Operant discrimination training to establish praise as a reinforcer |
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| Authors: | Ashley M Lugo Therese L Mathews Melissa L King John C Lamphere Ana M Damme |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA;2. Munroe‐Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA;3. University Autism Center, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO, USA;4. Little Leaves Behavioral Services, Silver Spring, MD, USA;5. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA |
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| Abstract: | Social deficits are a hallmark feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Consequently, socially mediated consequences (i.e., praise) may not function as reinforcers for individuals with ASD. Given the frequency in which praise is used as a programmed consequence in empirical research and in clinical practice, it is necessary to explore procedures that could condition praise to function as reinforcers. Operant discrimination training has emerged as a potential procedure to condition stimuli to acquire reinforcing properties. This study aimed to utilize the operant discrimination training procedure to condition a praise statement to function as a reinforcer. Four children diagnosed with ASD participated in the study. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate this emerging pairing procedure. Findings suggest that immediate effects were observed across all participants, but responding did not maintain, suggesting that reinforcing value of the praise statement diminished. |
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