NATURALISTIC ANTECEDENT CONTROL AS A POSITIVE FACTOR IN THE"GENERALISATION OF NEWLY ACQUIRED "PLAY" BEHAVIORS IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN By THOMAS SHELDON WOODS 5.A., The Un i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, 1974 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Educational Psychology and S p e c i a l Education) We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming t o the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA A p r i l 1983 © Thomas S. Woods, 1983 In presenting t h i s thesis i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the Library s h a l l make i t f r e e l y available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of t h i s thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. I t i s understood that copying or publication of t h i s thesis for f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my written permission. The University of B r i t i s h Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 )E-6 (3/81) A b s t r a c t Four developmentally handicapped ( a u t i s t i c ) boys i n a treatment centre f o r behavior disordered c h i l d r e n were taught to perform c o l o u r -i n g and block-assembly " p l a y " responses w i t h i n the d i s c r e t e t r i a l format t r a i n i n g paradigm. Two s p e c i f i c t r a i n i n g s t r a t e g i e s were compared, one using n a t u r a l i s t i c , m a t e r i a l s - p r e s e n t a t i o n antecedent cues, and the other c o n t r i v e d , v e r b a l ones. G e n e r a l i s a t i o n across comparable tasks w i t h only n a t u r a l i s t i c cueing was probed. Findings i n d i c a t e d t h a t , with a l l p a r t i c i p a n t s , the choice o f antecedent cues f o r t r a i n i n g which were found i n the g e n e r a l i s a t i o n c o n d i t i o n was s t r o n g l y r e l a t e d to the degree to which l e a r n i n g c a r r i e d over. These r e s u l t s are discussed i n context of a behavioural c o n t r a s t account of f a i l u r e s to g e n e r a l i s e , and suggestions f o r f u t u r e remedial p r a c t i c e based upon the r e l a t e d t o p i c s of behavioural c o n t r a s t and antecedent c o n t r o l are o f f e r e d . Table of Contents Page Abstract i i Li s t of Tables y Li s t of Figures v i Acknowledgement v i i CHAPTER 1: STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1 CHAPTER 2: STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 3 CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 4 Current Views on Programming for Generality 4 A Theoretical Analysis of Problems i n Generality 7 Use Indiscriminable Contingencies 8 Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies 8 Programme Common Stimuli 9 Programming Common Antecedents: The Present Strategy 10 CHAPTER 4: METHOD 14 Response Definitions 14 Participants and Participant Selection 15 Experimental Design 18 Training and Probe Procedure 20 Tasks 21 Cue Conditions 22 Training and Generalisation Probes 22 Second Order Generalisation 25 R e l i a b i l i t y of Measurement 25 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS 28 Contrived Antecedent Control Condition 28 i i i Page N a t u r a l i s t i c Antecedent Control Condition 30 Second Order Generalisation 32 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION 33 Reference Notes 39 References 40 Appendix I: Tables 45 Appendix I I : Figures 49 i v L i s t of Tables Page Counterbalancing of P a r t i c i p a n t s , Cue Conditions § Experimental Tasks 46 I I . R e l i a b i l i t y of Measurement of the Dependent V a r i a b l e 47 I I I . Conformity of I n s t r u c t o r Performance to D i s c r e t e T r i a l Format S p e c i f i c a t i o n s 48 v L i s t o f Figures M u l t i p l e B a s e l i n e / M u l t i p l e Probe A n a l y s i s o f T r a i n i n g and G e n e r a l i s a t i o n under Contrived Antecedent C o n t r o l . M u l t i p l e B a s e l i n e / M u l t i p l e Probe A n a l y s i s o f T r a i n i n g and G e n e r a l i s a t i o n under N a t u r a l i s t i c Antecedent C o n t r o l . R a tio o f G e n e r a l i s a t i o n to T r a i n i n g Responses. v i Acknowledgement I wish to express my a p p r e c i a t i o n to the f o l l o w i n g persons, without whose support and guidance t h i s research would not have been p o s s i b l e . F i r s t , my w i f e , V i , and my c h i l d r e n , N i c o l a and Jesse, have t o l e r a t e d my absences and preoccupations over four long years o f part-time graduate study. V i , a behavioural/educational p r a c t i t i o n e r of longer standing than myself, has been an u n f a i l i n g a d v i s e r to me throughout t h i s and other work I have done over the past years. Her c a r e f u l l y considered c r i t i c i s m s and commentary have shaped my per-formance i n too many ways to mention here. As w e l l , I have been supported f u l l y i n t h i s endeavour by the Board and s t a f f of the Laurel House S o c i e t y . To the f a m i l i e s of Roger, J e r r o l d , Tony and N i g e l who so k i n d l y gave permission f o r the p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f t h e i r c h i l d r e n I a l s o g ive thanks. The p r o j e c t has been an e n r i c h i n g experience f o r me, and (I thi n k ) f o r them. Joanne Green, Marie Mandoli and L e s l i e Jones a s s i s t e d me by s e r v i n g as r e l i a b i l i t y checkers. Their v a l u a b l e s e r v i c e s deserve my r e c o g n i t i o n and thanks. Margaret Baskette, s e c r e t a r y o f the Department o f S p e c i a l Education, has been a c h e e r f u l , supportive and e f f e c t i v e a l l y . The r i g o u r s o f part-time study place e x t r a demands on many persons besides the student, i n c l u d i n g the departmental secretary. Margaret went to a v i i great deal o f t r o u b l e to a s s i s t i n overcoming the p i t f a l l s inherent to my part-time s i t u a t i o n , and I thank her warmly f o r t h a t . To the members of my Committee -- Drs. David C. Kendall ( C h a i r ) , Barry Munro, Barry Ledwidge and Marg Csapo -- a s p e c i a l acknowledgement o f my s i n c e r e a p p r e c i a t i o n . The un i f o r m l y high q u a l i t y o f t h e i r advice and feedback to me, and t h e i r d e d i c a t i o n to high standards o f s c h o l a r -s h i p have been an i n s p i r a t i o n throughout t h i s p r o j e c t . Dr. Kendall's w i l l i n g n e s s t o continue on as c h a i r o f my committee d e s p i t e h i s 1982-83 s a b b a t i c a l leave was a gesture of uncommon kindness. And, f i n a l l y , a word o f thanks t o Dr. Donald M. Baer of the U n i v e r s i t y o f Kansas f o r h i s continued encouragement (from a f a r ) of t h i s and other research endeavours I have undertaken. v i i i 1 CHAPTER 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In t h e i r everyday p r a c t i c e , educators, p s y c h o l o g i s t s , behaviour a n a l y s t s and others who provide remedial s e r v i c e s to the developmen-t a l l y handicapped c o n s t a n t l y face the problem o f g e n e r a l i s a t i o n . C l e a r l y , few would dispute t h a t the i n t r o d u c t i o n o f the methods o f behaviour a n a l y s i s to p r a c t i t i o n e r s i n t h e i r f i e l d s o f education and c l i n i c a l psychology has produced quantum change. Yet, i t has o f t e n been observed that the burgeoning technologies o f behaviour change and i n s t r u c t i o n have not been matched by comparable growth i n our a b i l i t y to maintain and g e n e r a l i s e the improvements witnessed i n the performance of our handicapped c l i e n t s (Koegel, Egel § Dunlap, 1980; Mirenda § Donnellan, Note 4; Stokes § Baer, 1977; Warren, Rogers-Warren, Baer & Guess, 1980; Wexler, 1973). As Warren, et a l . (1980) worded i t , "The task that now remains f o r both researchers and educa-t o r s i s to develop a technology f o r ensuring that both new s k i l l s and behaviour changes extend and maintain o u t s i d e o f t r a i n i n g " (p. 227). Most would agree that one of the more noteworthy d i f f e r e n c e s between developmentally handicapped c h i l d r e n and t h e i r normal peers i s i n the area o f "play". This a c t i v i t y has been the focus o f great a t t e n t i o n i n the f i e l d s of developmental psychology and education and the term (play) c a r r i e s many connotations, depending upon the theor-e t i c a l b i a s e s of those who observe p l a y behaviour. B e h a v i o u r i s t s ( c f . B i j o u £ Baer, 1978) who examine c h i l d development tend t o 2 emphasize the o p e r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n of "play" behaviours and t h e i r func-t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s to events i n the environment. Psychoanalytic inves-t i g a t o r s on the other hand provide elaborate inferences about i n t r a -psychic function -- indeed, Ekstein and Caruth (1976) have suggested that "[play] enables [the c h i l d ] to master the passi v e l y experienced traumatic events of h i s macrocosmic r e a l world by a c t i v e l y repeating them i n h i s microcosmic play world" (p. 311). From a s o c i a l v a l i d a -t i o n perspective (Wolf, 1978; Woods, 1983b), i t would seem that to many parents and teachers of the developmentally handicapped, some form of topographic correspondence to the "play" behaviour of "normal" c h i l d r e n s u f f i c e s to define "play". While i t may not be possible at t h i s time to t r a i n these c h i l d r e n to play i n as complex and as varied a way as do t h e i r normal age-mates, i t has c e r t a i n l y been possible to create repertoires of responding which share some impor-tant and v i s i b l e s i m i l a r i t i e s with those play patterns (cf. Koegel, Firestone, Kramme § Dunlap, 1974; Wells, Forehand, Hickey § Green, 1977) . This i n v e s t i g a t i o n has therefore approached the issue of def i n i n g "play" generally from the behaviour a n a l y t i c perspective, r e l y i n g upon s o c i a l v a l i d a t i o n (as described above) to guide the choice of target responses to oper a t i o n a l i s e as "play" behaviours. Quotation marks are therefore used here to set the "play" behaviours created i n t r a i n i n g f o r handicapped c h i l d r e n apart from those which a r i s e n a t u r a l l y i n the development of non-handicapped youngsters. As i s the case i n a l l areas of functioning where s k i l l s are developed and behaviours are changed, the issue of gene r a l i s a t i o n i s c e n t r a l i n the creation of a "play" r e p e r t o i r e . 