Behavior Analysis for ASD and Other Populations

Criticisms of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for ASD

Has behavior analysis been applied exclusively to treat populations with ASDs? If not, which other populations?

a.ABA is focused on treating people but ASDs, but it applied to nearly all types of populations. Other populations ABA is applied to include people with other intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, and other neurologically based issues. 

2.a) What have been the two main criticisms to the evidence that supports the efficacy of early intensive behavioral intervention for autism?
a.Two main criticism that support the efficacy of early intensive behavioral intervention for autism are sample size and not having randomized clinical trials. 
b) Briefly indicate how each has been addressed by ABA researchers.
    To address the concern of sample size, Eldevik et al. (2009) conducted a metanalysis of nice of the studies. (p.303) After the rise of the second criticism, there have been two randomized trials that followed from reports in the meta-analysis (p.303)

3.Why it seems that treatment packages that include ABA and other intervention services (i.e., eclectic) may not be as effective as intensive ABA alone?
a.

4.In one sentence describe each of the three learning principles that underlie effective ABA intervention for autism.
a.Effective ABA intervention for autism include; (a) reinforcing important social and communicative behaviors, (b) bring the behaviors under stimulus control, and lastly (c) arrange for the extinction of problematic behaviors. 

5.What Ahearn and Tiger (2013) consider is the first step to effective intervention for autism?
a.Ahearn and Tiger (2013) consider addressing the problem behavior as the first step to effective intervention for autism. 

6.(a) What are frequent reinforcers of problem behavior in populations diagnosed with ASDs, such as self-injurious behavior? 
a.Frequent reinforcers of problem behavior in populations diagnosed with ASDs, such as self-injurious behavior is, providing attention or activities after instances of the problem behavior. 
(b) What is the name of the procedure that is implemented to identify them?
    The procedure that is implemented to identify problem behaviors is, functional assessments and functional-based treatments. 

7.What seems to be the reason implementing a punishment-based intervention alone often results in a temporary reduction (suppression) of the problem behavior?
The reason implementing a punishment-based intervention alone results in temporary reduction is, The consequences that maintains the problem behavior often still supports the occurrence of the problem behavior. 

8.If punishment needs to be used as part of an intervention (e.g., severe self-injury behavior proved to be unresponsive to multitude of other interventions), what should be the principle guiding the implementation of such aversive procedure?
a.Determining the functional relation will effectively inform the clinician how to arrange complementary procedures and then eliminate the aversive contingencies (p. 306). 

9.How response blocking for the treatment of stereotypic behavior could be functionally interpreted?

Principles Underlying Effective ABA Intervention

10.Additional to response blocking, what supplementary procedures should be implemented to establish appropriate functional alternatives to automatically reinforced behavior?
a.In addition to response blocking, a supplementary procedure that should be implemented to establish appropriate functional alternatives to automatically reinforced behavior is; teaching play, leisure, and social skills. 

11.(a) Briefly compare discrete trial teaching and embedded/incidental learning.
a.Discrete trial teaching involves a prompt, sd, and a reinforcer for a response. Whereas embedded/incidental learning is used within natural environment where no sd, prompts, or reinforcers are used. 
(b) provide an example of each.
    Discrete trial teaching: Teaching colors: When teaching colors, start with one specific color and add more as the child learns. Say the color is blue, pick up something blue that’s around the room and say “ what color is this?” if the child does not respond then say “say blue”. The child will then learn to respond “blue”
    Embedded/incidental learning: put blue things around the room so that you have more objects to use for incidental teachings of the color. 

 

12.Which are prerequisite skills for developing verbal behavior?
a.The prerequisites for developing verbal behavior are “attending, orientation, and imitation” 

13.How Skinner (1957) conceptualized language as verbal behavior?
a.“skinner considered language to also be operant behavior that was maintained by the environmental consequences of engaging in that behavior” (p.309). Skinner developed a unique taxonomy of language. 

14.(a) Define mand
a.“a verbal operant emitted under a state of deprivation or aversive stimulation that is maintained by a characteristic consequence (P. 3009). 
(b) give an example of training in children with autism.
    Find something you know the child likes. Start by showing the item (Ball) and say “say ball”.  The child will then start manding “ball” when they see a ball. Then proceed with “I want ball”. The child will learn to mand “I want ball” when they see one. 

15.(a) Define tact
a.“a tact is a verbal operant emitted in the presence of a nonverbal SD that is reinforced by a generalized social reinforcer” (p. 303). 
(b) give an example of training in children with autism.
    An example of training in children with autism is: preform a task (bounce a basketball). Then have another person say “she is bouncing the ball”. The child will then learn to tact “she is bouncing a ball” when they see someone bouncing a ball. 

16.(a) Define echoic
a.“Echoic is a verbal operant that is occasioned by preceding verbal SD; the response shares a formal, point-to-point correspondence with the preceding verbal stimulus and is reinforced by a nonspecific social reinforcer”(p.310). 
(b) give an example of training in children with autism.
    An example of training in children with autism is; present a relevant stimulus (beads). After presenting the stimulus, give an echoic prompt ( “say Beads”). After time the child will say “say beads” which will then over time reduce to just “beads”. 

17.(a) Define intraverbal
a.Intraverbal is a verbal operant emitted in the presence of a verbal SD but shares no point-to-point correspondence with the preceding SD. 
(b) give an example of training in children with autism.
    An example of training in children with autism is; start by presenting an array of pictures. Then ask the child “which picture is a animal?”. Then after mastering, say “name an animal”. 

18.What is joint attention
a.Joint attention is behavior that has been noted as a characteristic deficit in people with ASDs. (p.315)

19.How Baer and Sherman (1964) defined…
(a)Imitation
a.A response that resembles an SD
(b)generalized imitation
a.The occurrence of imitation by the child in a novel situation (p.315)
(c)Provide an example of each.
a.Imitation: Example: waving. An adult teaches the child to wave by waving and saying “do this” with a verbal prompt. The adult models the action and the child models it back. The child then receives a reinforcer. 
b.Generalized imitation: Example, waving. An adult waves to a child and the child waves back. The child was not prompted (or told) to wave back to the adult. Therefore, no reinforcement is provided. 

20.(a) Name two obstacles to effectively implementing ABA interventions
a.Two obstacles to effectively implement ABA interventions are; translating terminology and effectively training caregivers to implement the interventions. 
(b) briefly provide recommendations on how to address them.
    One way to address them is to portray the events in a way that the child would experience it or a view from a child’s perspective.