A parametric analysis of errors of commission during discrete-trial training

We investigated the effects of systematic changes in levels of treatment integrity by altering errors of commission during error-correction procedures as part of discrete-trial training. We taught 3 students with autism receptive nonsense shapes under 3 treatment integrity conditions (0%, 50%, or 100% errors of commission). Participants exhibited higher levels of performance during perfect implementation (0% errors). For 2 of the 3 participants, performance was low and showed no differentiation in the remaining conditions. Findings suggest that 50% commission errors may be as detrimental as 100% commission errors on teaching outcomes.     

Effects of treatment‐integrity failures on a response‐cost procedure

Effects of incorrect or partial implementation (poor treatment integrity) on response cost are largely unknown. We evaluated reduced treatment integrity during response cost on rates of 2 concurrently available responses. College students earned points by clicking on either a black circle or a red circle on a computer screen. Experiment 1 compared 2 types of treatment‐integrity failures (omission and commission errors) across 2 levels of integrity (20% and 50%). Compared to 100% integrity conditions, omission errors did not suppress responding to the same extent, and commission errors reduced target responding but also decreased rates of alternative behavior. Experiment 2 compared the effects of 20% and 50% omission errors within subjects. Implementation at 50% integrity adequately suppressed responding, but treatment effects were lost at 20% integrity. There may be a critical level at which response cost must be implemented to suppress responding, which has important implications for application.     

Effects of stimulus presentation order during auditory–visual conditional discrimination training for children with autism spectrum disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder are typically taught conditional discriminations using a match‐to‐sample arrangement. Consideration should be given to the temporal order in which antecedent stimuli (the sample and comparison stimuli) are presented during match‐to‐sample trials, as various arrangements have been used in the extant literature. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of four stimulus presentation orders on the acquisition of auditory–visual conditional discriminations. The study included participants from a clinically relevant population (three children with autism spectrum disorder), employed clinically relevant teaching procedures, and included two presentation formats not included in previous comparison evaluations (simultaneous and sample‐first with re‐presentation conditions). Results were found to be learner‐specific; that is, a different stimulus presentation format was most efficient for each participant. We provide suggestions to evaluate stimulus control topographies and enhance experimental control in match‐to‐sample arrangements.     

The use of mixed modeling to evaluate the impact of treatment integrity on learning

Treatment integrity, or the degree to which an intervention is implemented as intended, is a critical feature of skill acquisition tasks. Single‐case design consistently demonstrates that low treatment integrity slows or inhibits learning, but the relative impact of different types of instructional errors, or the presence of multiple errors, is less clear. The present study utilized a multilevel modeling approach to evaluate the impact of type of error (omission versus omission and commission) and error component (reinforcer delivery versus feedback) on learning. Findings revealed that learning outcomes worsened based on the type of error and as the complexity of errors increased; more specifically, participants performed better when only a single type of error occurred and when only a single error component was manipulated. Additionally, individual characteristics contributed to learning outcomes, highlighting the use of multilevel modeling as a helpful tool to supplement single‐case design. The differential impact of integrity errors on learning may be due to timing of errors (i.e., commission errors more likely to occur early in learning) or how errors affect reinforcement schedule versus discriminative control.     

When do errors in reinforcer delivery affect learning? A parametric analysis of treatment integrity

Treatment integrity is the extent to which components of an intervention are implemented as intended (Gresham, 1989). Recent behavior-analytic literature has begun to evaluate the effects of reduced-treatment integrity on the efficacy and efficiency of skill-acquisition interventions. This study extended the current literature on the effects of errors of omission and commission of reinforcer delivery by replicating and extending Hirst and DiGennaro Reed (2015). Using a randomized-control group design, we compared undergraduate student participants' acquisition of conditional discriminations in a parametric analysis of different error values. A computer program erred in reinforcer delivery on 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 50% of trials. The purpose of the current study was to identify which levels of reduced integrity slowed or prevented acquisition. Our data replicated the findings of Hirst and DiGennaro Reed, and extended parametric analyses by identifying that errors in reinforcer delivery occurring on 15% or fewer trials (i.e., 85% integrity) were unlikely to prevent participants' responding from meeting the mastery criterion. These results could inform future research on how treatment-integrity errors change behavior-analytic procedures and the effects on skill acquisition for consumers of applied behavior analysis.     

