A method to establish stimulus control and compliance with instructions |
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Authors: | John G. Borgen F. Charles Mace Brenna M. Cavanaugh Kenneth Shamlian Keith R. Lit Jillian B. Wilson Stephanie L. Trauschke |
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Affiliation: | 1. Oregon Institute of Technology;2. Aran Hall School;3. University of Rochester School of Medicine;4. Nova Southeastern University;5. Kennedy Krieger Institute |
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Abstract: | We evaluated a unique procedure to establish compliance with instructions in four young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who had low levels of compliance. Our procedure included methods to establish a novel therapist as a source of positive reinforcement, reliably evoke orienting responses to the therapist, increase the number of exposures to instruction–compliance–reinforcer contingencies, and minimize the number of exposures to instruction–noncompliance–no reinforcer contingencies. We further alternated between instructions with a high probability of compliance (high‐p instructions) with instructions that had a prior low probability of compliance (low‐p instructions) as soon as low‐p instructions lost stimulus control. The intervention is discussed in relation to the conditions necessary for the development of stimulus control and as an example of a variation of translational research. |
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Keywords: | children with ASD compliance noncompliance stimulus control translational research |
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