Establishing response diversity in leisure and daily routines in individuals with autism

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2014

First Committee Member

Sassi, Jessica

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Third Committee Member

Karsina, Allen

Abstract

"This study evaluates the use of lag reinforcement schedules and a training procedure to promote response variability in two males diagnosed with autism. During baseline, reinforcement was delivered contingent on trial completion, regardless of response topography (variability). During lag reinforcement sessions, reinforcement was delivered contingent on the task arrangement differing from that of the previous trial. A multiple baseline across responses with reversal design was used to assess the effects of treatment and possible generalization across responses. Data show that during all baseline sessions, response topography was invariant. Introduction of the lag schedule alone was ineffective in promoting response diversity until a training procedure that consisted of a pre-session forced exposure (physical guidance to complete varied topographies of the target response) or within-session prompting was introduced in conjunction with the lag schedule. The lag schedule with training resulted in increased variability for all of the targeted responses for both participants. A reversal of effects was achieved with the targeted responses for both participants. A corresponding increase in variability was observed to two of three untrained tasks for one participant and two of four untrained tasks for the second participant."

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