Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing to Increase Vocalizations in Children with Language Delays: a Review.

Stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) is a procedure used to increase vocalizations in children with significant language delays. However, results from studies that have examined the effectiveness of SSP have been discrepant. The following review of the literature summarizes the results from 13 experiments published between 1996 and 2014 that used this procedure with children with language delays.

Stability of daily preference across multiple individuals.

Preference stability provides clues about the extent to which a clinician might be able to deliver a particular stimulus contingent on behavior as a reinforcer. Previous research has been somewhat mixed in terms of evidence for preference stability. Results of the current study are consistent with studies that have reported correlations between preference assessments, suggesting that preferences are relatively stable across time.

Mands for Information Using "How" Under EO-Absent and EO-Present Conditions.

The present study replicates and extends previous research on teaching "How?" mands for information to children with autism. The experimental preparation involved mand training in the context of completing preferred activities and included training and testing under conditions when the establishing operation (EO) was present and absent. Results show that two children with autism acquired mands for information using How? only in situations where information was valuable (i.

Mands for information using "who?" and "which?" in the presence of establishing and abolishing operations.

Treatments designed to teach mands for information have included prompting and differential reinforcement, as well as procedures to manipulate the relevant establishing operation (EO). However, previous studies have not included relevant abolishing operation (AO) conditions to ensure that the mand is under relevant antecedent control. Data on listener responses (i.

Direct assessment of preferences for social interactions in children with autism.

Qualitative and quantitative differences in social interactions are core symptoms of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic criteria, although there is heterogeneity among individuals with ASDs. This study used a concurrent operants arrangement to evaluate whether social interactions functioned as positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or as neutral stimuli for 6 individuals with autism. Data suggest that clinicians who work with individuals with ASD should ascertain the functional properties of social interactions prior to using them as a consequence in interventions.

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorders to mand for the removal of stimuli that prevent access to preferred items.

Mand training is often a primary focus in early language instruction and typically includes mands that are positively reinforced. However, mands maintained by negative reinforcement are also important skills to teach. These include mands to escape aversive demands or unwanted items.

The effects of the question "What do you want? "on mand training outcomes of children with autism.

Mands sometimes are taught using the question "What do you want?" as a supplement to the required features of the mand relation: an establishing operation and a related consequence. Although verbal prompts have been used during mand training, they also may result in undesirable stimulus control. However, no direct empirical evidence exists to support this concern.

An investigation of extinction-induced vocalizations.

Children with autism have significant communication delays. Although some children develop vocalizations through shaping and differential reinforcement, others rarely exhibit vocalizations, and alternative methods are targeted in intervention. However, vocal language often remains a goal for caregivers and clinicians.