A FURTHER EVALUATION OF PICTURE PROMPTS DURING AUDITORY‐VISUAL CONDITIONAL DISCRIMINATION TRAINING

This study was a systematic replication and extension of Fisher, Kodak, and Moore (2007 ), in which a picture prompt embedded into a least‐to‐most prompting sequence facilitated acquisition of auditory‐visual conditional discriminations. Participants were 4 children who had been diagnosed with autism; 2 had limited prior receptive skills, and 2 had more advanced receptive skills. We used a balanced design to compare the effects of picture prompts, pointing prompts, and either trial‐and‐error learning or a no‐reinforcement condition. In addition, we assessed the emergence of vocal tacts for the 2 participants who had prior tact repertoires. Picture prompts enhanced acquisition for all participants, but there were no differential effects on tact emergence. The results support a generality of the effect reported by Fisher et al. and suggest that a variety of learners may benefit from the incorporation of picture prompts into auditory‐visual conditional discrimination training.     

Establishing initial auditory‐visual conditional discriminations and emergence of initial tacts in young children with autism spectrum disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display impaired listener skills, and few studies have evaluated procedures for establishing initial auditory‐visual conditional discrimination skills. We developed and evaluated a treatment package for training initial auditory‐visual conditional discriminations based on the extant research on training such discriminations in children with ASD with at least some preexisting skills in this area. The treatment package included (a) conditional‐only training, (b) prompting the participant to echo the sample stimulus as a differential observing response, (c) prompting correct selection responses using an identity‐match prompt, (d) using progressively delayed prompts, and (e) repeating trials until the participant emitted an independent correct response. Results indicated all participants mastered all listener targets, and the two participants for whom we tested the emergence of corresponding tacts showed mastery of most tacts without direct training. We discuss these results relative to prior research on listener skills and tacts.     

Error correction in discrimination training for children with autism

Three procedures for correcting errors made during discrimination training were examined: error statement (saying ‘no’), modeling the correct response, and No Feedback. Six children with autism (age 3–7 years) were taught to match words to pictures with each of the three procedures, and the number of trials to mastery was compared across conditions. Results varied across participants. Two participants performed as well with no feedback as they did with an error correction procedure; two acquired skills slightly more quickly with an error correction procedure than with no feedback, but showed no difference between error correction procedures; one did best with error statement; and one did best with modeling. Results indicate that the choice of error correction procedure can have a large effect on rate of skill acquisition but that the optimal procedure may vary across individuals. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equivalence‐based instruction to establish a textual activity schedule in an adult with Down syndrome

Transfer of control from picture to text‐based activity schedules has been shown to occur following conditional discrimination training in children with autism. This study extended this research by evaluating if conditional discrimination training could promote transfer of control in an adult with Down syndrome. The participant was taught to select photographs and pictures of kitchen tools when provided with dictated names. Then, he completed a text‐based activity schedule, matched printed words to photographs, and orally named printed words without direct training.     

Effect of video self‐monitoring on procedural integrity

A video self‐monitoring treatment package was used to evaluate the procedural integrity of staff implementing behavioral guidelines for one child with autism. Staff members with low procedural integrity scores were asked to participate. The treatment package incorporated an implementation video which reviewed the relevant behavioral guidelines and a procedural integrity monitoring system. Each participant was taught to score a pre‐training video, which highlighted components of implementing behavioral guidelines, with a procedural integrity tool denoting correct implementation of the procedures. The participant then scored their own baseline video using a similar tool constructed to highlight the target student's behavior plan. Participant scores were compared to experimenter scores and verbal feedback was given by the experimenter if the scores varied. Results showed increased procedural integrity implementing the behavior guidelines from baseline to 100% implementation for two out of three participants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing long‐term maintenance of staff performance following behavior skills training in a home‐based setting

