Effects of a brief staff training procedure on instructors’ use of incidental teaching and students’ frequency of initiation toward instructors

Applied Behavior Analysis: Teaching Procedures and Staff Training for Children with Autism

“…Ask for a correct response was defined as the instructor's using an expectant look and one statement or one question to ask the learner to say more about the initiation made. Wait for a correct response was defined as the instructor's allowing up to 10 s for the learner to respond independently, or providing a prompt after 10 s. Reward was defined as the instructor's presenting behavior-specific praise about the learner's initiation, using an enthusiastic tone of voice, along with access to the object or activity that the learner requested" (Ryan, et al, 2008).…”

“…In addition to the research documenting the effectiveness of discrete-trial teaching and incidental teaching procedures, research has supported the effectiveness of staff training procedures to teach the methodology of each of these procedures (Ryan & Hemmes, 2005;Ryan et al, 2008). Staff training procedures that are well-established and accepted in the research literature, include: verbal, written, and video instructions; modeling; role-playing; in-vivo practice; and performance feedback (Cullen, 1988;Delamater, et al, 1984;Demchak et al, 1992;Fielding, et al, 1971;Fleming, et al, 1996;Gardner, 1972;Gladstone & Spencer, 1979;Greene, et al, 1978;Harchik, et al, 1989;Harris, et al, 1975;Johnson & Fawcett, 1994;Krumhus & Malott, 1980;Matson, 1990;Neef, et al, 1986;Page, et al, 1982;Parsons & Reid, 1995;Parsons, et al, 1996;Parsons, et al, 1987;Reid & Green, 1990;Richman, et al, 1988;Sepler & Meyers, 1978;Touchette & Howard, 1984).…”

“…Due to the nature of incidental teaching, the requirements for stimulus and response generalization in implementing incidental teaching accurately are high (Hart & Risley, 1974, 1975, 1985. At the time of the Ryan et al (2008) study, there was no research on training staff to implement incidental teaching. Ryan et al (2008) assessed the effects of a brief group staff training procedure on instructors' use of incidental teaching responses and on student initiations.…”

“…At the time of the Ryan et al (2008) study, there was no research on training staff to implement incidental teaching. Ryan et al (2008) assessed the effects of a brief group staff training procedure on instructors' use of incidental teaching responses and on student initiations. In Experiment 1, instructors of students with autism were provided with an instruction session during which a training package on incidental teaching was presented.…”

A Staff-Training Program to Increase Spontaneous Vocal Requests in Children With Autism

“…Similarly, Dyer, Williams, and Luce (1991) trained therapists to implement naturalistic language training procedures, including preference and choice, time delay and incidental teaching to increase spontaneous requesting with these students in classrooms in a private residential treatment program. More recently, an intensive university-based summer training program resulted in an increase in teacher implementation of incidental teaching (Lerman, Vondrean, Addison, & Kuhn, 2004), and a brief staff-training procedure resulted in instructors' use of incidental teaching and increases of students' initiation in classroom settings (Ryan, Hemmes, Sturmey, Jacobs, & Grommet, 2007). In these studies, modeling, role-playing, and performance feedback were used as strategies to improve staff 's use of language training procedures.…”