Implementing an Abbreviated Assessment to Compare Error-Correction Procedures for Teaching Intraverbal Behavior to Children

Abstract

Young children with Autism (ASD) often have difficulty responding appropriately to questions asked by their peers, parents, or teachers. Teaching intraverbal behavior using Discrete Trial Instruction (DTI) has shown effective results with the use of specific stimulus-transfer procedures (e.g., vocal, textual, or pictures). Previous research has suggested using an abbreviated assessment for error correction procedures as a tool to determine the most effective and efficient procedures when teaching children. In addition, such tools have been shown to not only be effective at predicting a child’s most effective error-correction, but also in less time, allowing practitioners to make data-based decisions and individualize programming across learners. The present study seeks to add and extend to the current literature on error correction assessments for teaching intraverbal behavior (i.e., answering questions). The three experimental conditions included vocal modeling, single response repetition, multiple-response repetition, compared with a control condition. Results showed correspondence between the abbreviated assessment and validation assessment for 1 of 3 participants. Findings suggest that a brief assessment may be useful for practitioners when trying to find the most effective and efficient error-correction procedure.