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…

Telehealth is a broad term that describes the use of communication technologies to deliver diagnoses and educational services. Recent guidelines for practicing telehealth indicate that interventions directly delivered to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) via telehealth may be appropriate and effective. However, as few studies have…

Observational learning is an important mechanism for cognitive and social development. However, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying observational learning in children are not well understood. In this study, we used a probabilistic reward-based observational learning paradigm to compare behavioral and electrophysiological markers of…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have qualitative impairments in social interaction and often prefer food or tangible reinforcement to social reinforcement. Thus, therapists who work with children with ASD often use food or tangible items as reinforcers to increase appropriate behaviors or decrease problem behaviors. The goal of the…

A multiple probe design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a SMART Board used in conjunction with teacher delivered constant time delay (CTD) to teach environmental text to three young students with disabilities and minimal group learning experience during small group direct instruction. Observational learning, instructive…

Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may play with limited objects or toys, making it difficult for teachers to identify reinforcers to use in teaching new skills. The goal of this study was to alter children's preferences from highly preferred toys to toys that were originally less preferred using an observational pairing procedure.…

The authors describe an intervention for 3 preschoolers with disabilities who had low peer-related social competence. The intervention taught academic skills tailored to the need of each target student in small groups (triads) with two typically developing peers, using a progressive time delay procedure. Prior to instruction and separate from the…

We report an experiment in which observations of peers by six 3-5-year-old participants under specific conditions functioned to convert a small plastic disc or, for one participant, a small piece of string, from a nonreinforcer to a reinforcer. Prior to the observational procedure, we compared each participant's responding on (a) previously…

This study sought to further investigate the effects of an observational intervention for two participants on the reinforcing property of pieces of string. Pre-observational intervention data showed that the neutral stimuli (strings) did not function to reinforce two participants' responding to a performance task or learning three new skills that…

Five male preschool children were studied to determine the extent to which the generalized motor imitation model applies to vocal imitation. The use of a reinforced-imitation condition produced a systematic increase in verbal matching responses among three of the five children, which is consistent with previous studies. (SW)

Assessed whether the effects of vicarious reinforcement and observational learning were maintained and controlled by contingencies of reinforcement among six Japanese preschool children. Findings suggest that some effects of vicarious reinforcement and simple modeling were not maintained without direct reinforcement. (RH)

We tested the effects of a Peer-Yoked Contingency on students' acquisition of observational learning repertoires and collateral effects on naming. Three male middle school participants, diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disabilities, were selected for this study. The three participants did not have naming repertoires, and two of the three…

Examined the development of the ability of 5-, 9-, and 13-year-old children to produce elemental and complex facial movements intentionally. (Author/DB)

Experiment One results indicated that reciprocal imitation is not necessarily reciprocal, but is generalizable. Experiment Two showed that subsequent imitation effects, whether from observing others imitate or from being the target of the imitation, result from a process of imitation of imitativeness. (Author/RC)

The purpose of this study was to modify the affective behavior of three preschoolers with autism in home settings and in the context of play activities, and to compare the effects of video modeling to the effects of "in-vivo" modeling in teaching these children contextually appropriate affective responses. A multiple-baseline design across…