prompting was compared using a parallel‐treatments design to least‐to‐most intrusive prompting alone in teaching daily‐living skills in the form of response chains. Two boys with the diagnosis of autism (ages 8 and 9) participated in the study. The results showed that the participants acquired skills taught with video modeling plus least‐to‐most prompting in fewer trials and with fewer prompts than skills taught with least‐to‐most prompting alone. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of video- and EMG-based evaluations of the magnitude of children’s emotion-modulated startle response

We investigated the reliability and validity of a video-based method of measuring the magnitude of children’s emotion-modulated startle response when electromyographic (EMG) measurement is not feasible. Thirty-one children between the ages of 4 and 7 years were videotaped while watching short video clips designed to elicit happiness or fear. Embedded in the audio track of the video clips were acoustic startle probes. A coding system was developed to quantify from the video record the strength of the eye-blink startle response to the probes. EMG measurement of the eye blink was obtained simultaneously. Intercoder reliability for the video coding was high (Cohen’sκ = .90). The average within-subjects probe-by-probe correlation between the EMG- and video-based methods was .84. Group-level correlations between the methods were also strong, and there was some evidence of emotion modulation of the startle response with both the EMG- and the video-derived data. Although the video method cannot be used to assess the latency, probability, or duration of startle blinks, the findings indicate that it can serve as a valid proxy of EMG in the assessment of the magnitude of emotion-modulated startle in studies of children conducted outside of a laboratory setting, where traditional psychophysiological methods are not feasible.     

Analysis of Live Modeling Plus Prompting and Video Modeling for Teaching Imitation to Children with Autism

Previous researchers have demonstrated that training in imitation can significantly improve the learning capabilities of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that children within this population show a preference for video presentations. Video‐based instruction has been used to teach a variety of behaviors to individuals with ASD. However, only a small number of studies have examined the use of video modeling to teach initial imitation. Furthermore, there are limited and conflicting data on the effectiveness of a video modeling procedure that does not incorporate prompting when used to teach imitation to young children with ASD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate a video‐modeling‐alone procedure and a live‐modeling‐with‐prompting procedure for teaching imitation to young children with ASD. The results suggest that the live modeling with prompting procedure was more effective, and implications related to this finding are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Embedding an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in children with autism

Least-to-most prompting hierarchies (e.g., progressing from verbal to modeled to physical prompts until the target response occurs) may be ineffective when the prompts do not cue the individual to attend to the relevant stimulus dimensions. In such cases, emission of the target response persistently requires one or more of the higher level prompts, a condition called prompt dependence (Clark & Green, 2004). Reinforcement of differential observing responses (DORs) has sometimes been used to ensure that participants attend to the relevant stimulus dimensions in matching-to-sample (MTS) tasks (e.g., Dube & McIlvane, 1999). For 2 participants with autism, we embedded an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy as a DOR to increase the likelihood that the participants attended to and discriminated the relevant features of the comparison stimuli in an MTS task. This procedure was compared with a traditional least-to-most prompting hierarchy and a no-reinforcement control condition in a multielement design. Results for both participants indicated that mastery-level acquisition of spoken-word-to-picture relations occurred only under the identity-matching condition. Findings are discussed relative to the use of DORs to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in persons with autism or other conditions who do not attend to the comparison stimuli.     

Comparison of prompting procedures to teach internet skills to older adults

The Internet and information and communications technologies (ICTs) have been found to produce meaningful social interactions and greater social support among older adults (White et al., 2002 ). Despite these benefits, the Internet and ICTs are not widely used among the older‐adult population (Cresci, Yarandi, & Morrell, 2010 ). The purpose of the current study was to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of video prompting and text‐based instructions on the acquisition of three tablet‐based tasks: emailing, video calling (FaceTime® application), and searching for a YouTube? video. Both video prompting and text‐based instructions were effective for all three participants, with text‐based instructions being slightly more efficient for one participant and video prompting being more efficient for two participants, suggesting that both prompting procedures can be used to teach older adults Internet and ICT skills.     

Do strict rules and moving images increase the reliability of sequential identification procedures?

Live identification procedures in England and Wales have been replaced by use of video, which provides a sequential presentation of facial images. Sequential presentation of photographs provides some protection to innocent suspects from mistaken identification when used with strict instructions designed to prevent relative judgements (Lindsay, Lea, & Fulford, 1991 ). However, the current procedure in England and Wales is incompatible with these strict instructions. The reported research investigated whether strict instructions would enhance the reliability of identification from video. The effect of using moving rather than still video clips was also investigated. Participants witnessed a live staged incident, and attempted to identify the culprit later from police video lineups, which were run double blind. Strict instructions produced a significantly lower rate of correct identifications in culprit present lineups, but did not significantly reduce the rate of mistaken identification in culprit absent lineups. Moving images yielded fewer mistaken identifications in culprit absent lineups. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of three-step prompting on compliance with caregiver requests

Three-step prompting is a procedure commonly used in behavioral assessments and interventions; however, little research has evaluated the effects of this procedure on increasing children's compliance with caregiver requests. In this study, caregivers of children who demonstrated low levels of compliance were trained to use three-step prompting when presenting task requests to their children. Results indicated that training caregivers to implement this procedure decreased the frequency of caregiver-delivered prompts and increased compliance by the children.     

