Barbara C. Etzel

The simplest treatment alternative: The law of parsimony applied to choosing appropriate instructional control and errorless-learning procedures for the difficult-to-teach child

A method for choosing effective teaching procedures for difficult-to-teach children is proposed. Assessment of child responses duringteaching that involves gradually increasing environmental support in the learning setting is the basis for choice. The levels of environmental support in which child responses are assessed are (1) trial-and-error procedures; (2) increased environmental support involving analyses of reinforcement systems, incompatible responses, and prerequisite skills, as well as the most effective use of instructional control; and (3) errorless-learning procedures. Effects of instructions upon learning are discussed in terms of instructional detail and pacing, as well as with respect to the role of instructions in feedback and progressively delayed cue procedures. Stimulus shaping and stimulus fading are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of each for teaching children who have difficulty learning with more traditional procedures. The importance of the incorporation of criterion-related cues when utilizing stimulus shaping or fading is emphasized. It is proposed that an assessment of child responses should be made with respect to the three general levels of environmental support, as well as from sublevels within these, in order to choose the simplest but still effective alternative procedure for teaching difficult-to-teach children.

A reevaluation of stimulus overselectivity: Restricted stimulus control or stimulus control hierarchies

Stimulus overselectivity, previously described as restricted stimulus control, was examined in preschool children. Twenty-seven subjects, after being trained to respond to a two-component auditory stimulus (S+) and not to respond to a different two-component auditory stimulus (S−), were tested to determine which stimulus elements of the complexes exerted control. Subjects that met the operational definition of overselectivity were found to have exhibited a hierarchy of stimulus control. What differentiated the subjects who would not be labeled “overselective” from those who would be was the placement of S+ and S− elements within the hierarchy, not that one type of subject had restricted stimulus control and another did not. The results indicate that the current conception of stimulus overselectivity may require revision. Treatment and research implications are discussed.

Stimulus control of eye orientations: Shaping S+ only versus shaping S- only

Abstract To determine how stimulus control of eye orientation was established and how that process affected learning, an analysis of normal preschool childrens eye orientations and pointing responses to each of two simultaneously presented stimuli (S+ and S-) was conducted. Using a probe design to test for acquisition, each subject was trained on two tasks. In one task, S+ (selections of this stimulus produced reinforcement) was held constant at the final criterion level while S- (selections of this stimulus never produced reinforcement) was manipulated using stimulus shaping procedures. The second task was programmed with the opposite method (S+ shaped while S- held constant). Results showed that more pointing response errors, more occurences of eye orientations, and longer durations of eye orientations characterized conditions where S+ was held constant and S- was shaped. The individual analysis of the eye orientation data indicated that differences in eye orientation to stimuli under the two programs were largely due to relatively higher frequency of orientation to the S- stimulus under program condtions that shaped S- and held S+ constant.

The assessment of problem-solving skills of atypical children

Abstract Procedures are delineated for assessing childrens problem solving-skills to determine the stimuli that control responding during discrimination acquisition. Emphasis is placed upon: (a) requiring children to respond overtly rather than covertly during problem-solving; and (b) analyzing incorrect as well as correct responses in terms of their relationship with the various dimensions of the complex stimuli involved in the learning task. Examples of error analyses and complex stimulus analyses are presented. It is indicated that problem solving skills of children are now more frequently recorded as a result of a developing measurement technology that provides methods for determining if children are responding to the stimuli designated by the environment as corrent and, if not, to what other stimuli they respond. Information provided by such a learning-based assessment directly leads to the development of intervention techniques.

The Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior: History, Current Status, and Future Directions

These papers were presented at a symposium held at the 93rd annual convention of the American Psychological Association, August, 1985, Los Angeles, CA. The papers, in order, address the following topics: the history of operant research with human subjects with particular attention to the type and quantity of research conducted since the mid-1950s; interpretation versus experimentation in the experimental analysis of human behavior (EAHB) with particular emphasis on rule-governed behavior; the historical and current roles of children as subjects in operant research; the relation between basic laboratory research with humans and applied behavior analysis; and the need for future research concentrating on complex human behavior. Each of these papers is discussed in the final section of the proceedings.

Preschool children's acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. A study of three reading procedures.

This study examined the three reading procedures of sight, syllable blending, and phonics blending to determine which was the most efficient one to teach words for acquisition, maintenance, and various types of generalization. Six typical preschool children who did not recall and recognize the training words were selected as subjects. An individual analysis design was used in which all the subjects were taught all words, counterbalanced across the three reading procedures. All reading procedures were tailored to allow for the same number of training responses while using the identical modeling, imitation, and reinforcement technique. Results showed the sight procedure took the fewest training sessions to acquisition with the smallest number of errors, in comparison with syllable and phonics. But all words, regardless of the type of training, were maintained equally well. Considering the generalization measures, however, each procedure had unique advantages. Therefore, it is speculated how the three procedures might be combined for the beginning reader.