3 CHAPTER 2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Given that programming f o r g e n e r a l i s a t i o n i s one of the most s i g n i f i c a n t challenges confronting the p r a c t i t i o n e r who serves the developmentally handicapped, t h i s research w i l l seek to (a) theor-e t i c a l l y reconceptualise problems of generality and c e r t a i n attempts which have been made thus f a r to remedy them; (b) derive from t h i s t h e o r e t i c a l analysis a systematic strategy (based upon the r o l e of antecedents i n inst r u c t i o n ) to promote generalisation i n performance; (c) apply the strategy to the development of s p e c i f i e d "play" res-ponses i n developmentally handicapped children; (d) evaluate the effectiveness i n promoting generality which accrues to the use of the strategy; (e) make suggestions as to the implications of the findings of the study f o r future remedial p r a c t i c e ; and (f) make recommendations as to possible changes i n methodology f o r future investigations of t h i s t o p i c , together with suggestions as to other possible research endeavours i n t h i s area. 4 CHAPTER 3 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Current Views on Programming f o r G e n e r a l i t y Trends i n the education of the s e v e r e l y handicapped l e a r n e r have r e c e n t l y shown a change i n emphasis. The h i s t o r i c a l tendency to b u i l d c u r r i c u l u m and i n s t r u c t i o n around developmental, academic p r i o r i t i e s has begun to s h i f t i n the d i r e c t i o n of f u n c t i o n a l programming (see Brown, Branston, Hamre-Nietupski, Pumpian, Certo § Grunewald, 1979) --programming which deri v e s i t s p r i o r i t i e s from e x p l i c i t surveys of the competencies r e q u i r e d by the student to f u n c t i o n i n r e l e v a n t environ-ments. These changes i n approach have brought with them a need f o r corresponding changes i n i n s t r u c t i o n a l technology. This need i s immediately apparent when we consider the c o n d i t i o n s under which handicapped l e a r n e r s , n otably the a u t i s t i c , are taught. In l a r g e measure, the trend away from teaching such i n d i v i d u a l s under simulated c o n d i t i o n s i n classrooms and then p a s s i v e l y a w a i t i n g g e n e r a l i s a t i o n d e r i v e s from the r e c o g n i t i o n that g e n e r a l i s a t i o n does not occur spontaneously. Stokes § Baer (1977), a f t e r c ataloguing and a n a l y s i n g e x i s t i n g knowledge p e r t a i n i n g to g e n e r a l i s a t i o n , suggested that " . . . perhaps the most pragmatic o r i e n t a t i o n f o r behaviour a n a l y s t s i s to assume th a t g e n e r a l i s a t i o n does not occur except through some form o f programming . . . " (p. 365). In t h e i r a n a l y s i s o f the c u r r e n t l y i m p l i c i t technology of gener-a l i s a t i o n , Stokes 8, Baer (1977) provided nine general cate g o r i e s w i t h i n which current p r a c t i c e s f a l l , v i z : T r a i n and Hope; Sequential 5 Modification; Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies; Train S u f f i c i e n t Exemplars; Train Loosely; Use Indiscriminable Contingencies; Programme Common St i m u l i ; Mediate Generalisation; and Train "to Generalise". As i n most operant methodology, the right-hand, conse-quence side of the three-term paradigm of operant learning i s most heavily emphasized. For the purposes of t h i s study, the following strategies s p e c i f i c a l l y w i l l be examined i n greater d e t a i l : Use Indiscriminable Contingencies, Introduce to Natural Maintaining Con-tingencies, and Programme Common S t i m u l i . These have been chosen because of t h e i r apparent linkage to the problem of behavioural contrast -- the nature of that r e l a t i o n s h i p i s explicated i n the pages that follow. A common d i f f e r e n t i a t o r of t r a i n i n g and po s t - t r a i n i n g environ-ments i s the scheduling of reinforcement found i n each. As a gen-era l r u l e , settings which are constituted f o r the purposes of changing behaviour or b u i l d i n g s k i l l s w i l l employ r i c h e r reinforcement sched-u l i n g ; the reinforcement p r a c t i c e s of personnel there also tend to d i f f e r from t h e i r counterparts i n non-training settings i n terms of re i n f o r c e r magnitude, latency, and so f o r t h . Stokes § Baer (1977) argue that to the extent that we can minimise these differences i n scheduling, we may an t i c i p a t e greater generality. In t h e i r words, " I f contingencies of reinforcement or punishment, or the s e t t i n g events that mark the presence or absence of those contingencies, are made indiscriminable, then g e n e r a l i s a t i o n may well be observed" (p. 358). This approach to ge n e r a l i s a t i o n i s re f e r r e d to as Use Indiscriminable Contingencies. 6 Closely a l l i e d to the foregoing i s a strategy described as Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies. This has appeared elsewhere i n the l i t e r a t u r e under the s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t designation of "Behavioral Trapping" (cf. Baer & Wolf, 1970). The approach involves the d e l i b e r a t e use of stable and natural contingencies "that can be trusted to operate i n the environment to which the subject w i l l return, or already occupies" (Stokes S Baer, 1977, p. 353); i n e f f e c t , a subject i s "trapped" i n s o f a r as he/she i s taught responses using the r e i n f o r c e r s found i n natural s e t t i n g s , thereby ensuring that his/her responding w i l l p e r s i s t (and hopefully d i v e r s i f y ) under the control of those r e i n f o r c e r s i n the p o s t - t r a i n -ing environment. The other most d i r e c t l y relevant strategy for encouraging generalisation i n the Stokes § Baer (1977) paper -- namely, Programme Common Stimuli -- i s the only one (other than Use Indiscriminable Contingencies) which d i r e c t l y a t t r i b u t e s major s i g n i f i c a n c e to res-ponse antecedents. Under t h i s heading, the authors describe various studies where the g e n e r a l i t y of learning appears to have been i n f l u -enced by the extent to which ambient s t i m u l i present i n a t r a i n i n g environment were represented i n a p o s t - t r a i n i n g environment. For example, Rincover and Koegel (1975) were able to enhance the generals i s a t i o n of i m i t a t i v e and i n s t r u c t i o n - f o l l o w i n g repertoires i n four a u t i s t i c c h i l d r e n by carrying over c e r t a i n stimulus features of the t r a i n i n g environment (such as tables and chairs) to the p o s t - t r a i n i n g s e t t i n g . S i m i l a r findings were obtained by Koegel § Rincover (1977) and Walker § Buckley (1972). 7 A Theoretical Analysis of Problems i n Generality C r i t i c s of behaviour analysis (e.g., Westby, 1966) have wrongly decried i t as an a t h e o r e t i c a l enterprise, and therefore lacking the standing and promise of a true science. While t h i s p o s i t i o n has been s u c c e s s f u l l y challenged by many writers (cf. Baer, Wolf § Risley, 1968; Hineline, 1980; Michael, Note 1; Paniagua § Baer, 1981; Skinner, 1969; Woods, 1980a, 1983a), i t i s generally acknowledged that p r a c t i -tioners of applied behaviour analysis devote less time than i s d e s i r -able to the problem of l i n k i n g t h e i r methods and findings to basic p r i n c i p l e s (see Deitz, 1978; Hayes, Rincover 5 Solnick, 1980; McReynolds, 1978; Pennypacker, 1981; Pierce § Epling, 1980; Woods, 1980a, 1982, 1983a, 1983b). In keeping, therefore, with the p r a c t i c e of deriving a r a t i o n a l e f o r intervention from i n t e r l o c k i n g t h e o r e t i c a l and empirical analyses, a t h e o r e t i c a l foundation f o r the g e n e r a l i s a t i o n -promoting strategy employed i n t h i s research i s here presented. The approach to f a c i l i t a t i n g g e neralisation which i s applied i n the present study i s based upon what might be described as a "behav-i o u r a l contrast" i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of f a i l u r e s to generalise. Reynolds (1961a, 1961b, 1961c, 1961d) and others (Brethower $ Reynolds, 1962; Catania, 1979; Hanson, 1959; Johnson, Bolstad & Lobitz, 1976; O'Brien, 1968; Waite § Osborne, 1972) have shown that when an organism d i s -criminates a d i f f e r e n c e between contingencies of reinforcement f o r the same behaviour i n separate s e t t i n g s , the strengthening of responding i n one s e t t i n g (analogous here to the treatment environment) i s followed by a concomitant weakening of responding i n the other (anal-ogous here to the non-treatment environment). This occurs despite 8 the absence of any systematic changes i n the reinforcement contingency i n the l a t t e r , adversely affected s e t t i n g . Teachers and behaviour the r a p i s t s w i l l immediately recognise i n t h i s the a l l - t o o - f a m i l i a r case of the c h i l d whose improvements at school are accompanied by reports of d e t e r i o r a t i o n at home. Others (most notably Gross 5 Drabman, 1981, and Koegel, Egel £ Dunlap, 1980) have ra i s e d the sub-j e c t of behavioural contrast i n t h e i r discussions of problems i n gene r a l i s a t i o n . The analysis advanced here proposes a synthesis of the knowl-edge cur r e n t l y a v a i l a b l e concerning behavioural contrast i n the context of the three strategies f o r promoting generalisation (as described by Stokes § Baer, 1977) highlighted above. S p e c i f i c a l l y , i t i s the contention of the author that, i n d i v i d u a l l y , each of the strategies i n question functions as i t does because i t serves to mitigate the e f f e c t s of behavioural contrast upon the g e n e r a l i s a t i o n of learned behaviour. Use Indiscriminable Contingencies. Inasmuch as behavioural contrast derives, as a phenomenon, from d i s c r i m i n a b i l i t y i n the contingencies of reinforcement across environments or sets of condi-t i o n s , any strategy which seeks to reduce or eliminate that d i s c r i m i n -a b i l i t y might reasonably be expected to weaken the p r o b a b i l i t y that a behavioural contrast e f f e c t w i l l be observed. Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies. Rincover $ Koegel (1975), Koegel £ Rincover (1977), Walker & Buckley (1972) and Woods (1980b, Note 2) have a l l systematically observed that the p r o b a b i l i t y that learning w i l l generalise i s d i r e c t l y affected by the 9 presence (In the g e n e r a l i s a t i o n environment) of ambient s t i m u l i found i n the t r a i n i n g environment. In p a r t i c u l a r , however, Koegel § Rincover (1977) were able to show th a t noncontingent reinforcement, as an ambient stimulus f a c t o r , enhanced the g e n e r a l i t y o f performance when i t was introduced randomly i n t o the g e n e r a l i s a t i o n s e t t i n g . From t h i s we may conclude t h a t , i n a d d i t i o n t o the t r a p p i n g phenomenon described above, the presence of s t i m u l i i n the t r a n s f e r s e t t i n g which are f a m i l i a r from the t r a i n i n g s e t t i n g f u n c t i o n s to produce a net r e d u c t i o n i n the degree of c o n t r a s t between the two. Note here that the s t i m u l i common to both s e t t i n g s are i n f a c t introduced as p a r t of consequence/contingency o p e r a t i o n s , yet n e c e s s a r i l y become par t o f the ambient stimulus array. These s t i m u l i may t h e r e f o r e be seen as s e t -t i n g events, which by t h e i r presence i n both environments, l o s e t h e i r a b i l i t y to d i f f e r e n t i a l l y "mark the presence of absence of . . . c o n t i n g e n c i e s " (Stokes $ Baer, 1977, p. 358). Programme Common S t i m u l i . Rincover § Koegel (1975), i n an approach very s i m i l a r t o that described above, s y s t e m a t i c a l l y c a r r i e d ambient s t i m u l i (such as t a b l e s and c h a i r s ) from a t r a i n i n g environ-ment t o a p o s t - t r a i n i n g one, and observed measurable improvements i n the g e n e r a l i t y o f l e a r n i n g . This method d i f f e r s from the foregoing i n t h a t these s t i m u l i were s t r i c t l y ambient (as opposed t o contingency r e l a t e d ) s t i m u l i i n the t r a i n i n g s e t t i n g , j u s t as they came to be ambient s t i m u l i i n the p o s t - t r a i n i n g s e t t i n g . Again, by v i r t u e o f t h e i r appearance i n both s e t t i n g s , these ambient s t i m u l i could not p o t e n t i a t e s u b j e c t s ' d i s c r i m i n a t i o n o f the presence or absence o f contingencies. 10 The foregoing argument has attempted to collapse under one rubric three formerly separate strategies for the promotion of generalisation. That rubric could be phrased, "Mitigate the Effects of Behavioural Contrast," of which Use Indiscriminable Contingencies, Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies, and Programme Common Stimuli are individual instances. To these might be added a fourth, new strategy entitled Programme Common Antecedents. This strategy differs from those previously listed to the extent that i t isolates the discrimin-ative stimuli e x p l i c i t l y manipulated in training as a special class of stimuli. The distinction i s most easily drawn i f the term "antecedents" is taken to refer to stimuli which are introduced into the environment specifically for training purposes, whereas "ambient stimuli" describes those which are present and more-or-less incidental to the behaviour change/instructional process. Programming Common Antecedents: The Present Strategy It has been observed that, traditionally, many antecedent cues are of a highly contrived nature in the instruction of the severely handicapped (Falvey, Brown, Lyon, Baumgart S Schroeder, 1980; Mirenda £ Donnellan, Note 4). This project therefore commenced with an informal examination of the play behaviours of "normal" toddlers, with one eye to the degree to which the cues which set these behaviours in motion are "natural" or "contrived". It was noted that when enter-ing a room, or happening upon a toybox in a corner, a toddler w i l l typically display a play response, spontaneously. Periodically, mothers or other caregivers w i l l respond with some form of social reinforcement, sometimes entailing an elaboration of the child's f i r s t 11 response. For example, a c h i l d who, upon c r e a t i n g a two-piece block assembly i s observed t o have done so by an a d u l t , i s l i k e l y to be t o l d , "Oh, aren't you c l e v e r ! Let's see i f we can't make a b i g t a l l b u i l d i n g l i k e the one where Daddy works?", whereupon the adult guides the c h i l d through an e l a b o r a t i o n / e x t e n s i o n o f h i s f i r s t response. S i m i l a r exchanges are witnessed between parents and young c h i l d r e n engaged i n many types o f e a r l y p l a y behaviour. The sequence where a c h i l d ' s p l a y response i s followed by a parent's reinforcement and e l a b o r a t i o n tends to be observed most o f t e n ; hence, the spontaneity of p l a y behaviour i n normal c h i l d r e n i s seldom a source of concern to t h e i r parents. C h i l d r e n w i t h developmental handicaps, on the other hand, are o f t e n described as demonstrating l i t t l e "spontaneous" p l a y (Wing, 1971) . More im p o r t a n t l y , even a f t e r i n t e n s i v e i n t e r v e n t i o n , a u t i s t i c c h i l d r e n i n p a r t i c u l a r continue to have major d i f f i c u l t i e s i n maintaining and g e n e r a l i s i n g the adaptive r e p e r t o i r e s b u i l t f o r them i n therapy (Lovaas, Koegel, Stevens § Long, 1973). I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to compare the i n t e r a c t i o n s i n "normal" f a m i l i e s described above to those which t y p i c a l l y o b t a i n between behaviour-disordered c h i l d r e n and t h e i r t h e r a p i s t s , parents, e t c . The same type of i n f o r m a l observation d i s c l o s e s that a much higher p r o p o r t i o n o f the behaviour o f the handicapped c h i l d i s under v e r b a l antecedent c o n t r o l . During h i s time i n the playroom, the developmentally handicapped c h i l d i s f r e q u e n t l y r e d i r e c t e d t o h i s t o y s , reminded where h i s books are, i n s t r u c t e d to f o l l o w step A w i t h step B. Without t h i s constant v e r b a l cueing, he tends t o be at best i n a c t i v e , or o f t e n o f f - t a s k and d i s r u p t i v e . 12 Ins t r u c t i o n a l programming f o r c h i l d r e n with severe behaviour and learn-ing disorders has become high l y systematised and has had impressive r e s u l t s . The d i s c r e t e t r i a l format (DTF), f o r example (Koegel, Russo £ Rincover, 1977; LaVigna, Traphagen, A l l e n , Cooke § Appoloni, 1978), has been employed to great advantage with a u t i s t i c and other behaviour-disordered c h i l d r e n . Like most operant approaches to e x p l i c i t l y teaching language, DTF s p e c i f i e s d i s t i n c t (antecedent) d i s c r i m i n a t i v e s t i m u l i , target responses, and consequent stimulus events. Most often, the antecedents are verbal (Lovaas, 1977, 1981); indeed, hierar c h i e s or " l e v e l s of assistance" i n t r a i n i n g procedures t y p i c a l l y designate verbal cues as the le a s t i n t r u s i v e (Fredericks, Riggs, Furey, Grove, , Moore, McDonnell, Jordan, Hanson, Baldwin § Wadlow, 1976). To the extent then that type of antecedent control appears to be a r e l i a b l e discriminator of t r a i n i n g and po s t - t r a i n i n g s e t t i n g s , i t i s suggested here that antecedents as a sp e c i a l c l a s s of s t i m u l i may bear examina-t i o n and manipulation as a unique fourth case of the strategy des-cribed above as M i t i g a t i n g the E f f e c t s of Behavioural Contrast. By bringing the learner's behaviour under "natural" stimulus control i n t r a i n i n g , i t may then be reasonable to expect better t r a n s f e r to post-t r a i n i n g conditions. In a word, i f developmentally handicapped a u t i s t i c c h i l d r e n perform poorly outside t r a i n i n g conditions, perhaps i t i s because we t r a i n them to attend and respond to verbal cues when, so often, p o s t - t r a i n i n g environments supply non-verbal ones. Woods (Note 3), i n the p i l o t project f o r the present study, con-ducted the only other comparable research examining r e l a t i o n s h i p s between types of antecedent co n t r o l and the generality of learning. In that i n v e s t i g a t i o n , two a u t i s t i c c h i l d r e n with l i m i t e d repertoires 13 of expressive language were taught to emit verbal tacts under two experimental conditions -- one employing contrived antecedents i n the t r a i n i n g process, and the other employing s o - c a l l e d n a t u r a l i s t i c antecedent s t i m u l i . S p e c i f i c a l l y , i n the contrived condition, language d e s c r i p t i v e of the environment on walks or of the pictures i n storybooks was evoked by queries such as, "What do you see there?" or "What i s happening on t h i s page?". On the other hand, i n the n a t u r a l i s t i c condition, the d e s c r i p t i v e language was occasioned by pauses and "expectant looks" as the antecedent s t i m u l i . It was found that although a c q u i s i t i o n was more rapid when verbal antecedents were employed, the gen e r a l i t y of the learning taught under n a t u r a l i s t i c stimulus control was i n fac t s u b s t a n t i a l l y better. 