Deficits in communicating one's wants and needs can have significant and detrimental effects on quality of life. Particularly for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other related disabilities, manding is a pivotal skill that influences long-term prognosis. Mand training is complex and relies on several components to facilitate…

In synchronous-reinforcement schedules, the duration of behavior directly controls the duration of reinforcement on a moment-to-moment basis. We replicated and extended Diaz de Villegas et al. (2020) by comparing the effects of synchronous reinforcement with two accumulated-reinforcement schedules for increasing on-task behavior for seven…

A multiple probe across participants with an embedded withdrawal single case research design was used to examine the effectiveness of a progressive time delay (PTD) procedure to teach preschoolers with disabilities to imitate their peers during a sculpting play activity. Data indicated the presence of a functional relation between the use of PTD…

The use of reinforcement is widely researched and has been demonstrated as an effective method to increase desired, appropriate behavior and to decrease problematic behavior at both the individual and group level. This study aimed to identify what types of reinforcement Jordanian preschool teachers employ in the classroom and if they perceive…

In the present study, experimenters evaluated the influence of lag schedules of reinforcement in combination with accurate and inaccurate (complete and incomplete) rules on the response variability of naming category items for typically developing preschoolers in a group format. Results showed that when lag schedules were introduced with 2…

It is unknown whether and to what extent common types of attention delivered in early childhood environments are preferred by and function as reinforcers for young children. We assessed children's preference for commonly delivered types of attention across 31 preschool-aged participants (Experiment 1). Next, we conducted a reinforcer assessment…

Parity is one source of automatic reinforcement that increases the probability of verbal behavior that conforms to models provided by the verbal community. Parity as a conditioned reinforcer could explain the acquisition of grammar in the absence of direct, explicit reinforcement. This possibility has been explored in previous research on…

Researchers have identified effective instructional strategies for teaching peer imitation, including embedded classroom-based interventions. However, there is a dearth of strategies that have been effective for teaching generalization of imitation skills to novel contexts. Building on previous research, we examined the use of progressive time…

Background and aims: This study was conducted in a clinical setting with the aim of replicating previously used procedures for teaching receptive vocabulary. Researchers increased the number of vocabulary words and maintained use of match-to-sample (MtS), prompting, and reinforcement procedures. Researchers were also interested in the efficacy of…

Over 50 years of research suggests that toilet training based on behavioral principles is effective for most individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). However, many adults with IDD are never effectively toilet trained. Lack of independent toileting is associated with detrimental physical, mental, and social experiences.…

Successful social inclusion of children with autism in mainstream preschool settings requires ongoing social interactions with neurotypical (NT) peers. To meet the social needs of children with autism in these settings, NT peer training is needed. We evaluated the effects of video modeling, self-management, and reinforcement on social responses of…

For children with developmental or language delays, mand interventions have been identified as an integral part of educational programming (e.g., Greer & Ross, 2008; Shafer, 1994; Sundberg & Michael, 2001). Mands, which are the most elementary forms of verbal behavior, allow individuals to begin to contact social contractual contingencies;…

The form of a verbal response allows for reinforcement mediation and language transmission across cultures. Reinforcement, in turn, plays a decisive role in learning verbal forms. The present work addresses methodological limitations of previous studies, providing further evidence of the role of automatic reinforcement in achieving parity with…

A synchronous-reinforcement schedule is a type of schedule of covariation in which the onset and offset of the reinforcer covaries with the onset and offset of behavior. This study was a proof-of-concept demonstration of the efficacy of synchronous reinforcement for on-task behavior (completing a preacademic skill) and an evaluation of…

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate fewer and less varied play behaviors than children with typical development. This article describes two studies designed to increase two aspects of play complexity--diverse play actions and sequential play actions--in a child with ASD. In Study 1, we use a multitreatment single-case…