Association for Behavior Analysis International

We present a series of studies that evaluate operant learning procedures for early acquisition of social behaviors in three populations: infants at risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children with ASD, and children with neurotypical development. This symposium extends the findings of Pelaez and colleagues (1996, 2011, 2012) by showcasing parent-training procedures where the caregivers implement the operant-learning principles of reinforcement. The first presenter highlights early behavioral markers for autism and the use of socially-mediated reinforcement procedures such as synchronized reinforcement to sustain infant eye contact (i.e., attention). The second presentation discusses procedures for increasing infant vocalizations and extends those findings to infants at risk of ASD. The third study compares two forms of social reinforcement on the acquisition of vocalizations as well as joint attention procedures with neurotypical infants. The fourth presentation reports on the acquisition of joint attention responses to three different types of caregiver bids in children with ASD. The discussant highlights the developmental sequencing of these social skills as well as prerequisite repertoires for early learning of communication and other more complex social skills like perspective taking. The operant procedures and the data reported have significant implications for future research and for effective interventions with children with ASD.

Masters & PhD Level Students, Practitioners, and Researchers

Lower incidences of eye contact marks one of the first indicators of social disability in infancy. Parents are important contributors to infants' early social development and can successfully increase engagement behaviors such as eye contact and positive affect with young children at risk of autism. This presentation reviews the at-risk literature indicating early behavioral markers, and discusses the use of socially-mediated reinforcement procedures to strengthen infant eye contact. The current study replicate and extends the findings of Pelaez and colleagues (1996), evaluating a parent training model where caregivers are taught an operant-learning procedure consisting of contingent smiling, verbal praise, and rhythmic touch to establish eye contact in the natural environment. The assumption is that teaching early social behaviors such as eye contact in young children can promote learning of other—prerequisite—skills required to develop complex social and communicative behaviors. Further, the importance of establishing contingencies of reinforcement during mother-child interactions are stressed.

The emission of vocalizations during early infancy serves as the preverbal foundation for the development of subsequent complex language skills later in childhood. Research on interventions that facilitate the acquisition of these preverbal skills during infancy, and the subsequent extension of this methodology to at risk populations is discussed and conceptualized. The present research illustrates the use of two forms of contingent social reinforcement (vocal imitation and Motherese speech) delivered in a parent-training model, and their effects on increasing the overall rate of vocalizations in infants at risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The presenter concludes that establishing and increasing the rates of pre-verbal vocalizations during early infancy among infants at risk may help facilitate the development of more complex language and potentially mitigate the severity of language delays in later childhood.

Replicating Neimy et al., (2017), five children diagnosed with autism ranging in age from 3-5 years old participated in a joint attention operant learning procedure. Using an ABAB reversal in a multiple baseline across participants' design, three of the five children met mastery criterion for independent, correct responding. Joint attention responses were defined as first making eye contact with a therapist, switching their gaze to a novel object, and then returning their gaze to the therapist. In baseline conditions, children were exposed to different types of interactions with the therapist and the objects but were not provided any reinforcement nor any correction, regardless of their responses. In Treatment 1, three different bid types were used by the therapists: show, point, or engage. Responses were either reinforced or corrected. In Treatment 2, only one type of bid was used, the "show" bid. Responses were either reinforced or corrected. All five children showed evidence of differential responding during treatment conditions when compared to baseline conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the theory of joint attention and its importance as a prerequisite skill which is thought to be significant in terms of social and communicative development for all children.