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REDUCTION OF STIMULUS OVERSELECTIVITY WITH NONVERBAL DIFFERENTIAL OBSERVING RESPONSES
Author(s) -
Dube William V.,
McIlvane William J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1999.32-25
Subject(s) - psychology , stimulus (psychology) , audiology , stimulus control , nonverbal communication , differential reinforcement , differential effects , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , reinforcement , social psychology , neuroscience , medicine , nicotine
Three individuals with mental retardation exhibited stimulus overselectivity in a delayed matching‐to‐sample task in which two sample stimuli were displayed on each trial. Intermediate accuracy scores indicated that participants could match one of the samples but not both of them. Accuracy in a baseline condition was compared to accuracy with a differential observing response procedure. This procedure prompted participants to make simultaneous identity‐matching responses that required observation and discrimination of both sample stimuli. These observing responses were never followed by differential consequences. When observing responses were prompted, participants' accuracy scores improved. In a return to the baseline condition, when differential observing responses were no longer prompted, accuracy returned to intermediate levels. The results show that stimulus overselectivity can be greatly reduced by a behavioral intervention that controls observing behavior and verifies discrimination, but that exposure to such procedures alone may be insufficient for lasting benefits.