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Keywords
Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, intervention intensity, instructional pacing, communication
Abstract
Discrete trial training is an instructional method based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis where skills are taught in discrete units. This instructional method has empirical support for increasing skills among children with developmental disabilities. Instructional pacing has been identified as a key variable in discrete trial training that may enhance skill acquisition. Instructional pacing is the rate at which each individual presentation of the instructional target occurs. Research examining the effects of varying the pace of instruction has produced inconsistent findings. This study sought to examine the effects offive paces of instruction on skill acquisition for young learners. Pace was manipulated by varying the interstimulus interval. Two children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and one with Down syndrome participated in the study. Instructional targets, the specific behavioural skills to be taught to the participants, included: tact: (expressive labelling-i.e., responding to a particular object or event or property of an object or event), listener responding (responding to an instruction), and intraverbal skills (responding to social questions). In contrast to earlier research, participants achieved mastery by demonstrating a previously determined level of skill without prompting in the fewest number of trials in the slowest pace condition. The pace of instruction associated with the fewest minutes to mastery, or most efficient pace, varied across participants. Skill maintenance also varied across participants. Results suggest that the optimal pace of instruction may vary across individuals. Implications for determining the optimal pace of instruction in discretetrial training with young learners are discussed.
Introduction
Discrete-trial training (DTT) is an instructional method based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) where skills are taught in small units of behaviour during highly structured, discrete learning trials (Kodak & Grow, 2011). Sessions include the presentation of a discriminative stimulus (SD) (Cariveau, Kodak, & Campbell, 2016). This may include the presentation of the same SD throughout the session (massed-trial instruction), interspersing mastered targets with the unmastered target (interspersed-trial instruction), or teaching two or more unmastered targets simultaneously in the session (varied-trial instruction; Cariveau et al., 2016). Prompts may also be delivered to specify correct responding (Cariveau et al., 2016). Following correct responses, highly preferred items and social praise...