Pyramidal parent training using behavioral skills training: Training caregivers in the use of a differential reinforcement procedure

Six caregivers participated in a research study in which behavioral skills training (BST) was used within a pyramidal training model to train a differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior (DRA) procedure. Physical prompting was utilized to obtain correct responses across the identified alternative behavior. The caregivers were split into two tiers, comprised of three caregivers each. The experimenter trained tier‐one caregivers, who then trained tier‐two caregivers after meeting a predetermined mastery criterion. A multiple baseline design across participants research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of correct implementation of the DRA procedure, demonstrating experimental control across participants. During baseline, caregivers did not implement DRA correctly. Following training, tier‐one and tier‐two caregivers demonstrated correct implementation of the DRA and prompting procedure. Intervention score was (M = 96%), from a baseline score of (M = 34.6%), for tier‐one participants. Intervention score was (M = 96.6%), from a baseline score of (M = 33%), for tier‐two participants. A follow‐up maintenance probe demonstrated correct implementation of the DRA procedure with prompting across both tiers of trained caregivers.     

Using video modeling to teach siblings of children with autism how to prompt and reinforce appropriate play

This study investigated the use of video models to teach typically developing children how to prompt and reinforce appropriate play behavior during games with their sibling with autism. With 3 sibling dyads, we extended research on cooperative sibling play by examining video modeling as the sole intervention to facilitate appropriate play between siblings in the absence of specific reinforcement for skills learned in the video model. Video models included brief clips of adults playing games with the child with autism and demonstrating how to prompt and reinforce play behavior. Results indicated that for 2 of the 3 sibling dyads video modeling alone was sufficient to teach prompts and appropriate delivery of reinforcement. An increase in on‐task activity engagement was also observed for both siblings with autism across all 3 dyads.     

Age-related differences in diffusion model boundary optimality with both trial-limited and time-limited tasks

In two-choice decision tasks, Starns and Ratcliff (Psychology and Aging 25: 377–390, 2010) showed that older adults are farther from the optimal speed–accuracy trade-off than young adults. They suggested that the age effect resulted from differences in task goals, with young participants focused on balancing speed and accuracy and older participants focused on minimizing errors. We compared speed–accuracy criteria with a standard procedure (blocks that had a fixed numbers of trials) to a condition in which blocks lasted a fixed amount of time and participants were instructed to get as many correct responses as possible within the time limit—a goal that explicitly required balancing speed and accuracy. Fits of the diffusion model showed that criteria differences persisted in the fixed-time condition, suggesting that age differences are not solely based on differences in task goals. Also, both groups produced more conservative criteria in difficult conditions when it would have been optimal to be more liberal.     

LIQUID TO BABY FOOD FADING IN THE TREATMENT OF FOOD REFUSAL

In the current investigation, we identified two young children who consistently consumed liquids, but not baby food, after treatment with positive reinforcement for mouth clean (an indirect measure of swallowing) and physical guidance with re‐presentation of food. We examined the effects of an 11‐step stimulus fading procedure that involved gradually altering the concentration of liquid by adding baby food to the liquid. High levels of mouth clean were maintained in both children throughout fading, and increased mouth clean during probes of 100% baby food was obtained after conducting all 11 fading steps with one child and 6 of 11 fading steps with the second child. Negative vocalizations decreased during probes of 100% baby food after conducting the remaining fading steps with the second child. Gram intake of 100% baby food increased with both children after we completed all fading steps. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Liquid fading to establish milk consumption by a child with autism

Liquid avoidance by children with developmental disabilities is a common problem but has not been researched extensively. In this study, a 4‐year‐old girl who had autism and food selectivity was taught to drink milk through a liquid fading procedure. The feeding protocol consisted of gradually increasing the concentration of milk in a beverage she consumed 100% of the time. Intervention was implemented by educational staff in a school setting. Milk consumption was achieved rapidly without interruption to the fading sequence. Clinical and research issues related to liquid avoidance and fading treatments are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using auditory feedback to improve striking for mixed martial artists

The purpose of this study was to evaluate auditory feedback to increase the effectiveness of throwing a “right cross.” Auditory feedback, implemented by the mixed martial arts coach, was evaluated in multiple baselines across participants design with four mixed martial arts students, two males and two females, 25–54 years old. The target behavior was the percentage of correct steps in the 20‐step task analysis of throwing a right cross. In the auditory feedback procedure, the coach used a handheld clicker and make the clicking sound as a reinforcer each time the participant performed a specific step in the task analysis correctly. This process continued until all steps were performed correctly. The percentage of correct steps of the right cross improved substantially during assessment sessions following the introduction of the auditory feedback and maintained at 90% or more for all participants during follow‐up. Improvements were also noted in the social validity assessment.     

DISCRIMINATION TRAINING FOR PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES: A COMPARISON OF THE TASK DEMONSTRATION MODEL AND THE STANDARD PROMPTING HIERARCHY

A comparison was made between two procedures for teaching persons with severe handicaps: (a) the task demonstration model, which is based upon a fading procedure and general case programming, and (b) the standard prompting hierarchy, a least-to-most intrusive prompting procedure commonly used to teach these individuals. Five phases were used in comparing the procedures: pretesting, training, two generalization tests, and a 6-month maintenance test. Eight students learned two discrimination tasks by each procedure, with each task involving two- or three-digit numbers. Results showed that under the task demonstration model all 8 subjects had more unprompted correct responses (about 1.5 times as many) in training, all 8 subjects had fewer errors (about 0.6 times as many) in training, all 8 subjects had more correct responding in the generalization test with untrained stimuli in the training room, 6 of 8 subjects had more correct responding with untrained stimuli in another room, a 7th had equivalent amounts, and 7 of 8 subjects had more correct responding on a 6-month maintenance test. Thus, the task demonstration model proved superior to the standard prompting hierarchy in 29 of 32 tests of correct responding. Results are discussed in terms of implications for stimulus control training strategies.