Abstract
Error correction is a ubiquitous instructional component for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the context of alternating treatment with repeated acquisition design, we taught four young Chinese children with ASD three sets of a match-to-sample task using multiple response repetition error correction with and without reinforcement. We assessed the participants’ preferences of the procedures. Results showed that the acquisition rates were similar under both conditions. However, participant’s preferences varied, with three participants preferring error correction with reinforcement and one preferring the without-reinforcement procedure. The discussion addresses the results from our comparison in light of prior studies and learner preferences of error-correction procedures, as well as the research and practical implications of our findings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Brunsdon, V. E. A., Colvert, E., Ames, C., Garnett, T., Gillan, N., Hallett, V., et al. (2015). Exploring the cognitive features in children with autism spectrum disorder, their co-twins, and typically developing children within a population-based sample. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56(8), 893–902. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12362.
Carr, J. E., Nicolson, A. C., & Higbee, T. S. (2000). Evaluation of a brief multiple-stimulus preference assessment in a naturalistic context. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33(3), 353–357. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2000.33-353.
Carroll, R. A., Joachim, B. T., St. Peter, C. C., & Robinson, N. (2015). A comparison of error-correction procedures on skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48(2), 257–273. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.205.
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Dalrymple, A. J., & Feldman, M. A. (1992). Effects of reinforced directed rehearsal on expressive sign language learning by persons with mental retardation. Journal of Behavioral Education, 2(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00947134.
Daly, E. J., III, Wells, N. J., Swanger-Gagné, M. S., Carr, J. E., Kunz, G. M., & Taylor, A. M. (2009). Evaluation of the multiple-stimulus without replacement preference assessment method using activities as stimuli. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42(3), 563–574. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2009.42-563.
Eldevik, S., Hastings, R. P., Hughes, J. C., Jahr, E., Eikeseth, S., & Cross, S. (2009). Meta-analysis of early intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 38(3), 439–450. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410902851739.
Epstein, L. H., Leddy, J. J., Temple, J. L., & Faith, M. S. (2007). Food reinforcement and eating: A multilevel analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 133(5), 884–906. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.5.884.
Foxx, R. M., & Bechtel, D. R. (1983). Overcorrection: A review and analysis. In S. Axelrod & J. Apsche (Eds.), The effects of punishment on human behavior (pp. 133–220). New York: Academic Press.
Foxx, R. M., & Jones, J. R. (1978). A remediation program for increasing the spelling achievement of elementary and junior high school students. Behavior Modification, 2(2), 211–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/014544557822004.
Gaisford, K. L., & Malott, R. W. (2010). The acquisition of generalized matching in children with developmental delays. The Behavior Analyst Today, 11(2), 85–94.
Green, G. (2001). Behavior analytic instruction for learners with Autism: Advances in stimulus control technology. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16(2), 72–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/108835760101600203.
Hackenberg, T. D. (2009). Token reinforcement: A review and analysis. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 91(2), 257–286. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2009.91-257.
Hanley, G. P., Piazza, C. C., Fisher, W. W., & Maglieri, K. A. (2005). On the effectiveness of and preference for punishment and extinction components of function-based interventions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38(1), 51–65. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2005.6-04.
Hausman, N. L., Ingvarsson, E. T., & Kahng, S. (2014). A comparision of reinforcement schedules to increase independent responding in individuals with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(1), 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.85.
Herrnstein, R. J. (1961). Relative and absolute strength of response as a function of frequency of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 4(3), 267–272. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1961.4-267.
Johns, B. H., Crowley, E. P., & Guetzloe, E. (2008). Engaged time in the classroom. Focus on Exceptional Children, 41(4), 1–6.
Karsten, A. M., & Carr, J. E. (2009). The effects of differential reinforcement of unprompted responding on the skill acquisition of children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42(2), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2009.42-327.
Kennedy, C. H. (2005). Single-case design for educational research. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Killu, K., Clare, C. M., & Im, A. (1999). Choice vs. preference: The effects of choice and no choice of preferred and non preferred spelling tasks on the academic behavior of students with disabilities. Journal of Behavioral Education, 9, 239–253. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022143716509.