We used a multiple baseline across participant design to evaluate the effects of behavior skills training on teaching three behavior therapists to implement discrete trial teaching (DTT) and evaluate the long‐term maintenance of skills acquired through behavioral skills training. For participants whose skills did not maintain, the authors evaluated an independent self‐evaluation procedure on their performance. Following DTT implementation training, maintenance probes were assessed at 2‐, 4‐, 6‐, and 8‐week follow‐ups. The results demonstrated that one participant maintained 100% procedural integrity (PI) through all follow‐ups, one participant decreased below mastery criterion at the 2‐week follow‐up, and one participant dropped below mastery criterion at the 4‐week follow‐up. Those participants that demonstrated decreased accuracy of implementation of DTT programs and were taught to implement a self‐evaluation procedure. Following self‐evaluation, PI maintained for up to 7 weeks for one participant. Our results suggest that if PI does not maintain, self‐evaluation may be a supplementary intervention to increase and maintain PI of new employees.     

Emergence of Third-Order Conditional Discriminations from Learning Discriminations with Unrelated Stimuli

The Psychological Record - This study explored learning and generalization of a third-order conditional discrimination. Two 8-year-old children learned two auditory–visual conditional...     

Errors of Omission and Commission during Alternative Reinforcement of Compliance: The Effects of Varying Levels of Treatment Integrity

We conducted two experiments to evaluate the effects of errors of omission and commission during alternative reinforcement of compliance in young children. In Experiment 1, we evaluated errors of omission by examining two levels of integrity during alternative reinforcement (20 and 60 %) for child compliance following no treatment (baseline) versus treatment at full (i.e., 100 %) integrity. Results indicated that compliance varied according to the level of integrity in place. In addition, compliance in the 60 % integrity condition was high and stable when it followed baseline, but was substantially lower for one participant and slightly lower for a second participant when it followed the full integrity condition. In Experiment 2, we evaluated errors of commission. For three participants, we compared treatment at full integrity to a condition in which errors of commission were made on every trial (i.e., 0 % integrity). For one of these three participants, we also compared treatment at full integrity to baseline and to a condition in which errors of commission were made on 50 % of trials. Results of all four evaluations again indicate that compliance varied according to the level of integrity in place: compliance was low in both the 0 and 50 % integrity conditions, regardless of the preceding condition. These results suggest that during alternative reinforcement of compliance, the effect of occasional errors of omission may depend on the immediately preceding context but that errors of commission are more detrimental.     

Emergent simple discrimination established by indirect relation to differential consequences

Three experiments examined a discrimination training sequence that led to emergent simple discrimination in human subjects. The experiments differed primarily in their subject populations. Normally capable adults served in the first experiment, preschool children in the second, and mentally retarded adults in the third. In all experiments, subjects learned a simple simultaneous discrimination: When visual stimuli A1 and A2 were displayed together, reinforcers followed selections of A1, the S+, but not A2, the S-. The subjects also learned a conditional discrimination taught with an arbitrary visual-visual matching-to-sample procedure. Comparisons were two additional visual stimuli, B1 and B2, and samples were A1 and A2. Reinforcers followed selections of B1 in the presence of A1 and of B2 in the presence of A2. After the simple-discrimination and conditional-discrimination baselines had been acquired, B1 and B2 were displayed alone (without a sample) on probe trials. Subjects had never been taught explicitly how to respond to such displays. Nonetheless, they almost always selected B1, which was involved in a conditional relation with A1, the stimulus that served as S+ on the simple-discrimination trials. This outcome suggested the formation of stimulus classes during conditional-discrimination training. Through class formation, B1 and B2 had apparently acquired stimulus functions similar to those shown by A1 and A2 on simple-discrimination trials, thereby leading to emergent selections of B1 on the probes.     

