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USING A FIXED-RATIO SCHEDULE OF REINFORCEMENT TO INCREASE RESPONDING
TO VOCAL DIRECTIONS IN A MALE WITH AN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Parisa Foroughi and Gemma Harding
Jigsaw CABAS® School
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Using a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement to increase responding to vocal directions in a
male with an autism spectrum disorder
Abstract
This research looks at increasing responding to vocal directions which is important to the development
of language. The participant was an 18 year-old male with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.
An ABCA design was adopted within which the participant was required to follow five target vocal
directions (e.g. ‘sit down,’ ‘stand up’). A token economy was implemented with a fixed ratio schedule
of reinforcement to increase motivation and correct responses. The results demonstrated that the
treatment was effective in increasing the participant’s responding to vocal directions and this was an
essential step for the development of more complex listener components and his participation in his
social community.
Key words: autism spectrum disorder, instructional control, fixed-ratio schedule, motivation,
verbal behaviour, social community, token economy.
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Using a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement to increase responding to vocal directions in a
male with an autism spectrum disorder
The importance of instructional control on the development of language and cognitive skills has been
widely acknowledged within the research on the treatment of children with autism (Greer,Chavez-
Brown, Nirgudkar, Stolfi & Rivera-Valdes, 2005). “Instructional control” refers to compliance, which
is governed by the reinforcement control of a teacher or therapist (Greer, Chavez-Brown, Nirgudkar,
Stolfi & Rivera-Valdes, 2005). Essential to this, is the acquisition of auditory components of speech
and therefore the achievement of listener status (Greer, Chavez-Brown, Nirgudkar, Stolfi & Rivera-
Valdes, 2005). Acquiring basic listener repertoires is an essential and necessary step for the
development of more complex listener components such as naming and speaker as own listener
(Horne & Lowe, 1996). This progress along the continuum of verbal behaviour is important for
childrens’ access to the verbal community. If they are not a part of this, they will be unable to acquire
important social repertoires (Culotta & Hanson, 2004).
A multitude of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of positive reinforcement in
promoting compliance and reducing problem behaviours in children with autism (DeLeon,Neidert &
Rodriguez-Catter, 2001). More specifically, token economy is a system for delivering positive
reinforcement and token reinforcement programmes have been established as effective controllers of
children’s behaviour (O’Leary,Becker,Evans & Saudargas, 1969). They have also been widely used
within the classroom setting. One of the earliest token reinforcement programmes was developed by
Birnbrauer and Lawler (1964) for children with severe learning disabilities. Initially, access to edibles
such as sweets,was contingent upon the performance of appropriate behaviours such as entering the
classroom quietly, hanging coats on pegs, and sitting at the desk and attending. Following this, a
token economy was introduced and tokens could be exchanged for edibles and toys (O’Leary,Becker,
Evans & Saudargas,1969). In 37 out of 41 students, token reinforcement programmes were effective
in improving behaviour. Birnbrauer, Wolf, Kidder and Tague (1965), expanded this procedure and
attempted a systematic review of token reinforcement programmes. The dependent variables were the
number of assignments completed (productivity), the percentage of errors in assignments and the
amount of disruptive behaviour. An ABAB design was used within which token reinforcement was
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followed by no token reinforcement and so on (O’Leary,Becker,Evans & Saudargas, 1969). The
results demonstrated a decrease in performance on at least one of the three dependent measures for 10
out of 15 of the participants, when token reinforcement was absent,highlighting further the significant
role that token reinforcement has to play in the acquisition of appropriate and socially significant
behaviours. (O’Leary,Becker,Evans & Saudargas, 1969).
More specific to this research was a study by Zimmerman, Zimmerman and Russell (1969),
(as cited in Kazdin & Bootzin, 1972) who investigated the effectiveness of a token procedure in
developing instruction-following behaviour. They adopted an ABAB design in which praise was
given for following instructions. In the next phase token reinforcement was introduced (with praise),
followed by praise alone and finally token reinforcement (O’Leary,Becker,Evans & Saudargas,
1969). For 4 out of 7 participants, token reinforcement produced and maintained a greater frequency
of instruction-following behaviour than did contingent praise. Two participants were not differentially
affected by changes in the reinforcement contingencies and the remaining participant showed no
improvement throughout the study (O’Leary,Becker,Evans & Saudargas, 1969).
