The Effects of a Delay of Noncontingent Reinforcement during a Pairing Procedure in the Development of Stimulus Control of Automatically Reinforced Vocalizations

Abstract

Children with autism and related disabilities frequently fail to develop echoic repertoires. Among the ways in which treatment approaches vary is the extent to which automatic reinforcement is utilized. The present experiment was designed to test the efficacy of a procedure that incorporates automatic reinforcement and socially mediated reinforcement in the development of an echoic repertoire. The implementation of this treatment package resulted in an increase in the vocal play and echoic behavior for two participants, each of whom had very limited verbal repertoires. The study was conducted as a multiple probe across sounds design. Vocal play for Participant 1 increased from baseline rates as low as .2 per min to 4.5 per min during treatment, and her percent correct echoic behavior increased from 0% to at least 90% on both sounds. Participant 2 showed rapid gains in echoic control on one sound before requiring dismissal from the study. Interobserver agreement on the occurrence of target vocals equaled 100%. The results of this study have implications for which procedures to use in the establishment of echoic, echoic mand, and mand repertoires.

A replication of the RIRD strategy to decrease vocal stereotypy in a student with autism

“…Previous studies indicate that vocal stereotypy could be a stage of a child development before the development of functional speech (Sherer & Schreibman, 2005;Ward et al, 2007). When a child has a need to express but lacks appropriate language skills, he/she may resort to using inappropriate vocal behavior.…”

“…Vocal stereotypy could very well be the indicator of a child's development on the path to functional speech, instead an idiosyncratic, abnormal behavior. A study by Ward, Pamela, Osnes, and Partington (2007) reported the use of vocal stereotypic behavior of two children with severe language developmental delay to increase echolalia. The investigators paired vocal stereotypic sounds with positive reinforcement and increased the children's echolalia from near 0 to 90-100%, under the theory that vocal stereotypy might be viewed as a child's developmental milestone instead of an aberrant behavior.…”

Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing of Vocalizations: A Systematic Replication

“…Since Sundberg et al (1996) study was published, 11 studies have evaluated the effects of SSP on vocalizations. In eight studies, SSP resulted in a temporary increase in at least one target vocalization with 18 of the 25 participants, both with and without language delays (i.e., Miguel et al 2002;Carroll and Klatt 2008;Esch et al 2009;Smith et al 1996;Ward et al 2007;Yoon and Bennett 2000;Yoon and Feliciano 2007). In three studies, SSP did not result in an increase in target vocalizations for any participants (i.e., Esch et al 2005;Normand and Knoll 2006;Stock et al 2008).…”

An Efficiency Evaluation of Procedures to Evoke Vocalizations in Children with Autism

“…The current study has contributed to the literature by evaluating SSP as an alternative treatment option relative to ET for very early learners. The findings of the current study replicate and extend upon the findings of past studies evaluating SSP (Carrol & Klatt, 2008;Esch et al, 2009;Esch et al, 2005;Lepper, Petursdottir, & Esch, 2013;Miguel et al, 2002;Miliotis, et al, 2008;Normand & Knoll, 2006;Rader et al, 2014;Shillingsburg et al, 2015;Stock et al, 2008;Sundberg et al, 1996;Ward et al, 2007;Yoon, 1998;Yoon & Feliciano, 2007) for vocalizations,…”

“…Because of the difficulty with producing vocalizations with the early learner population and to further elucidate how verbal behavior develops, several studies have investigated an alternative method for evoking vocal behavior in early learners which is called stimulus-stimulus pairing (Carrol & Klatt, 2008;Esch, Carr, & Grow, 2009;Esch, Carr, & Michael, 2005;Lepper, Petursdottir, & Esch, 2013;Miguel, Carr, & Michael, 2002;Miliotis, et al, 2008;Normand & Knoll, 2006;Rader, et al, 2014;Stock, Schulze, & Mirenda, 2008;Sundberg, Michael, Partington, & Sundberg, 1996;Ward, Osnes, & Partington, 2007;Yoon, 1998;Yoon & Feliciano, 2007).…”