ERIC Number: EJ1157196
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-8855
EISSN: N/A
Effects of Response-Contingent Stimulus Pairing on Vocalizations of Nonverbal Children with Autism
Lepper, Tracy L.; Petursdottir, Anna Ingeborg
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, v50 n4 p756-774 Fall 2017
Research on stimulus-stimulus pairing to induce novel vocalizations in nonverbal children has typically employed response-independent pairing (RIP) procedures to condition speech sounds as reinforcers. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a response-contingent pairing (RCP) procedure on the vocalizations of three nonverbal boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. During RCP, adult-delivered sounds that were either paired with a preferred item (target sounds) or not (nontarget sounds) were presented contingent on a button-press response. In Experiment 1, RCP was compared with an RIP procedure, in which the timing of sound presentations was yoked to the preceding RCP session. RCP produced a greater effect on all participants' target vocalizations than RIP. Experiment 2 demonstrated the effects of differential reinforcement of the vocalizations induced in Experiment 1. The results suggest that RCP may develop vocalizations more reliably than RIP procedures.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Program Effectiveness, Males, Stimuli, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Auditory Stimuli, Contingency Management, Speech Impairments, Reinforcement, Conditioning, Children
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A