The effect of variable delays to reinforcement on the acquisition of tacts in children with autism

Basic research suggests that reinforcer immediacy is important; even short delays to reinforcement may impair learning. Further, a previous applied study showed that most participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) acquired tacts more quickly with immediate reinforcement, compared to delays of 6 and 12 s. However, no research has examined variable delays to reinforcement, which may be more common than fixed delays in applied settings. In this study, we examined the effect of variable delays to reinforcement on the acquisition of tacts. Specifically, we evaluated three conditions: a 0 s delay, a 4–8 s delay, and a 10–14 s delay to reinforcement among three children with ASD. The results show that two of the three participants achieved the mastery criterion most quickly in the 0 s delay condition. We discuss the results and implications of this finding.