Using a Lag Schedule of Reinforcement to Increase Response Variability in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
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Using a Lag Schedule of Reinforcement to Increase Response Variability in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Jenifer Olin 1 & Alyse Sonsky 1 & Monica Howard 1 # Association for Behavior Analysis International 2020
Abstract 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. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder . Intraverbal . Lag schedule of reinforcement .
Variability
This study was carried out by the first author under the supervision of the third author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the master’s in applied behavior analysis at LIU Post University, Brookville, New York.
* Jenifer Olin [email protected]
1
LIU Post University, Brookville, NY, USA
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior
The American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013) states that individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) frequently engage in stereotypic behavior that results in rote responding to stimuli and are more likely to experience deficits in the areas of socialization and communication. Behavioral and lingual variability is a fundamental aspect of daily social interactions. The frequent use of rote and invariant responses by an individual may have a negative impact on the quality of that person’s social interactions. Opportunities to converse with others may be greatly reduced if repetitive language is used with little or no variability. For instance, a child with ASD is approached on a playground and asked, “What do you want to play with?” If the child’s only response is “I like to play with cars,” the behavior of the individual who initiated the social interaction may not be reinforced during this conversation, and he or she may be less likely to approach th
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