An Evaluation of Behavior Analytic Jargon on Parents of Children with Autism
Abstract
Research suggests that profession specific jargon can be perceived negatively by
individuals outside of that profession perhaps due to a lack of understanding. Much of the
current research has focused on the social validity of utilizing technical terminology with
laypersons and has shown that overall there is a preference for nontechnical terminology
according to public opinion. Yet, little research has been done in the area of parent training
to assess the effects of jargon on more direct measures of performance such as a parent’s
accuracy with implementing a treatment procedure. Therefore, the purpose of the present
study was to evaluate the comparative effects of jargon and non-jargon on the percentage
of steps implemented correctly during a multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO)
preference assessment. Specifically, the first condition contained instructions written in
technical behavior analytic jargon, and the second condition included instructions written
in nontechnical language. Participants included three parents of children with autism in a
hospital-based clinic. The results indicated that performance was high when instructions
were provided in technical jargon and did not increase further once instructions were
provided in nontechnical language. The implications of these findings for the parent
training literature were also discussed.