14 CHAPTER 4 METHOD Response D e f i n i t i o n s Two sets o f r e l a t e d p l a y behaviours (comprising the main dependent v a r i a b l e ) were chosen as t a r g e t responses i n t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n . They were o p e r a t i o n a l i s e d as f o l l o w s : 1. Colouring-1 (using a la r g e wax crayon and a s i n g l e page from a commercially a v a i l a b l e c o l o u r i n g book). A response was scored i f the p a r t i c i p a n t (with a back-and-forth and/or c i r c u l a r a c t i o n ) caused a v i s i b l e mark to be made w i t h i n any d i s t i n c t area of a f i g u r e o u t l i n e d on a s i n g l e page of a c o l o u r i n g book. Such d i s -t i n c t areas were set apart from one another by border l i n e s and/or by i n d e n t i t y (e.g., head, arm, t o r s o , hand, etc.) 2. Colouring-2 (using a small "wipe-off" crayon and "wipe-off" c o l o u r i n g book). A response was scored i f the p a r t i c i p a n t (with a back-and-forth and/or c i r c u l a r a c t i o n ) causes a v i s i b l e mark to be made w i t h i n any d i s t i n c t area of a f i g u r e o u t l i n e d on a s i n g l e page o f a "wipe-off" c o l o u r i n g book. Such d i s t i n c t areas were set apart from one another by border l i n e s and/or by i n d e n t i t y (e.g., legs vs. rungs o f a p i c t u r e d l a d d e r ) . 3. Assembly-1 (using l a r g e b r i s t l e b l o c k s o f m u l t i p l e shapes). A response was scored i f , by manual manipulation, the p a r t i c i p a n t caused two or more l a r g e , multiply-shaped b r i s t l e blocks to be f i t t e d together w i t h s u f f i c i e n t f o r c e as to remain together a f t e r 15 the p a r t i c i p a n t ' s hands had been withdrawn. S p e c i f i c a l l y , the number of " i n t e r f a c e s " between blocks were counted and recorded f o r each t r i a l . 4. Assembly-2 (using small b r i s t l e blocks of uniform shape). A response was scored i f , by manual manipulation, the p a r t i c i p a n t caused two or more small, uniformly shaped b r i s t l e blocks to be f i t t e d together with s u f f i c i e n t force as to remain together a f t e r the p a r t i c i p a n t ' s hands were withdrawn. S p e c i f i c a l l y , the number of " i n t e r f a c e s " between blocks.were counted and recorded f o r each t r i a l . P a r t i cipants and P a r t i c i p a n t Selection P a r t i c i p a n t number 1, Roger, i s a 7.11 year old boy who was admitted to a treatment centre for behaviour-disordered ch i l d r e n approximately f i v e months p r i o r to the beginning of t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n . Roger was described by the l o c a l Diagnostic Centre as being a c h i l d with " i n f a n t i l e autism and delayed development" -- major presenting complaints at the time of admission r e l a t e d to h y p e r a c t i v i t y , l i m i t e d language, aggressive and destructive behaviours, and a tendency to engage i n high rates of s e l f - s t i m u l a t i o n . His s e l f - s t i m u l a t o r y r i t u a l s included r e p e t i t i v e " s i f t i n g " of small objects and dashing from one l o c a t i o n to another. Roger displays few i f any normal play s k i l l s and both h i s natural parents and h i s temporary f o s t e r parents have expressed a desire to see him develop the a b i l i t y to amuse himself i n a more productive, independent fashion. 16 Jerrold, participant number 2, is a 4.5 year old boy who has been a residential client of the treatment centre for approximately six months. Jerrold is the child of a single parent who lives in a small community in the northern part of the province; although his problems in functioning are considerable, i t is likely that were his family to live within a reasonable distance of the centre, he would, like Roger, have taken his place in the day programme. This boy was initially referred to the Child Development Centre in his own community because of a diagnosed "severe behaviour disorder and language delay." The staff of that centre, as well as ah inservice resource team which provided them consultation and training, agreed that Jerrold required more intensive service than he was receiving in his home community --hence the referral to the treatment centre. His delays in self-care skills, language and social behaviour, in addition to his self-injurious face-hitting and tantrum responses were the main precipitating factors in that decision. Like Roger, Jerrold displays few independent play skills and so claims a significant amount of adult attention throughout most of the day. The development of an independent play repertoire of some kind was considered essential to prepare him for his return home and to the school system. The third participant, Tony, was admitted to the residential programme at the centre two years, 11 months prior to the commencement of this investigation. He had been diagnosed as autistic, although it was suggested that some of his autistic features and sk i l l deficits may be secondary to "organic damage". This has not been verified, however. Tony is 8.1 years of age, has a normal monozygotic twin 17 brother, and a sister one year his junior. The major presenting complaints at the time of Tony's admission were related to his extremely violent aggressive and tantrumous behaviours; in addition, he dis-played many digital stereotypies and a variety of forms of self-stimulatory screaming and noise-making. Tony's tantrums and aggression have been virtually the most challenging of those seen at the treatment centre and have dominated his programming over his stay as a residen-tial client. Concurrently (behaviour management issues permitting) instruction has been provided in self-care sk i l l development (i.e., dressing, feeding, toileting) and communication. Significant progress has been seen in these two areas, particularly since the rates of aggression and tantrumming have declined. Tony has essentially no "play" skills and so the development of some independent, self-directed leisure behaviours is considered a priority for him. Nigel, the fourth participant, was admitted 19 months before this investigation commenced and is 10.7 years of age. He has been diagnosed as having autistic features and a severe behaviour disorder in association with tuberous sclerosis. Like Tony, Nogel's temper tantrums and his severe self-injurious head banging and face slapping behaviours received the major part of the emphasis during most of his time at the centre to date, with some concurrent programming in self^ care and communication. Nigel's "play" repertoire consists essentially of repetitive page-turning behaviour with books and catalogues. Formal standardised testing, because of problem behaviour, could not be conducted in conventional ways with any of these boys. Comments such as "whether or not a general cognitive retardation is also in-volved is not determinable at present, although he is clearly functioning 18 i n the MR range" (taken from a psychological assessment i n Roger's f i l e ) i s t y p i c a l of the contents of such reports f o r these, and most other c l i e n t s of the f a c i l i t y . Roger and J e r r o l d were chosen as p a r t i c i p a n t s f o r t h i s i n v e s t i g a -t i o n p r i m a r i l y because the development of generalised "play" behaviours i s considered a p r i o r i t y i n t h e i r programming. Since Roger and J e r r o l d have each been admitted to the centre r e l a t i v e l y recently, they have as yet received comparatively l i t t l e intervention, of which none has addressed the question of play i n p a r t i c u l a r . Tony and Nigel, on the other hand, have been r e s i d e n t i a l c l i e n t s f o r considerably longer. While the evolution of a r e p e r t o i r e of "play" behaviours i s s i m i l a r l y a p r i o r i t y f o r them, t h i s area has had to take second place to the extensive d i f f i c u l t i e s i n behaviour management, s e l f - c a r e , and communi-cation described above. Experimental Design Training sessions were conducted approximately four times weekly, each of which consisted of one block of f i v e t r i a l s on each of the experimental tasks. Training data are therefore charted i n terms of the number of independent target responses per f i v e - t r i a l session. The i n v e s t i g a t i o n employed a M u l t i p l e Baseline Across Subjects and Behaviours design (Bailey § Bostow, 1979) to assess the impact of t r a i n i n g upon the above-described play behaviours of the four p a r t i c i -pants. This design i s described (by Bailey and Bostow) as a variant upon the M u l t i p l e Baseline designs presented by Baer, Wolf § Risley (1968) and Hersen § Barlow (1976) and has appeared i n other research (cf. Briscoe, Hoffman § Bailey, 1975; Woods, Note 3). Baseline 19 measurement o f pre-treatment performance was conducted on a l l tasks f o r a l l f o u r p a r t i c i p a n t s , but was extended f o r an a d d i t i o n a l b lock o f f i v e t r i a l s f o r each successive p a r t i c i p a n t to s a t i s f y the "temporal stagger" requirements of the m u l t i p l e b a s e l i n e design (Hersen § Barlow, 1976). The design a l s o incorporated a M u l t i p l e Probe Technique component ( c f . Horner § Baer, 1978) t o assess the comparative e f f e c t s of the n a t u r a l i s t i c vs. c o n t r i v e d antecedent cue c o n d i t i o n s upon general-i s a t i o n o f the p l a y r e p e r t o i r e s b u i l t i n t r a i n i n g . S p e c i f i c a l l y , at every f i f t h t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n , f i v e g e n e r a l i s a t i o n probe t r i a l s per task were randomly intermixed w i t h the t r a i n i n g t r i a l s to determine the extent o f t r a n s f e r . G e n e r a l i s a t i o n probe data are superimposed i n histogram form) upon t r a i n i n g data p l o t s to a i d i n v i s u a l i n s p e c t i o n a n a l y s i s o f the r e s u l t s of t h i s research ( c f . Parsonson Baer, 1978). The small N_ (4) which c h a r a c t e r i s e s t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n was not considered r e s t r i c t i v e i n view of the f a c t that the design i s derived from an e s t a b l i s h e d s i n g l e - s u b j e c t methodology ( c f . Baer, Wolf § R i s l e y , 1968; Bostow § B a i l e y , 1979; Hersen $ Barlow, 1976; Horner & Baer, 1978; Sidman, 1960). That methodology i s arguably s u p e r i o r to group comparison approaches i n research such as t h i s because i t i s most responsive to i n t r a - s u b j e c t v a r i a b i l i t y , w h i l e not s u f f e r i n g the problems of averaging e f f e c t s which are a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l group comparison designs (Bergin $ Strupp, 1972; Chassan, 1967; Hersen § Barlow, 1976). Because t h i s study r e p l i c a t e s across a t o t a l of four b a s e l i n e s per task (one f o r each p a r t i c i p a n t ) , i t conforms w i t h the recommendation of Hersen § Barlow (1976) that "a minimum of three to four b a s e l i n e s [be employed] i f p r a c t i c a l and experimental considera-t i o n s permit" (p. 227). 