Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities最新文献

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the development of stimulus classes using matching-to-sample procedures. The first three experiments involved teaching subjects to select four different comparison stimuli in response to a single sample stimulus. In the fourth experiment, the subjects were taught to select a single comparison stimulus in response to four different sample stimuli. Only one of the six subjects who received single-sample, multiple-comparison training demonstrated stimulus class development. All three subjects who were given training in selecting a single comparison stimulus in response to multiple samples demonstrated stimulus class development.

Anecdotal and scientific reports of the speech of autistic children suggest a possible differential responsiveness to limited components of speech stimuli. Previously nonverbal children who acquire speech seem to acquire content, but their speech is dysprosic, characterized by inappropriate intonation, pitch, rhythm, and modulation. In contrast, echolalic autistic children often display modulation and varied intonation but may demonstrate no comprehension of the verbal stimulus being echoed. The present experiment was conducted to systematically determine whether echolalic and nonverbal autistic children respond overselectively to the intonation or to the content of a complex auditory stimulus differing along these two dimensions. Ten autistic children (five echolalic and five nonverbal) and six normal children, matched for MA, were trained to bar press at the sound of an auditory complex stimulus designated as S+ and to withhold response to an auditory complex stimulus designated as S-. The auditory complex stimulus consisted of two components, content and intonation. Test trials consisting of various combinations of the intonation and content components were then presented. Results indicated that whereas the normal children responded to both components or to content, the nonverbal children showed evidence of selectively responding to content, and the echolalic children showed evidence of selectively responding to intonation. These results are discussed in terms of relating autistic stimulus overselectivity to deficits in speech production and to implications for designing language training programs for these children.

In each of two experiments, two teachers, Teachers 1 and 2, taught subjects to respond to requests for the opposites of several different spoken words with answers from one of two different response repertoires, Repertoires 1 and 2. In the main experiment, two retarded adolescents and one normal 4-year-old served as subjects. Teachers 1 and 2 were puppets. Two other puppets, prober-puppets, never taught the subject to respond to those questions about opposites. Through visual-visual matching-to-sample, auditory-visual matching-to-sample, and oral-naming teaching, two classes of puppets were established. One of the classes contained Teacher 1 and one prober-puppet, Prober A. The other contained Teacher 2 and the other prober-puppet, Prober B. The formation of those classes was demonstrated on unreinforced probe trials in which the two prober-puppets asked the subjects the questions about opposites previously taught by the Teachers 1 and 2. On those trials, Prober A was responded to with Repertoire-1 responses (taught by Teacher 1) and Prober B was responded to with Repertoire-2 responses (taught by Teacher 2). Subsequent replications (two with the adolescents and one with the 4-year-old) reversed the teacher-prober classes through matching-to-sample and oral-naming teaching and found similar results. In a second experiment, normal adults served as Teachers 1 and 2. A retarded adolescent was the subject. Matching relations were not established in this study. Instead, generalization of Repertoire 1 or 2 to a third person, the Teacher-Prober, was produced by having the Teacher-Prober teach only portions of Repertoires 1 or 2, respectively. Apparently, the Teacher-Prober could form a stimulus class with a particular teacher by teaching only some of the same responses as that teacher. These experiments show the kinds of reinforcement contingencies that can establish stimulus classes of listeners and thereby enable language repertoires to generalize across those listeners.

Two experiments were performed with five developmentally disabled individuals to test the relationship between toys as conditioned reinforces and stereotypy. Data consisted of the number of 5 second intervals containing toy play and stereotypy in 10 minute sessions. Experiment 1 was done with two students who were selected because they had a history of playing with preferred toys and were not noted for stereotypy. They were observed under phases with and without toys to determine whether the removal of the toy would occasion increases in stereotypy. Probes were done 5 and 6 months after the third phase. Results showed that removal of the toys occasioned stereotypy and reinstatement of the toys eliminated stereotypy. Experiment 2 was done with three young adults who were selected because they had low or nonexistent toy play and high rates of stereotypy. After the baseline, they were conditioned to play with toys during training sessions and observed in separate free operant sessions (baseline conditions). A multiple baseline across subjects was used. Five probe sessions with the toys were conducted with each participant after 6 months without access to the toys. Results showed that the training sessions affected the free operant behavior of each subject in variable degrees. The participants engaged in substantially less stereotypy and substantially more toy play. Six months later when the toys were reinstated without additional training, stereotypy was low and toy play high. Conditioning reinforcers for play, such as toys, may result in a durable and possibly more cost effective procedure for dealing with stereotypy.

This study evaluated the effects of cued speech, a system of manual cues used in conjunction with spoken words, on lipreading performance of two congenitally and profoundly deaf males. Students received sequential cued speech training via a multiple-baseline design across groups of phonemes (responses). Prior to and following training on each group, two types of probes were administered. Individual phoneme probes assessed acquisition of lipreading skills and generalization to expressive articulation responses. Novel phoneme combination probes assessed generalization of training to untrained phoneme combinations. Results indicated that subjects were able to accurately lipread cued stimuli as a function of cued speech training and that generalization of lipreading skills to novel nonsense syllables occurred. Cued speech training also appeared to facilitate lipreading performance with noncued stimuli, as well as articulation responses. Finally, students' probe performance following training compared favorably with that of an untrained deaf peer who was considered to be a skilled lipreader. Advantages of cued speech over other methods of communication training are discussed.

The rationale for and history of an innovative program designed to meet the special needs of fathers of young handicapped children are described. The Supporting Extended Family Members (SEFAM) Father's Program provided fathers with both a regular source of information about their child and access to professional and peer support. The program was evaluated by monitoring changes both of fathers who participated in the program and their wives in the following domains: stress, depression, and support systems. Research measures are described which were designed to assess changes in these targeted domains. Preliminary results indicated that parents who participated in the pilot program reported lower levels of stress and depression and higher levels of satisfaction with social support than parents who were newly enrolled in the program. The findings are discussed in light of possible mediating factors for the observed results. Recommendations are made for improving the quality of data on the effects of early interventions on family members.

A behavior education program for teaching mothers to develop toy play in their developmentally delayed children was evaluated. During training, introduced in a multiple baseline fashion, mothers were sequentially instructed how to use prompts and rewards in teaching their children to play with developmentally appropriate toys. Measurement of training effects were assessed on multiple levels. After training, mothers displayed the target skills taught, and children showed an increase in their rate of appropriate play. A higher order analysis of the data revealed that mothers and infants were generally more responsive to each other's behavior and that the children self-initiated more frequently during interactions with their mothers. The implication of the results for designing early intervention programs and the merits of using complex units of analysis when examining a training program's effectiveness were discussed.