Open AccessUsing a Lag Schedule of Reinforcement to Increase Response Variability in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Author(s) -
Jenifer Olin,
Alyse Sonsky,
Monica R. Howard
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the analysis of verbal behavior/the analysis of verbal behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2196-8926
pISSN - 0889-9401
DOI - 10.1007/s40616-020-00129-y
Subject(s) - reinforcement , nonverbal communication , autism , psychology , autism spectrum disorder , developmental psychology , mand , audiology , generality , multiple baseline design , clinical psychology , cognitive psychology , intervention (counseling) , social psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , psychiatry
Lag reinforcement schedules have been shown in previous research to be an effective intervention for teaching verbal and nonverbal response variability to individuals with developmental disabilities. In more recent research, variability itself has been considered a reinforceable behavior in its own right (Susa & Schlinger, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 18, 125-130, 2012). Lag x schedules of reinforcement can be used to teach variability by using contingencies that require responses to differ from previous responses. The present study extended Susa and Schlinger's, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 18, 125-130, (2012) research by using 3 social questions instead of 1 in a random rotation and included probes to test for generality. A changing-criterion design was used to evaluate the results with one 11-year-old female participant diagnosed with autism. During baseline, the participant provided little variability, with rote responses. During the Lag 1 and Lag 2 phases, appropriate variable verbal responding increased with the use of echoic prompts, visual aids, and an error correction procedure. Further, the results also showed that the participant learned to vary her responses by demonstrating the ability to emit 11 novel prompted responses and 13 spontaneous responses. In addition, the participant was able to retain the skills learned in a maintenance probe conducted 4 weeks postintervention.