As the previous research has clearly demonstrated, the use of a token economy can be very
effective in promoting instruction-following behaviour. This study went beyond this and introduced a
reinforcement schedule, more specifically a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement, combined with the
token economy to increase and maintain motivation in the participant. Whilst there is an abundance
of research into the use of reinforcement schedules with rats and pigeons, led by the likes of B.F
Skinner, there appears to be limited, if at all any research into the use of fixed-ratio schedules of
reinforcement to improve listener skills. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of fixed-ratio
schedules of reinforcement to increase responding to vocal directions in a male with an autism
spectrum disorder.
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Participant
The participant in this study was an 18 year old male with a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.
He attended a sixth form class in an ABA school for 35 hours per week. The participant was an
emergent listener and speaker using Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and Word
Communicating System (WECS) on his itouch. He had a varied community of reinforcers which
ranged from the stereo and books to the sensory or soft play room. The participant was chosen for this
study to improve his listener behaviour.
Setting
The study was conducted in a CABAS® school in the South of England, located on the outskirts of a
town. The procedure was carried out in different rooms across the school, these included the
classroom, the PE hall, the common room, the bathroom, the daily living skills room and the art room.
The participant was one of four students in the classroom who all received 1:1 teaching support. The
procedure was carried out across all teachers and in different settings to promote generalisation.
Materials
A data sheet and pen were used to record the data. A token board and a plastic box containing tokens
were used to positively reinforce the target behaviour.
Definition ofBehaviour
The target behaviour was the response to a simple vocal direction in a 1:1 setting. The targets
included; ‘sit down,’ ‘come here,’ ‘stand up,’ ‘wait,’ and ‘stop.’ An incorrect response constituted
either the failure to respond to the vocal direction at all within 5 seconds or the display of
another/incorrect repertoire.
Data Collection
The data were collected in the form of learn units (Greer & McDonough, 1999), throughout the school
day and in different settings within the school. The data were recorded on a data sheet using a pen.
Data were recorded on the behavioural response to a given vocal direction. A minus was recorded for
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an incorrect response and a plus was recorded for a correct response. Data were collected as trials
during baseline.
Procedure
During the initial baseline phase the long term objective (LTO), made up of five target vocal
directions (‘sit down,’ ‘stand up’ and so on) were probed three times. Correct responses were
reinforced whilst there was no consequence for incorrect responses. Non-contingent reinforcement
was provided however, for other behaviour.
Once baseline 1 was complete, the next short term objective (STO) outlined two target directions (sit
down and stand up), which were to be addressed five times each. Mastered directions, as determined
by the initial probe, were interspersed and put into probes. The criterion level was 9 out of 10 correct
responses to learn units for two consecutive sessions. Correct responses were positively reinforced
using a token economy and a variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Following this, treatment (FR1
tokens) was implemented, this was carried out with the provision of a token for every correct
response. A return to baseline conditions was carried out to re-probe the two target directions in
different settings to assess generalisation.
Design
This study used an ABCA design.
Interobserver Agreement
Interobserver agreement was not conducted during this study, however lead teachers and supervisors
within the school regularly completed TPRA’s (Teacher Performance and Accuracy) (Ingham &
Greer, 1992) across each teacher to ensure that presentation, reinforcement and correction procedures
were being undertaken in the correct manner and to a good level.
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Results
The results demonstrated that treatment was effective in increasing the student’s responding to vocal
directions.
As demonstrated in figure 1, in the first phase, the participant did not meet the long term objective
(LTO). During the second phase, ‘sit down’ and ‘stand up’ were targeted,the participant met criterion
on 3 occasions but not consecutively, indicating a problem with the motivational context. Data ranged
from 3 to 9 correct responses out of 10. After the 5th
data point a decision was made to run the
treatment one more time, beyond this the participant responded correctly 3 out of 10 times and so the
reinforcement schedule was increased to a fixed ratio of 1. In the third phase (FR1), the participant
was awarded a token for every correct response,the targets remained the same. The criterion level
was met on the third and fourth data point, with data ranging from 7 to 10 correct responses. In the
generalisation phase, the participant correctly responded to the direction ‘sit down’ on 3 out of 3
occasions, and to ‘stand up’ on 2 out of 3 occasions, demonstrating generalisation.
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