When Dr. Ivar Lovaas pioneered discrete trial teaching in the 1980’s the use of “No” as a SR (Reinforcing Stimulus) or consequence was required. In the “Behavioral Treatment for Autistic Children” [video recording (44 min.)] by O. Ivar Lovaas (1988) Dr. Lovaas himself can be seen saying “No” quite loudly and slapping the table with his hand to startling effect. This clip has often used as a negative example of ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) over the years, even though training sessions rarely resembled that particular sequence.
In the mid to late 1990’s the use of “No” fell out of favor for various reasons. These reasons ranged from its lack of political correctness; to the more important fact, it often desensitized children to the word “No”. Many parents found their child ignoring the word “No” making it useless when they might actually need to use the word effectively; such as if their child was about to do something dangerous.
Today, the word “No” has commonly been replaced with the informational “Try again” or “Do it better”, with modern practitioners. (If you are still using “No” your information is seriously out of date). While this has been effective and is still the preferred SR for early learners and new instructors the use of informational feedback, SR’s has been in practice with Autism & Aspergers Consulting, LLC www.aactnow.com since 2001 to great effectiveness.
The concept is simple: Use feedback as a SR that matches the child’s response so that the child can elicit improved and more accurate responses more quickly. In practice the difficulty in implementation does not usually lie at the child’s ability to discriminate the SR, as proper shaping typically has the desired result, rather the difficulty often lies at the instructor level, as instructors have a greater tendency to break discrete trial as the consequences to the SD (Discriminative Stimulus) become more natural.
The following are some suggested R’s (responses) and the appropriate replacement SR:
Child’s Response SR Delivered
Non-response Try again, I didn’t hear you, I asked you a question, Etc.
To soft of voice Say it louder, I didn’t hear you, etc
Mumbled response Say it better
Close answer Not quite, that’s not quite right, your close.
No eye contact Look, I didn’t see your eyes, etc
Wrong response Try again, nope, mm no, etc.
Vague Answer But what kind, I need an example, etc.
It is very important not to break discrete trial procedure when implementing this procedure. Similar to the use of “Try Again” staff should immediately redeliver the SD after the SR. On the third trial, the instructors should always prompt the desired response in the desired manner. If the child corrects the problem on his own, but demonstrates a new problem, give the new feedback with the appropriate SR and begin counting over toward the try again, try again prompt, retrial sequence.
Example Teaching Sequence
Instructor SD: “What’s your name?”
Child response: “Jacob” with no eye contact.
Instructor SR: “Look”
Instructor SD: “What’s your name?”
Child response: “Jacob” with no eye contact.
Instructor SR: “Look”
Instructor SD: “What’s your name?” Instructor prompts by holding reinforcer near instructors eyes.
Child response: “Jacob” with eye contact.
Instructor SR: “Good!”
Instructor SD: “What’s your name?”
Child response: “Jacob” with eye contact.
Instructor SR: “Excellent” and deliver preferred reinforcer for unprompted quality response.
Summary
The eventual goal of ABA should be to help a child learn naturally, and ready them for learning from the environment as much as possible. The technique of using alternatives to “try again” with natural feedback helps achieve more natural responses and is an important transition step on the way to more natural learning.