Effects of conditioning reinforcement for print stimuli on match-to-sample responding in preschoolers.

Abstract

We studied the effects of conditioned reinforcement for two-dimensional visual stimuli (print) on visual match-to-sample responses for three pre-schoolers with disabilities using a time lagged multiple probe design. Visual stimuli (pictures, symbols, letters and shapes) were conditioned using a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure until these print stimuli functioned as reinforcement for looking. Dependent variables were 1) pre-and postconditioning responses to probes for the number of seconds participants looked at novel visual stimuli, and 2) the ratio of learn units to criteria for the acquisition of two -dimensional match-to-sample programs. Results showed a functional relationship between the acquisitions of conditioned reinforcement for the visual stimuli and decreased the mean numbers of learn units to criteria on match-to-sample curricular instruction for all participants. Keywords: Foundations to verbal developmental, Developmental behavioral cusps, Conditioned reinforcement, Acquisition of match-to-sample repertoires Recently, Keohane, Greer, & Ackerman (2006), tested the effects of conditioning sustained eye contact with three-dimensional (3D) objects (Visual Tracking Protocol) on the acquisition of matching responses for a participant for whom looking at or observing 3D instructional stimuli on a table that were not reinforcers for visual observing responses. They found that when 3D stimuli were paired with This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

Establishing Books as Conditioned Reinforcers for Preschool Children as a Function of an Observational Intervention

“…Future studies should examine whether peers themselves (or simply the presence of an unfamiliar peer) function as conditioned reinforcers prior to the observational intervention. Future research should also test whether the effects of conditioning books using this procedure would lead to faster acquisition of textual responding, as shown by Tsai and Greer (2006) and Delgado et al (2009).…”

“…The effects of conditioning new stimuli, such as toys and other activities, range from replacing stereotypical behaviors and passivity with play (Greer, Becker, Saxe, & Mirabella, 1985; Longano & Greer, 2006; Nuzzolo‐Gomez, Leonard, Ortiz, Rivera, & Greer, 2002) to inducing novel vocal verbal behavior in children with limited vocal verbal repertoires (Miguel, Carr, & Michael, 2002; Sundberg, Michael, Partington, & Sundberg, 1996; Yoon & Bennett, 2000). Recent research has also demonstrated that conditioning stimuli as reinforcers for certain early observing responses results in functional repertoires that can accelerate children's rates of learning (Delgado, Greer, Speckman, & Goswami, 2009; Keohane, Delgado, & Greer, 2008; Keohane, Luke, & Greer, 2008).…”

A systematic review of behaviour analytic processes and procedures for conditioning reinforcers among individuals with autism, developmental or intellectual disability

“…Studies that focused on curricular targets, such as matching to sample tasks (Delgado et al, 2009) and complex repertories, such as joint attention (Isaksen & Holth, 2009) mainly used classical or operant conditioning to establish conditioned reinforcers. None of these studies offered comparisons between conditioning methods.…”