An evaluation of programmed treatment-integrity errors during discrete-trial instruction

Area of Science:

• Behavior Analysis
• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Discrete-trial instruction (DTI) is a common method for teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• Treatment integrity refers to the accurate and consistent implementation of an intervention protocol.
• Errors in treatment integrity can compromise the effectiveness of educational interventions.

Observation:

• This study systematically investigated the impact of specific, programmed treatment-integrity errors on skill acquisition in children with ASD during DTI.
• Three common integrity errors were identified and manipulated, first simultaneously and then individually, across three experimental studies.
• The research focused on academic skill acquisition within a school-based instructional context.

Findings:

• Participants exhibited significantly slower skill acquisition when DTI protocols included treatment-integrity errors.
• In some cases, children with ASD failed to acquire target skills altogether when instruction was compromised by integrity errors.
• The presence of integrity errors, even when introduced individually, negatively impacted learning outcomes.

Implications:

• Ensuring high treatment integrity is crucial for effective DTI for children with ASD.
• Training and supervision must emphasize accurate implementation of DTI procedures to maximize learning.
• Findings highlight the need for robust fidelity checks in special education settings to support student progress.