20 With respect to the multiple-probe comparison component, Horner § Baer (1978) have highlighted advantages over continuous baseline mea-surement primarily with respect to reactivity. Precedents for the use of this multiple-probe analysis in other studies of generalisation are common in the literature (see Baer § Guess, 1971; Streifel, Bryan $ Akins, 1974; Streifel $ Weatherby, 1973). Training and Probe Procedure As described above, this investigation examined the play behaviour of the participants when exposed to predetermined, chronologically age-appropriate toys. Specifically, participants were taught to colour within specified boundaries in books and on worksheets, and to assemble two types of bristle blocks into multi-block combinations/shapes. Two distinct criteria were set in advance to determine the termination of training. The first (which was actually employed), related to arrival at the point where four generalisation probe sessions had been conducted The choice of this criterion was based upon a concern that an excessive number of generalisation probe trials (with their necessarily "scaled down" reinforcement) may in fact become reactive -- specifically acting to extinguish previous learning (see Horner 8, Baer, 1978, for a discus-sion of the advantages of the multiple probe design with respect to this problem of potential reactivity). Second, a decision to termin-ate would alternatively have been based upon there appearing 13 out of any 15 successive data points in a declining trend, had such a trend been witnessed. It has been noted elsewhere (Ritvo, 1977; Woods, 1981) that acquisition patterns in the autistic/severely behaviour disordered do not always conform to linear types of analysis; sporadic peak and 21 plateau patterns are often recognised i n the performance data of such i n d i v i d u a l s . Therefore, a rather large quantity of poorly-trended data was chosen here to define a contraindication f o r continued t r a i n -ing. Data which represent a "plateau" were not included i n t h i s c r i t e r i o n f o r s i m i l a r reasons; i n addition, there i s some evidence i n the l i t e r a t u r e to support the contention that "consolidation" e f f e c t s accrue to overtraining, despite the absence of p o s i t i v e l y trended a c q u i s i t i o n data (Chasey, 1971; Mandler § Kuhlman, 1961; Van Houten, Note 6). The l i k e l i h o o d that overtraining e f f e c t s might serve to confound the independent v a r i a b l e under study with respect to gener-a l i s a t i o n i s considered minimal i n context of the negative findings (with a u t i s t i c subjects) of B r i t t e n , Schreibman § Baer (Note 7). Tasks. As the response d e f i n i t i o n section above d i s c l o s e s , par-t i c i p a n t s i n t h i s study were taught s p e c i f i c colouring and assembly play responses. Tasks were counterbalanced across subjects, v i z : two chi l d r e n were train e d to colour i n d i v i d u a l pages from a commercially a v a i l a b l e book with a large wax crayon (generalisation probes conducted with smaller "wipe-off" crayon and "wipe-off" books) whereas the two others were train e d with "wipe-off" books and smaller "wipe-off" cray-ons, and probed f o r generality i n t h e i r performance with the wax crayon and the colouring book pages. The pattern was e s s e n t i a l l y the same on the second task -- that i s , the p a r t i c i p a n t s were taught to assemble multi-block structures using two types of block-assembly material. Two p a r t i c i p a n t s were train e d with larger, multiply-shaped b r i s t l e blocks, with g e n e r a l i s a t i o n to smaller, uniformly shaped b r i s t l e blocks probed; the two others were trained on small, 22 uniformly shaped b r i s t l e blocks with probes for generality conducted using the larger, multiply-shaped ones. This counterbalancing of the training/probing status against actual tasks was done to control for any systematic effects which might be attributable to unexpected inherent differences i n the tasks themselves. Cue Conditions. This study s p e c i f i c a l l y proposed to examine differences i n the generalisation of play behaviours occasioned by two d i s t i n c t types of antecedent stimulus or cue. Training within the contrived cue condition employed verbal antecedents, whereas t r a i n i n g within the " n a t u r a l i s t i c " cue condition employed a "materials presen-t a t i o n " type of discriminative stimulus (S*^ ) similar to that reported by Halle, Marshall § Spradlin (1979). S p e c i f i c a l l y , contrived verbal cues consisted of trainer requests such as, " I t ' s time to play" or "Let's b u i l d a tower." Natural cues, on the other hand, consisted of a simple placement of the task materials on the table within the child's reach. Training cue conditions were also counterbalanced over tasks. Table j presents a l l information regarding the counterbalancing of participants, cue conditions and tasks. Training and Generalisation Probes. Given the differences i n cue conditions described above, the remainder of the tra i n i n g process followed conventional operant t r a i n i n g l i n e s . Sessions commenced with the trainer and participant seated on stools opposite one another, with a desk-level table between them. Each t r i a l began with the trainer delivering the S^ (whichever was appropriate according to condition) following which a limited hold of 5 seconds then came into effect. I f the c h i l d began to exhibit a target response (e.g., i f he produced a 23 coloured mark at least p a r t i a l l y within the designated boundaries or i f he succeeded i n f i t t i n g two or more block-materials together) within the l i m i t e d hold of 5 seconds, he was r e i n f o r c e d with a form of 'sus-t a i n i n g s o c i a l reinforcement' such as "good . . . very good" so as not to a r t i f i c i a l l y l i m i t the quantity of h i s performance. When a period of 5 seconds of no further a c t i v i t y passed, the c h i l d ' s res-ponding was deemed to be f i n i s h e d and he was reinforced vigorously ( i . e . , with a physical component such as a pat-on-the-back) for h i s play behaviour i n a manner which, by modeling, also expanded upon what the c h i l d himself had done (e;g., "Yes, that's the idea . . . l e t ' s see i f we can f i l l i n a few more of these squares" or "Very nice . . . i f we add a couple more of these here, we'll have a r e a l l y b i g tower!"). S p e c i f i c a l l y , the t r a i n e r guided the c h i l d ' s hands to completion of a more elaborate response, be i t a larger number of coloured areas or a larger number of connected blocks. On occasions where a c h i l d e i t h e r f a i l e d to respond within the l i m i t e d hold of 5 seconds, or displayed materials-related behaviours which were tangential to the target responses, a response was modeled by the i n s t r u c t o r i n a fashion s i m i l a r to that found i n the mand-modeling procedures reported by Rogers-Warren 5 Warren (1979) and Halle (Note 5). Response-modeling c l o s e l y resembled the elaboration feature of the reinforcement described above. S p e c i f i c a l l y , again, by guiding the p a r t i c i p a n t ' s own hands, block-assembly or colouring target responses were prompted to completion. Following the execution of the response (independently or with prompting, as the case may be), the t r i a l was considered to be terminated, at which point a 10 second i n t e r t r i a l 24 i n t e r v a l began. I n t h e c a s e o f t h e c o n t r i v e d a n t e c e d e n t c o n d i t i o n , t h e i n s t r u c t o r s i m p l y t u r n e d a s i d e and marked t h e t r i a l d a t a ; however, un d e r t h e n a t u r a l i s t i c a n t e c e d e n t c o n d i t i o n , t h e t r a i n i n g m a t e r i a l s were a l s o removed from w i t h i n t h e p a r t i c i p a n t ' s r e a c h a t t r i a l - e n d so t h a t t h e y c o u l d be p l a c e d back on t h e t a b l e (as t h e m a t e r i a l s -p r e s e n t a t i o n S^) f o r t h e n e x t t r i a l . T h i s t r a i n i n g p a r a d i g m , i n c l u d i n g t h e d u r a t i o n s f o r i n t e r t r i a l i n t e r v a l s , l i m i t e d h o l d s , and so f o r t h , d e r i v e s from e s t a b l i s h e d d i s c r e t e t r i a l f o r m a t c o n v e n t i o n , as r e p o r t e d by r e s e a r c h e r s such as K o e g e l , Russo & R i n c o v e r (1977) and L a V i g n a , e t a l . (1978) . Whereas t r a i n i n g was c o n d u c t e d under e i t h e r c o n t r i v e d o r n a t u r a l c o n d i t i o n s , g e n e r a l i s a t i o n p r o b e s a l w a y s employed n a t u r a l c u e s , on t h e p r e s u m p t i o n d e s c r i b e d above t h a t n o n - v e r b a l a n t e c e d e n t s a r e more common i n s e t t i n g s and s i t u a t i o n s t o w h i c h p l a y b e h a v i o u r s must u l t i m a t e l y g e n e r a l i s e . Such p r o b e s were r u n a f t e r e v e r y f i v e t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n s , and were i d e n t i c a l t o t h e t r a i n i n g under t h e n a t u r a l cue c o n d i t i o n w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n t h a t t h e y were randomly i n t e r m i x e d w i t h t r a i n i n g t r i a l s on a "probe day". To m i n i m i s e t h e l i k e l i h o o d t h a t t h e p r o b e t r i a l s w o u l d r e s u l t i n a d v e n t i t i o u s t r a i n i n g ( o r i n d e e d i n e x t i n c t i o n ) o n l y one randomly chosen p r o b e t r i a l p e r p r o b e day was r e i n f o r c e d i n a manner c o n s i d e r a b l y s c a l e d down t o " m a i n t e n a n c e " p r o p o r t i o n s ( i . e . , e s s e n t i a l l y t h e same as t h e " s u s t a i n i n g " r e i n f o r c e -ment d e s c r i b e d above, and i n t h e s e c t i o n below on R e l i a b i l i t y ) . As w e l l , no r e s p o n s e - e l a b o r a t i o n f i g u r e d i n t h e r e i n f o r c e m e n t a p p l i e d on g e n e r a l i s a t i o n p r o b e s , a g a i n , t o m i n i m i s e t h e p o t e n t i a l f o r t h e i r becoming t r a i n i n g t r i a l s . 