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| The Differential Outcomes Effect in Children With Autism Learning Novel Tacts |
| Wednesday, November 15, 2017 |
| 10:30 AM–10:50 AM |
| Scene DEF, Niveau 0 |
| Area: VBC |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Chair: Jessica Catherine McCormack (The University of Auckland) |
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| The Differential Outcomes Effect in Children With Autism Learning Novel Tacts |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| JESSICA CATHERINE MCCORMACK (The University of Auckland), Javier Virues Ortega (The University of Auckland), Douglas Elliffe (University of Auckland) |
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| Abstract: The differential outcomes procedure has been found to enhance conditional discrimination learning in animals and humans. By pairing each discriminative stimulus with a unique reward or reinforcer it provides an addition cue to correct responding. This can lead to faster and more accurate learning, as well as the development of equivalence relations. In the present study, we taught novel labels to four boys with pervasive developmental disorders. Three of the four boys met mastery sooner in the differential outcomes condition relative to variable outcomes, and all three were more accurate in the differential outcomes condition. In addition, we tested for the emergence of equivalence relations, and found that stimulus-outcome or response-outcome relations emerged in three out of four students. In Phase II responses were transferred to novel visual stimuli. The study provides evidence for the effectiveness of the differential outcomes procedure for children with pervasive developmental disorders, and discusses potential applications for this procedure in the context of behavioural skill acquisition programmes. |
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