Abstract
This research replicated and extended a study by Williams, Donley, and Keller (2000). In that study, children with autism received a box with an object inside and learned to ask "What's that?," "Can I see it?," and "Can I have it?" to have the name of the object, to see the object, and to get the object, respectively. The purpose of the present research was to determine if the three questions (a) were three independent repertoires of behavior, (b) constituted three instances of a single functional response class, or (c) belonged to a chain of behavior. The 3 boys with autism who participated responded independently to each question when the consequences for each question were altered. This indicates that the three target responses were three independent repertoires of behavior, each one reinforced and maintained with its specific consequences. Thus, this procedure serves to teach children with autism to ask questions with flexibility according to a variable context.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (123.3 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Koegel L. K., Camarata S. M., Valdez-Menchaca M., Koegel R. L. Setting generalization of question-asking by children with autism. Am J Ment Retard. 1998 Jan;102(4):346–357. doi: 10.1352/0895-8017(1998)102<0346:sgoqbc>2.0.co;2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shabani Daniel B., Katz Roger C., Wilder David A., Beauchamp Kenneth, Taylor Crystal R., Fischer Kirsten J. Increasing social initiations in children with autism: effects of a tactile prompt. J Appl Behav Anal. 2002 Spring;35(1):79–83. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2002.35-79. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor B. A., Harris S. L. Teaching children with autism to seek information: acquisition of novel information and generalization of responding. J Appl Behav Anal. 1995 Spring;28(1):3–14. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1995.28-3. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Williams G., Donley C. R., Keller J. W. Teaching children with autism to ask questions about hidden objects. J Appl Behav Anal. 2000 Winter;33(4):627–630. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2000.33-627. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]