Activity schedules consist of a series of visual discriminative stimuli, arranged in booklets or binders, which function as prompts for appropriate behavior. Although activity schedules are useful, their typical presentation in binders can be cumbersome and stigmatizing, placing additional barriers for independence and inclusion. The purpose of the present studies was to evaluate the usefulness of a wearable activity schedule and determine whether prompts provided by it would be sufficient to support completion of a complex chain of behaviors by young children. In Experiment 1, the Octopus watch® provided prompts to children of typical development to complete a morning routine independently. In Experiment 2, the usefulness of the watch was evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorder engaged in play activities in a clinical setting. In both experiments, children reliably displayed a greater proportion of independent engagement in target behaviors when prompts were delivered by the watch compared to control conditions.
Individuals’ preferences for environmental stimuli bear significantly on their responses to behavioral assessment and intervention. In this study, we assessed the relationship between participants’ history of access to preferred stimuli and changes in preference for those stimuli over time. For three participants, we conducted preference assessments in multiple formats to identify similarly (moderately) preferred stimuli. We then randomly assigned these stimuli to one of the following conditions: (a) free access, (b) denied access (i.e., items were routinely presented and then taken away), or (c) hidden (i.e., out of view). Following extended exposure to these conditions (60–75 days), we repeated preference assessments using the same formats and stimuli. All three participants demonstrated an increased preference for stimuli with a history of denied access. For one participant, a progressive ratio reinforcer assessment indicated similar shifts in reinforcing efficacy across conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to prominent cognitive and behavioral explanations, respectively.
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