25 Second order gene r a l i s a t i o n. In addition to the probes f o r gener a l i s a t i o n described above, spontaneous carry-over to free-play s i t u a t i o n s which r o u t i n e l y occur at lunch and coffee-break times was assessed. The supervising s t a f f members at those times were trained to observe and record any of the target behaviours which occurred. The experimental materials were l e f t a v a i l a b l e i n the play area at such times. R e l i a b i l i t y of Measurement R e l i a b i l i t y of measurement was assessed independently by record-ers naive to the purposes of the study. R e l i a b i l i t y probes were conducted i n a l l phases, a l l conditions, and across a l l p a r t i c i p a n t s . Block assembly responses were measured concurrently by a r e l i a b i l i t y checker during the sessions; however, because of the d i f f i c u l t i e s associated with scoring the colouring performance (related to the time required), coloured sheets were evaluated at times outside the actual sessions. Interobserver agreement was calculated with a formula which divides agreements by the sum of agreements and disagreements, and m u l t i p l i e s the r e s u l t i n g f i g u r e by 100. TableII presents the r e l i -a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t s broken down according to task and experimental condition. Insofar as i t has been recently argued that independent variables i n applied behaviour analysis have received i n s u f f i c i e n t a ttention with regard to r e l i a b i l i t y (Peterson, Homer £ Wonderlich, 1982), t h i s study also included probes to v e r i f y conformity of i n s t r u c t o r performance with the s p e c i f i c a t i o n s f o r d i s c r e t e t r i a l i n s t r u c t i o n described above. S p e c i f i c a l l y , the following i n s t r u c t o r behaviours (independent variables) were recorded: 26 1. Cue c o n d i t i o n . A n a t u r a l i s t i c " m a t e r i a l s p r e s e n t a t i o n " cue was recorded i f the i n s t r u c t o r i n i t i a t e d the l e a r n i n g t r i a l by moving the t r a i n i n g m a t e r i a l s from a p o s i t i o n out of the p a r t i c i p a n t ' s reach to a p o s i t i o n w e l l w i t h i n h i s reach. Conversely, a con-t r i v e d " v e r b a l " antecedent was recorded i f throughout the s e s s i o n the m a t e r i a l s remained w i t h i n the p a r t i c i p a n t ' s reach and the i n s t r u c t o r i n i t i a t e d the l e a r n i n g t r i a l w i t h a v e r b a l i n s t r u c t i o n such as "Colour" or " B u i l d a tower." 2. Limited h o l d . A l l t r a i n i n g was conducted i n c l o s e p r o x i m i t y to a quartz c l o c k which i s equipped w i t h a sweep second hand. The t a r g e t t e d 5 seconds of l i m i t e d h o l d were recorded i f a maximum pe r i o d of 5 seconds (+/- 1 second) elapsed between the i n t r o d u c t i o n of the i n s t r u c t i o n a l cue and the emission of a response by the p a r t i c i p a n t . 3. Response t e r m i n a t i o n . A response was recorded as terminated i f 5 seconds of non-target responding elapsed a f t e r the commencement of t a r g e t responding. 4. Prompt. The p a r t i c i p a n t ' s response was recorded as having been prompted i f , f o l l o w i n g 5 seconds o f l i m i t e d h o l d , or the emission of an o f f - t a s k response w i t h i n the l i m i t e d h o l d , the i n s t r u c t o r grasped the p a r t i c i p a n t ' s hands and guided him to execute the t a r g e t response. 5. S u s t a i n i n g reinforcement. The d e l i v e r y of ongoing s u s t a i n i n g reinforcement was recorded i f the i n s t r u c t o r made comments such as "Good . . . t h a t ' s a n i c e j o b " w h i l e the p a r t i c i p a n t was engaged i n t a r g e t responding. 27 6. Pos t - t e r m i n a t i o n reinforcement. The d e l i v e r y of post t e r m i n a t i o n reinforcement was recorded i f the i n s t r u c t o r provided a combina-t i o n o f "animated" s o c i a l reinforcement and p h y s i c a l feedback (such as a t o u s l i n g of the h a i r , handshake, etc.) f o l l o w e d by a b r i e f modeling/elaboration o f t a r g e t responding ( i . e . , guid-ance o f p a r t i c i p a n t ' s hands i n f i t t i n g more blocks together, or i n c o l o u r i n g more uncoloured areas, e t c . ) . 7. I n t e r t r i a l i n t e r v a l . The presence o f an i n t e r t r i a l i n t e r v a l was recorded i f a minimum p e r i o d o f 10 seconds o f non - i n s t r u c -t i o n a l time ( i . e . , no d e l i v e r y o f antecedents, modeling, prompt-i n g , and/or responding) elapsed a f t e r the t e r m i n a t i o n of the reinforcement component of the preceding t r i a l . R e l i a b i l i t y o f the independent v a r i a b l e i s expressed i n terms o f the conformity o f the t r a i n e r ' s a c t u a l i n s t r u c t i o n a l performance to the above s p e c i f i c a t i o n s . Percentage conformity f i g u r e s are provided f o r each o f the seven c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f i n s t r u c t i o n a l behaviour given above i n Table I I I (again, broken down i n terms o f experimental c o n d i t i o n ) . 28 CHAPTER 5 RESULTS Contrived Antecedent Control Condition Figure 1 presents a multiple baseline analysis of a l l t r a i n i n g and probe data gathered under the contrived (verbal) antecedent cueing condition. J e r r o l d and Tony made no target responses whatever during baseline on e i t h e r the t r a i n i n g or the probe tasks; Roger and Nigel made t o t a l s of 2 and 1, re s p e c t i v e l y . These l e v e l s of performance operationalise an e s s e n t i a l l y non-functional l e v e l of a b i l i t y i n colouring and block assembly p r i o r to t r a i n i n g f o r a l l p a r t i c i p a n t s . Roger was train e d to colour on pages of a colouring book with large wax crayons under the contrived cue condition. His data show a s l i g h t l y delayed change i n l e v e l and slope following the onset of t r a i n i n g . In the context of changes witnessed i n the performance of other p a r t i c i p a n t s i n the multiple baseline (see Figure 1), t h i s may be considered evidence of experimental c o n t r o l , inasmuch as i t has been argued ( c f . Parsonson § Baer, 1978, p. 126ff) that abruptness i n behavioural change need not be regarded as a necessary c r i t e r i o n of "good" data. Following the short delay, the slope of Roger's a c q u i s i -t i o n curve becomes very steep, s t a b i l i s i n g a f t e r the ninth t r a i n i n g session i n the range of 90 independent responses per session. Roger's probe data (represented by the histograms i n Figure 1) describe h i s performance on the small crayon/wipe-off book probe task. They reveal considerable carryover on the f i r s t probe (50 responses), but t h i s 29 t r a n s f e r i s not maintained th e r e a f t e r , dropping to 0 on the three remaining probes. J e r r o l d was trained to assemble small, uniform b r i s t l e blocks i n t o d i f f e r i n g shapes and configurations under the contrived (verbal) cue condition, and the generality of h i s learning was probed on large, multiply-shaped b r i s t l e blocks. J e r r o l d ' s t r a i n i n g data d i s c l o s e an immediate change i n l e v e l and slope following commencement of i n s t r u c -t i o n , r i s i n g to approximately 30 independent responses per session as of the ninth session. Performance did s t a b i l i s e f o r several blocks of t r i a l s , but near the end of t r a i n i n g declined and p a r t i a l l y r e s t a b i -l i s e d i n the 20 independent response range. Like Roger, J e r r o l d d i s -played performance close to h i s t r a i n i n g performance on early general-i s a t i o n probes -- indeed h i s carryover p e r s i s t e d through two of these. However, i t then declined to 0 f o r the f i n a l two. Tony's block assembly s k i l l s were t r a i n e d with large, m u l t i p l y -shaped b r i s t l e blocks under the contrived (verbal) cueing condition. Generalisation across small, uniformly shaped b r i s t l e blocks was probed. Training data reveal a s l i g h t l y delayed, modest change i n l e v e l and slope i n i t i a l l y , followed by a rapid r i s e to the 15-20 independent response range as of the f i f t h session. Performance remained r e l a t i v e l y stable u n t i l the 15th session at which point i t rose sharply, s t a b i l i s i n g at about 25 independent responses per session. Unlike Roger and J e r r o l d , no carry over to the generalisation task was observed f o r Tony during any of the probes. 