Auditory–Visual stimuli: Effects on derived relations with compound stimuli

This research explored the effect of teaching conditional discriminations with three procedures on the derivation of 36 stimuli relations (derived relations). The stimuli used consisted of three characteristics musical instruments, along with the corresponding picture. In the first experiment six university students were trained with simple stimuli and tested with compound auditory–visual samples; therefore, a one‐to‐many structure was used. In the second experiment, auditory stimuli were replaced by visual stimuli, for the samples used, for new students. A third experiment was implemented with an extra phase of training with compound stimuli for six new students. The structure of the experiments was: pretests (Xbcd–A; Xacd–B; Xabd–C; Xabc–D), training (A–B; A–C; A–D), and posttests (same as pretests). The difference between these conditions was the kind of stimuli used and a new phase of teaching used in condition 3: (Xbcd–A). The results indicate that training with simple stimuli on discriminations that include stimuli that are easy to discriminate from each other (words and sounds) is a sufficient condition for good posttest performance. However, when comparisons are made difficult (words only), participants show better performance on new tests if they have a learning history with compound stimuli.     

Stimulus presentation order in receptive identification tasks: A systematic replication

Conflicting recommendations exist in the literature regarding the optimal order of stimulus presentation when teaching auditory–visual conditional discriminations. The present study examined the generality of a previously demonstrated advantage of presenting the auditory sample before visual comparisons (sample‐first condition) over the reverse sequence (comparison‐first condition). Participants were four typically developing 5‐ and 6‐year‐old boys. The procedures of Petursdottir and Aguilar (2016) were systematically replicated with the addition of a prompted error correction trial following each incorrect response. Overall, there were more instances of quicker mastery in the sample‐first condition (four of seven evaluations) than in the comparison‐first condition (two of seven evaluations). A comparison‐first advantage was associated with slower acquisition in both conditions than in the remaining evaluations, and an analysis of stimulus and position bias yielded tentative evidence for unwanted sources of stimulus control.     

EFFECTS OF TREATMENT INTEGRITY FAILURES DURING DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT OF ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR: A TRANSLATIONAL MODEL

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) is used frequently as a treatment for problem behavior. Previous studies on treatment integrity failures during DRA suggest that the intervention is robust, but research has not yet investigated the effects of different types of integrity failures. We examined the effects of two types of integrity failures on DRA, starting with a human operant procedure and extending the results to children with disabilities in a school setting. Human operant results (Experiment 1) showed that conditions involving reinforcement for problem behavior were more detrimental than failing to reinforce appropriate behavior alone, and that condition order affected the results. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated the effects of combined errors and sequence effects during actual treatment implementation.     

USING COMPLEX AUDITORY—VISUAL SAMPLES TO PRODUCE EMERGENT RELATIONS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Six participants with autism learned conditional relations between complex auditory‐visual sample stimuli (dictated words and pictures) and simple visual comparisons (printed words) using matching‐to‐sample training procedures. Pre‐ and posttests examined potential stimulus control by each element of the complex sample when presented individually and emergence of additional conditional relations and oral labeling. Tests revealed class‐consistent performance for all participants following training.     

Teaching multiply controlled intraverbals to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Reciprocal conversations, instructional activities, and other social interactions are replete with multiply controlled intraverbals, examples of which have been conceptualized in terms of conditional discriminations. Although the acquisition of conditional discriminations has been examined extensively in the behavior‐analytic literature, little research has evaluated procedures to establish multiply controlled intraverbals. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of procedures based on conditional discrimination training on the acquisition of multiply controlled intraverbals with 7 participants who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. We evaluated the effects of prompt delay with error correction, a differential observing response (DOR), and a DOR plus blocked trials on the acquisition of intraverbals using a multiple baseline design. Accuracy of intraverbal performance increased for at least 1 set of stimuli for all participants under prompt delay with error correction conditions; however, 4 participants required additional teaching (i.e., DOR, modified DOR, modified prompt delay with error correction). Based on these findings, when prompt delay with error correction is not sufficient to establish multiply controlled intraverbals, prompted DORs may be an effective alternative.