Kodak, T., Campbell, V., Bergmann, S., LeBlanc, B., Kurtz-Nelson, E., Cariveau, T., et al. (2016). Examination of efficacious, efficient, and socially valid error-correction procedures to teach sight words and prepositions to children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49(3), 532–547. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.310.
Lang, R., Regester, A., Rispoli, M., Pimentel, S., & Camargo, H. (2010). Rehabilitation issues in autism spectrum disorders. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 13(3), 153–155. https://doi.org/10.3109/17518421003607597.
Leaf, J. B., Leaf, R., Taubman, M., McEachin, J., & Delmolino, L. (2014). Comparison of flexible prompt fading to error correction for children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 26(2), 203–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-013-9354-0.
Leaf, J. B., Alcalay, A., Leaf, J. A., Tsuji, K., Kassardjian, A., Dale, S., et al. (2016). Comparison of most-to-least to error correction teaching receptive labelling for two children diagnosed with autism. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 16(4), 217–225. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12067.
Lovaas, O. I., Koegel, R., Simmons, J. Q., & Long, J. S. (1973). Some generalization and follow-up measures on autistic children in behavior therapy. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 6(1), 131–165. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1973.6-131.
Lovaas, O. I., Koegel, R. L., & Schreibman, L. (1979). Stimulus overselectivity in autism: A review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 86(6), 1236–1254. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.86.6.1236.
Love, J. R., Carr, J. E., Almason, S. M., & Petursdottir, A. I. (2009). Early and intensive behavioral intervention for autism: A survey of clinical practices. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3(2), 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2008.08.008.
Marvin, K. L., Rapp, J. T., Stenske, M. T., Rojas, N. R., Swanson, G. J., & Bartlett, S. M. (2010). Response repetition as an error-correction procedure for sight-word reading: A replication and extension. Behavioral Interventions, 25(2), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.299.
McGhan, A. C., & Lerman, D. C. (2013). An assessment of error-correction procedures for learners with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46(3), 626–639. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.65.
Miltenberger, R. G., & Fuqua, R. W. (1981). Overcorrection: A review and critical analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 4(2), 123–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391860.
Morgan, P. L. (2006). Increasing task engagement using preference or choice-making: Some behavioral and methodological factors affecting their efficacy as classroom interventions. Remedial and Special Education, 27(3), 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325060270030601.
Mueller, M. M., Palkovic, C. M., & Maynard, C. S. (2007). Errorless learning: Review and practical application for teaching children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Psychology in the Schools, 44(7), 691–700. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20258.
National Research Council. (2001). Educating children with autism. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Reichow, B. (2012). Overview of meta-analyses on early intensive behavioral intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(4), 512–520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1218-9.
Rodgers, T. A., & Iwata, B. A. (1991). An analysis of error-correction procedures during discrimination training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24(4), 775–781. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1991.24-775.
Saunders, K. J., Hine, K., Hayashi, Y., & Williams, D. C. (2016). Adventitious reinforcement of maladaptive stimulus control interferes with learning. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(3), 223–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-016-0131-2.
Simonoff, E., Pickles, A., Charman, T., Chandler, S., Loucas, T., & Baird, G. (2008). Psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders: Prevalence, comorbidity, and associated factors in a population-derived sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(8), 921–929. https://doi.org/10.1097/CHI.0b013e318179964f.
Tager-Flusberg, H., & Kasari, C. (2013). Minimally verbal school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder: The neglected end of the spectrum. Autism Research, 6(6), 468–478. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1329.
Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., et al. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), 1951–1966. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2351-z.
Worsdell, A. S., Iwata, B. A., Dozier, C. L., Johnson, A. D., Neidert, P. L., & Thomason, J. L. (2005). Analysis of response repetition as an error-correction strategy during sight-word reading. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38(4), 511–527. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2005.115-04.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CY conceived the study. CY and YH designed and CY implemented the study. Data collection was performed by CY and JZ. CY and YH conducted data analysis and interpretation. CY drafted the manuscript. YH and JZ critically reviewed and provided feedback on the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants (children’s parents) included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yuan, C., Hua, Y. & Zhu, J. The Role of Reinforcement in Multiple Response Repetition Error Correction and Treatment Preference of Chinese Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 3704–3715 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04086-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04086-x