30 Nigel was trained (under the contrived cue condition) to colour with small crayons on wipe-off colouring books, and the generality of h i s learning was assessed on probes which employed large crayons and pages from standard colouring books. Nigel's t r a i n i n g data reveal an immediate but modest change i n l e v e l and slope which accelerates quickly as of the t h i r d session. A f t e r r i s i n g to the 45 independent responses range, Nigel's data continue to show considerable v a r i a t i o n but generally reveal a s l i g h t upward trend r e s o l v i n g i n the range of 55 responses per session as of the end of t r a i n i n g . As was the case with Tony, no tr a n s f e r of t r a i n i n g e f f e c t s to the generalisation task was found to occur on any of the probes. N a t u r a l i s t i c Antecedent Control Condition Figure 2 presents a multiple baseline analysis of a l l t r a i n i n g and probe data gathered under the n a t u r a l i s t i c (materials-presentation) antecedent cue condition. Roger made no target responses on eit h e r the t r a i n i n g or the probe tasks during baseline; J e r r o l d , Tony and Nigel's p r e - t r a i n i n g performances fluctuated between 0 and 3 responses per session and was untrended. Again, such data may be taken as an operational d e f i n i t i o n of a non-functional l e v e l of a b i l i t y i n colour-ing and block assembly p r i o r to i n s t r u c t i o n f o r a l l p a r t i c i p a n t s . Roger was trained to assemble large, multiply-shaped b r i s t l e blocks under the n a t u r a l i s t i c cue condition. His t r a i n i n g data reveal an immediate change i n slope and l e v e l following the commencement of i n s t r u c t i o n . His a c q u i s i t i o n curve i s accelerated to about the 11th session at which point i t s t a b i l i s e s i n the range of 44 independent sessional responses. Roger's performance on generalisation probes 31 t e n d e d t o e m u l a t e h i s p e r f o r m a n c e i n t r a i n i n g . Each o f t h e f i r s t t h r e e p r o b e s c o r e s r i s e s i n c o n c e r t w i t h t h e i n c r e a s e s seen i n t r a i n -i n g ; t h e f i n a l p r o b e s c o r e d r o p s , however, b u t n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l y . J e r r o l d was t r a i n e d ( w i t h n a t u r a l i s t i c a n t e c e d e n t s ) t o c o l o u r on w i p e - o f f c a r d s w i t h s m a l l c r a y o n s . The g e n e r a l i t y o f h i s l e a r n i n g was p r o b e d w i t h l a r g e c r a y o n s and pages from a c o l o u r i n g book. There i s a b r i e f (two s e s s i o n ) d e l a y i n t h e o n s e t o f a t r a i n i n g e f f e c t , f o l l o w e d by a s h a r p l y a c c e l e r a t e d p a t t e r n o f a c q u i s i t i o n w h i c h s t a b i l i s e s b r i e f l y between 35 and 40 i n d e p e n d e n t r e s p o n s e s p e r s e s s i o n , drops b r i e f l y t o t h e 14 r e s p o n s e r a n g e , and t h e n c o n t i n u e s t o i n c r e a s e and s t a b i l i s e once a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 47, t h e n 67, and f i n a l l y c o n c l u d e s a t 80 i n d e p e n d e n t r e s p o n s e s . J e r r o l d ' s a c q u i s i t i o n p a t t e r n r e v e a l s e x p e r i m e n t a l c o n t r o l , b u t t h e r e i s c o n s i d e r a b l e v a r i a b i l i t y e v i d e n t -in h i s r e s p o n d i n g under t h e t r a i n i n g c o n d i t i o n . As was t h e c a s e w i t h Roger, J e r r o l d ' s p r o b e p e r f o r m a n c e t e n d s t o m i r r o r h i s t r a i n i n g p e r -formance. He b e g i n s w i t h a s c o r e on h i s f i r s t p robe w h i c h f a l l s r o u g h l y i n t h e r a n g e o f h i s a c q u i s i t i o n d a t a a t t h a t p o i n t . The second probe d i s c l o s e s a s u b s t a n t i a l d r op w h i c h c o r r e s p o n d s t o a s i m i l a r d e c l i n e i n t r a i n i n g p e r f o r m a n c e and, f o l l o w i n g t h a t , p r o b e s c o r e s r i s e s t e e p l y t o t h e r a n g e s where t r a i n i n g d a t a have g e n e r a l l y s t a b i l i s e d . Tony was t r a i n e d t o c o l o u r pages from a s t a n d a r d c o l o u r i n g book w i t h l a r g e wax c r a y o n s u n d e r n a t u r a l i s t i c a n t e c e d e n t c o n t r o l . G e n e r a l -i s a t i o n was p r o b e d a c r o s s t h e s m a l l c r a y o n / w i p e - o f f book t a s k . A c q u i -s i t i o n d a t a d i s c l o s e an a b r u p t change i n l e v e l and s l o p e , r i s i n g s h a r p l y t o s t a b i l i s e between 40 and 45 u n t i l s e s s i o n e i g h t . A t t h i s p o i n t , p e r f o r m a n c e d a t a b e g i n t o f l u c t u a t e m a r k e d l y , r a n g i n g from a low o f 18 t h r o u g h a h i g h o f 128 i n d e p e n d e n t r e s p o n s e s p e r s e s s i o n . 32 Stability is partially regained in the region of 90 responses by the 16th session, although a declining trend is recognisable in the final data points. Probe performance follows acquisition performance in the main, dropping slightly during the period of wide variation, but generally matching the levels set during the training sessions. Nigel was trained to assemble small, uniformly shaped bristle blocks under the naturalistic cue condition, and the generality of his learning was assessed on probes which employed the large, multiply-shaped bristle blocks. Following the onset of training a very slight increase in independent responding is visible which, in general, main-tains above base-rate levels but which fluctuates considerably and shows no definable positive trend -- indeed, the final 5 data points reveal a slight but steady decline. Probe performance reflects this pattern insofar as i t increases slightly over baseline levels and varies minimally within the region occupied by the training data. Second Order Generalisation With respect to second-order generalisation, experimental materials were made available in play areas during regularly scheduled "indepen-dent play" periods of one and one-half hour's duration daily (coinciding with staff breaks), and over the five week course of training one assembly response was displayed by Roger with a pair of the large, multiply-shaped bristle blocks. Comparable blocks were used with Roger during training which employed naturalistic antecedent control. This response was displayed during the fourth week of training, and was independently recorded by two trained observers. No other instances of second-order generalisation were reported. 33 CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION The findings of this research lend support to the position advanced by Woods (Note 3) in the pilot study for this investigation -- namely, that the choice of antecedent cues for training which match those employed under generalisation conditions favourably affects carry-over. Visual inspection of the data presented in Figures 1 and 2 strongly confirms acquisition of target behaviours during training in seven out of eight cases, and weakly but verifiably confirms the same in one other (Nigel/Assembly-2/Figure 2). Furthermore, however, substantial and sustained carry-over to generalisation probe tasks is in every case associated with the naturalistic antecedent cue condition. No comparable pattern is discernible in relation to either participant or specific task -- both of which factors were counterbalanced to assist in establishing any inherent variation attributable to them. Figure 3 compares, in histogram form, the ratio of generalisation: training responses obtained under naturalistic and contrived ante-cedent cue conditions for each subject. The differences are immedi-ately recognisable when presented in this fashion, as well. While individuals may have differed in their rates of acquisition, and in the ranges within which their performance ultimately f e l l , the extent of carry-over remains visibly and uniquely a function of the type of antecedent control. The implications of these data for future remedial practice are clear. The use of the antecedents in training which are the controlling 34 stimuli in the generalisation condition has now been shown in two studies to enhance the extent of carry-over. It follows that a careful determination of the antecedent control under which a behaviour typi-cally falls in the post-training circumstance will reveal the type of cue condition of choice in the instructional process. Teachers and others who work with the developmentally handicapped are advised (when surveying relevant environments to uncover functional priorities in training) to take specific note of the controlling stimuli for the behaviours they wish to develop. The incorporation of those stimuli as the instructional antecedents in training bodes well for generalisa-tion. To take this point a step further, the failure to incorporate such antecedents in training runs the risk, by behavioural contrast logic, of effecting an aggregation of performance only to the artificial training conditions -- a result which is not simply unsupportive of generalisation but militates specifically against i t . Three apparent anomalies deserve mention here. First, Roger's and Jerrold's performance trained under the contrived cueing condition carried over to generalisation probes rather well early on, but dropped quickly to zero as training progressed. Tony and Nigel, on the other hand, demonstrated no ability to generalise from the outset, and con-tinued to perform in that manner throughout. One might speculate that these differential effects relate to length of time in treatment at the facility where, as in a l l programmes for the developmentally handi-capped, verbal antecedents have historically been used a great deal. It may be that for Tony and Nigel, a tendency to "wait" for verbal cues was already well established as a function of previous instruction. 