Comparing stimulus set size on match-to-match sample training for a child with autism spectrum disorder

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2021

First Committee Member

Karsina, Allen

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Third Committee Member

Dickson, Chata

Abstract

"Match-to-sample (MTS) is a form of discrete trial training that is commonly used with individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Increasing the efficiency of skill acquisition procedures allows learners to acquire more skills. Kodak et al. (2019) found that increasing the set size during tact training increased the efficiency of the training. The present study replicates and extends Kodak et al. (2019) to MTS training. Stimulus groups of sets with 3, 6, and 12 stimuli were compared in an auditory-visual MTS task for a student with ASD in an adapted alternating treatments design with baseline probes. The average exposures to mastery, sessions to mastery, and minutes to mastery were compared across the training groups. The participant acquired all training groups, and acquired the 3-stimulus group the most efficiently, followed by the 6-stimulus group, and finally the 12-stimulus group. These results suggest that teaching smaller training sets while using MTS is more efficient, and the finding of Kodak et al. (2019) does not extend to MTS training."

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