Due to the prevalence of words that cannot be read phonetically in the English language, sight word instruction is required to supplement phonics instruction. In this study, we manipulated stimulus disparity in sight word sets by comparing the effects of sets of sight words with the same initial letter (3 words per set, 3 total sets) versus…

Previous behavior-analytic research to improve dance performance has separately demonstrated the efficacy of TAGteach and self-evaluative video feedback. However, no research has directly compared these two interventions. In this study, we used an adapted alternating-treatment design to examine the effects of TAGteach versus self-evaluative video…

Using instructional strategies based on derived relational responding (DRR) to teach foreign-language targets may result in emergent, untrained foreign-language relations. One benefit of using DRR instructional strategies is the efficiency with which an individual acquires additional stimulus relations as a result of emergent responding following…

This study examined if listener behavior and responding by exclusion would emerge after training 3 participants with autism to tact stimuli. Tacts for 2 of 3 stimuli were directly trained using discrete trial training methodology and were followed by an auditory-visual discrimination probe in which auditory-visual discrimination by naming (i.e.,…

We compared the effects of the effects of self-instructions in the form of prose or song lyrics in the acquisition of gross motor tasks in 4 third-grade children. We taught participants 4 pairs of gross motor tasks, with one task in each pair taught with prose self-instructions and the other taught with song lyric self-instructions. Both…

We taught three children with visual impairments to make tactile discriminations of the braille alphabet within a matching-to-sample format. That is, we presented participants with a braille character as a sample stimulus, and they selected the matching stimulus from a three-comparison array. In order to minimize participant errors, we initially…

We evaluated a procedure for teaching two children, one typically developing and one with autism, a higher-order generalized operant response class of unscrambling sight words. The procedures were efficacious in teaching the participants to unscramble words appearing in isolation and in the context of a sentence, with 98% of the presented…

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of mand, tact, and native-to-foreign (NFI) and foreign-to-native (FNI) intraverbal training on the acquisition of a foreign language. We used a multiple-baseline design across participants with an embedded adapted alternating treatments design to compare the effects of mand training, tact…

Previous research has shown that praise is an effective reinforcer; however, few researchers have evaluated whether qualitative differences in praise affect responding. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of neutral, enthusiastic, and no praise on the rate of matching-to-sample acquisition during discrete-trial training…

Discrete-trial teaching is an effective teaching procedure that must be implemented with high integrity to produce optimal learning. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) has proven effective for staff training; however, BST is time and labor intensive. Computer-based instruction (CBI) programs may provide a more efficient and cost-effective…

Research has identified a variety of effective approaches for responding to errors during discrete-trial training. In one commonly used method, the therapist delivers a prompt contingent on the occurrence of an incorrect response and then re-presents the trial so that the learner has an opportunity to perform the correct response independently.…

Graphing is socially significant for behavior analysts; however, graphing can be difficult to learn. Video modeling (VM) may be a useful instructional method but lacks evidence for effective teaching of computer skills. A between-groups design compared the effects of VM, text-based instruction, and no instruction on graphing performance.…

We replicated and extended the findings of Haq and Kodak (2015) by evaluating the efficiency of massed and distributed practice for teaching tacts and textual and intraverbal behavior to 3 children with autism. Massed practice included all practice opportunities conducted on 1 day during each week, and distributed practice included practice…

The use of a simple-conditional discrimination training procedure, in which stimuli are initially taught in isolation with no other comparison stimuli, is common in early intensive behavioral intervention programs. Researchers have suggested that this procedure may encourage the development of faulty stimulus control during training. The current…

Despite the effectiveness and widespread use of functional communication training (FCT), resurgence of destructive behavior can occur if the functional communication response (FCR) contacts a challenge, such as lapses in treatment integrity. We evaluated a method to mitigate resurgence by conducting FCT using a multiple schedule of reinforcement…