The effects of general‐case training and behavioral skills training on the generalization of parents' use of discrete‐trial teaching, child correct responses, and child maladaptive behavior

Abstract

One concern with training discrete-trial teaching (DTT) is the generalization of teaching skills. This study employed behavioral skills and general-case training to train three parents to conduct DTT. A multiple-baseline-across-participants-experimental design assessed the effects of parent training on the generalization of parents' DTT to non-trained programs and on child behavior. Following training, generalization of parent DTT skills occurred, but the effects on child behavior were variable. Implications of programming for generalization and the effects of parent training on child performance are discussed.

The effects of behavioral skills training on instructor and learner behavior across responses and skill sets

“…The variability in learner acquisition in Experiment 1 is similar to that found by Ward-Horner and Sturmey (2008) and Seiverling et al (2010). Ward-Horner and Sturmey (2008) suggested that some learners in their study might have displayed limited acquisition because instructional programs exceeded the learners' present ability. Likewise, in Experiment 1 it is possible that some of the learners had not yet acquired prerequisite skills for the instructional programs included in the experiment, or that their prerequisite skills were weak.…”

“…First, it demonstrated that prior studies supporting the effectiveness of BST for training staff to use DTT and incidental teaching skills could be systemically replicated across several variables, including instructors, learners, settings, and investigators (Dib and Sturmey, 2007;Lafasakis and Sturmey, 2007;Ryan et al, 2007;Sarokoff and Sturmey, 2004;Ward-Horner and Sturmey, 2008). Specifically, it demonstrated that the effects of BST on staff behavior generalized to a variety of instructional programs.…”

Review and Discussion of Strategies to Address Low Trainer‐to‐Staff Ratios

“…In particular, the tactic of general case training seems likely to produce changes in staff behavior that extend to untrained clients, tasks, and settings (e.g., Ducharme, Williams, Cummings, Murray, & Spencer, 2001;Ducharme & Feldman, 1992;Seiverling et al, 2010;Ward-Horner & Sturmey, 2008). Although coverage of the full range of strategies to enhance generalization is beyond the scope of the current review, professional trainers who examine this literature are sure to find additional means to bolster their work with teachers and staff.…”

The effect of behavioral skills training with general‐case training on staff chaining of child vocalizations within natural language paradigm

“…Second, staff training interventions have not directly addressed the issue of generalization of teaching skills by using staff training methods that directly promote generalization of staff teaching. Behavioral skills training (BST) involves instructions, rehearsal, modeling, and feedback and is highly effective in teaching staff and parents to acquire a range of teaching skills such as conducting preference assessments (Lavie & Sturmey, 2002) and DTT skills (Sarokoff & Sturmey, 2004;Ward-Horner & Sturmey, 2008). One approach to explicitly promote generalization is general case training (GCT) which involves training responses to the full range of discriminative stimuli in which responding should occur (Stokes & Baer, 1977).…”

“…Combining BST and GCT may result in both rapid acquisition and generalization of teaching skills. For example, Ward-Horner and Sturmey (2008) used BST and GCT together to train parents to conduct DTT by having the experimenter follow a series of scripts to simulate different child responses during role play. One benefit of using GCT in combination with BST for teaching staff to conduct NLP is that the experimenter can model different types of vocalizations that a child may not currently have in his or her verbal repertoire before teaching sessions, but may acquire later on during teaching and thus, staff can practice adjusting reinforcement criterion according to various child responses.…”