35 Roger and Jerrold, conversely, may have learned to "wait" for verbal antecedents as a function solely of the training they received under verbal antecedent control. Due, therefore, to the fact that these children had had l i t t l e exposure to any systematised instruction (which typically employs verbal antecedents), i t is suggested that Roger and Jerrold did the majority of their "learning to wait" during the early part of training. The second anomaly is manifest as a tendency for acquisition data to decline somewhat near the end of training. There is some evidence of this (see Figures 1 and 2) for Roger, Tony and Nigel under the naturalistic cueing condition, and for Jerrold under the contrived cueing condition. Anecdotally, these declines appeared to covary with other behaviours which might be related to "loss of interest" in the experimental tasks, such as pushing the materials away partway through a session, protesting when reseated i f temporarily out-of-seat between trials, and so forth. Third, Nigel's acquisition curve under the naturalistic cue condition is qualitatively very different from a l l of the other acquisition curves seen in this study. Rather than generating a typically trended pattern, training appears to have produced a minimal but verifiable improvement in his block assembly skills, and then essentially main-tained that improvement at a relatively low level over the remainder of the sessions. This appeared to have been the result of the problems in muscle tonus characteristic of Nigel's diagnosed tuberous sclerosis. Although he acquired the ability to stack the blocks, his performance with respect to forcing them together improved very l i t t l e . Conse-quently, Nigel often knocked down as many block assemblies as he created and, as the response definition states, only free-standing 36 structures were scored for this task. Within the bounds of that limitation, then, Nigel appears to have learned and maintained a stacking (but not "cohesive stacking") sk i l l during the training sessions. The fact that there was virtually no second-order generalisation is predictable within the context of the underlying assumptions of this study. Insofar as the naturalistic "materials presentation" antecedent cue was absent from the second-order generalisation situa-tion, circumstances in training and outside i t were easily discrimin-able. The behavioural contrast effect would therefore be expected to occur. Had materials-presentations been built into the second-order generalisation settings, some transfer on some tasks (for participants trained with naturalistic cues) would be predicted. Alternatively, had a "free-operant" naturalistic training paradigm been employed, where blocks, crayons, papers and books as ambient factors had been developed as the controlling stimuli, carry-over to the second-order conditions would as well have been predicted. In every case, such predictions rest upon the extent to which antecedent/ambient stimuli serve to mediate participant discrimination of the reinforcement differential between training and non-training situations. It remains true, however, that the absence of second order gen-eralisation witnessed in this study appropriately circumscribes the scope of these results insofar as i t reminds us that antecedent control, although significant, is only one of a number of markers which signal the learner of the potential for a reinforcement differential. Koegel £ Rincover (1977); Rincover § Koegel (1975) and Woods (Note 2, 1980b, 1983c) 37 have revealed that other ambient stimuli play a role in this process as well. It is evident that programming for generalisation will, for such children, require the combined thrust of several stimulus control and other manipulations aimed at defeating behavioural contrast effects. In summary, then, the data gathered within this investigation support the claim that a "programming common antecedents" approach to enhancing generalisation can produce distinct and empirically verifi-able positive effects. This approach was shown to derive from current knowledge regarding behavioural contrast and its possible role in generalisation deficits. That knowledge is an outgrowth of research conducted primarily in animal laboratories devoted to the experimental analysis of behaviour. Such research a l l too seldom reaches the practitioner (see Hayes, Rincover $ Solnick, 1980; Woods, 1980a), yet its implications for those working in the field are often very far-reaching indeed. In addition to adding another generalisation-promoting strategy to the li s t given by Stokes § Baer (1977), the theoretical argument advanced here linking "programming common antecedents" to three others (and possibly more) suggests a more parsimonious and theoretically consistent account for both problems in generalisation and successful attempts to remedy them. The author (Woods, 1980a, 1982, 1983a) and others (Fulton, 1982; Hayes, Rincover § Solnick, 1980; Pennypacker, 1982) have argued strenuously that concern with principle and theory must continue to be a priority for the applied behaviour analyst i f we are to f u l f i l l the vision of Baer, Wolf $ Risley (1968) of a science which is evolving, self-examining, self-evaluating and discovery oriented. 38 To the extent t h a t type of antecedent c o n t r o l i s o n ly one of a number of p o t e n t i a l grounds f o r d i s c r i m i n a t i n g the e x i s t e n c e of d i f f e r -e n t i a l p r o b a b i l i t i e s of reinforcement, there i s yet much to study i n the area of b e h a v i o u r a l c o n t r a s t and i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r g e n e r a l i s a -t i o n . Experimental manipulations of reinforcement l a t e n c y and r e i n -forcement event-magnitude as p o s s i b l e f a c t o r s would add to the knowl-edge generated by the present research. C e r t a i n methodological changes which could be made i n f u t u r e attempts to r e p l i c a t e t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n deserve mention. F i r s t , the i n t e r m i x i n g of probe t r i a l s randomly with one block of t r a i n i n g t r i a l s may have c o n t r o l l e d l e s s w e l l f o r e x t i n c t i o n e f f e c t s than would the i n t e r m i x i n g of probe t r i a l s randomly w i t h t r a i n i n g t r i a l s over the f u l l four or f i v e b l o c k s o f t r a i n i n g conducted on average each week. Presumably, however, r e s i d u a l e x t i n c t i o n e f f e c t s not c o n t r o l l e d i n t h i s study would have p a r t i a l l y reduced carry-over, weakening what i s s t i l l c l e a r l y a strong case f o r the use of n a t u r a l i s t i c antecedent c o n t r o l . Second, by conducting t r a i n i n g on the two tasks (with the two stimulus c o n t r o l c o n d i t i o n s ) c o n c u r r e n t l y , t h i s study may have r i s k e d s u s t a i n i n g moderating e f f e c t s r e l a t i n g to g e n e r a l i s a t i o n across tasks as a f u n c t i o n of temporal c o n t i g u i t y of the sessions. Such r i s k s could e a s i l y be obviated i n subsequent i n v e s t i g a t i o n s by conducting t r a i n i n g i n the two t a s k s / c o n d i t i o n s s e r i a l l y . 39 Reference Notes Note 1. Mi c h a e l , J.L. F l i g h t from behavior a n a l y s i s . P r e s i d e n t i a l address d e l i v e r e d at the 6th Annual Convention o f the A s s o c i a t i o n f o r Behavior A n a l y s i s , Dearborn, MI: May, 1980. Note 2. Woods, T.S. The development of stimulus c o n t r o l as a behavior management technique. 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The Behavior T h e r a p i s t , 1983, 6, 19. (b) Woods, T.S. The s e l e c t i v e suppression o f a stereotypy i n an a u t i s t i c c h i l d : A stimulus c o n t r o l approach. Behavioral Psychotherapy, 1983, 11, i n press, (c) APPENDIX I 45 46 TABLE I Counterbalancing o f P a r t i c i p a n t s , Cue Conditions § Experimental Tasks P a r t i c i p a n t T r a i n i n g Cue Condi t i o n T r a i n i n g Task G e n e r a l i s a t i o n Task 1 1 Contrived Colouring-1 Colouring-2 1 N a t u r a l 3 Assembly-1 Assembly-2 2 Natural Colouring-2 Colouring-1 2 Contrived Assembly-2 Assembly-1 3 Contrived Assembly-1 Assembly-2 3 Natural Colouring-1 Colouring-2 4 Natural Assembly-2 Assembly-1 4 Contrived Colouring-2 Colouring-1 Cue c o n d i t i o n f o r a l l g e n e r a l i s a t i o n probes was n a t u r a l . V e r b a l . ' M a t e r i a l s - P r e s e n t a t i o n . 47 TABLE I I R e l i a b i l i t y ! o f Measurement of the Dependent V a r i a b l e Tasks 2 Conditions B a s e l i n e T r a i n i n g G e n e r a l i s a t i o n Probes O v e r a l l Colouring 100.0 92.7 88.3 93.6 Block Assembly 90.0 98.2 100.0 96.1 O v e r a l l 95.0 95.5 94.2 94.9 Expressed i n percentage c o e f f i c i e n t s based upon c a l c u l a t i o n of Agreements/Agreements + Disagree-ments X 100. T o t a l o f 4 checks made i n B a s e l i n e , 27 i n T r a i n i n g , and 10 i n G e n e r a l i s a t i o n Probe Conditions. 48 TABLE I I I Conformity''' of I n s t r u c t o r Performance to D i s c r e t e T r i a l Format S p e c i f i c a t i o n s S p e c i f i c a t i o n 2 Con d i t i o n • B a s e l i n e T r a i n i n g G e n e r a l i s a t i o n Probes O v e r a l l Cue Con d i t i o n 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Li m i t e d Hold 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Prompting 100.0 99.2 100.0 99.7 Response Termination C r i t e r i o n 100.0 99.2 100.0 99.7 S u s t a i n i n g Reinforcement 100.0 99.2 95.0 98.1 Post-Termination Reinforcement 100.0 93.3 100.0 97.7 I n t e r t r i a l I n t e r v a l 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 O v e r a l l 100.0 98.6 99.3 99.3 Expressed i n percentage c o e f f i c i e n t s based upon c a l c u l a t i o n o f Confor-m i t i e s / C o n f o r m i t i e s + Non-conformities X 100. T o t a l o f 4 checks made i n B a s e l i n e , 24 i n T r a i n i n g and 4 i n probe c o n d i t i o n s . APPENDIX II 49 130H , 100-75-50-25-4fi 1 2 1 Roger Coloring-1 (Probe: Coloring-2) Acquisition Curve (—Generalisation Probe 10 15 20 130H Jerrold Assembly-2 (Probe: Assembly-1) 1130-^ OH 1 23 4 Tony Assembly-1 (Probe: Assembly-2) 12345 1 Five - Trial Sessions Figure 1 Multiple Baseline/Multiple Probe Analysis of Training and Generalisation Under Contrived 'Open Squares - Probe Tasks Antecedent Control -Solid Squares - Training Tasks 130 75 50H 25-^ 130-1 Roger Assembly-1 (Probe: Assembly-2) Generalisation Probe Acquisition Curve Jerrold Coloring-2 (Probe: Coloring-1) 1 234 S Nigel Assembly-2 (Probe: Assembly-1) 12345 1 Five • Trial Sessions Figure 2 Multiple Baseline/Multiple Probe Analysis of Training and Generalisation Under 'Open Squares - Probe Tasks Naturalistic Antecedent Control * Solid Squares • Training Tasks 52 0 .30H 0.25H 0.20-J co a> co cz o a . to aj a: cn e cr o 0.15-J 0.10-4 cu O o o 0.05H OH Roger • TH i Jerrold Tony Participants iliil: jiff! Nigel Figure 3 Ratio of Generalisation to Training Responses Against Participants Solid Bars - Naturalistic Antecedent Control Open Bars - Contrived Antecedent Control