Association for Behavior Analysis International

Perez-Gonzalez, Garcia-Asenjo, Williams, and Julio-Carnerero (2007) evaluated the effects of training multiple bidirectional (A?B) relations on the emergence of novel bidirectional relations with two children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder. Results showed that although both participants demonstrated emergence of bidirectional relations, the participant who experienced immediate bidirectional training demonstrated emergence of novel bidirectional relations in fewer training trials than the participant who experienced extended unidirectional training (A==>B) prior to bidirectional training (A==>B and B==>A). The purpose of the current study was to replicate the basic procedures of Perez-Gonzalez et al. and extend their findings by evaluating the effects of an extended unidirectional training history on the emergence of bidirectional relations with four children with autism. We further extended Perez-Gonzalez et al. by (a) using simple antecedent stimuli (i.e., English ==> French translations), (b) reporting participant scores on expressive and receptive language assessments, (c) evaluating the effects of training history with two matched groups of children with autism, (d) programming for and assessing maintenance, and (e) assessing social validity. Novel bidirectional relations emerged quickly for both participants who were exposed to an immediate bidirectional training history. Emergence of novel bidirectional relations was impeded for one of the two participants who were exposed to an extended unidirectional training history. These results indicate that bidirectional relations should be trained immediately to avoid potential problems with emergence of bidirectional relations.

Strategies to promote the emergence of untrained verbal relations are of critical importance for learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study examined the effects of systematically training new relations on the emergence of intraverbal relations within the same set and across untrained sets using a multiple probe across behaviors (sets) design. Three sets consisting of three classes of stimuli were developed for each of the six participants with ASD. Training was sequentially introduced within Set 1 for listener responses by feature/function, tact feature/function, and bi-directional intraverbals. Following mastery of one relation within the set, probes were conducted to assess emergence of all untrained relations within set 1. Once mastery criteria were met through direct training or emergence for all intraverbal relations in set 1, probes were conducted to evaluate relations across all sets (1-3). The procedures were repeated with the remaining sets. Results indicated that some participants showed emergence of untrained intraverbal relations following training of the listener and tact responses, consistent with prior research. Some participants required training across multiple relations and classes before emergence of intraverbals was observed. These results highlight the importance of evaluating performance over multiple sets and the benefits of systematically programming for emergence within clinical work.

Instructive feedback (IF) is a procedure in which non-targeted information is presented to a learner during instruction for targeted skills. Previous research has demonstrated that students with autism spectrum disorder may acquire at least a portion of skills presented via IF. Although a promising instructional methodology for learners with ASD, few studies focus on learners who use an augmentative device for communication purposes. The purpose of the current investigation was to extend the IF literature related to students with ASD who use communication devices. Across all target skills, IF resulted in the acquisition of at least a portion of secondary targets without explicit teaching.