An Assessment of Three Procedures to Teach Echoic Responding

Area of Science:

• Behavior Analysis
• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Previous research shows varied results for methods to increase vocalizations in individuals with disabilities.
• Identifying effective echoic teaching procedures is crucial for language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental delays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an assessment procedure designed to identify the most effective echoic teaching strategy for students with ASD and developmental delays.
• To compare the efficacy of vocal imitation training (VIT), stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP), and mand-model (MM) procedures.

Main Methods:

• A within-participant design was used to compare VIT, SSP, and MM procedures in six students with ASD and developmental delays.
• A functional analysis was conducted to classify the type of verbal operant (echoic vs. mand).
• The assessment procedure's effectiveness in identifying a suitable teaching method was examined.

Main Results:

• The assessment procedure successfully identified an effective teaching procedure for five out of the six participants.
• Established responding was under functional echoic control for the participants.
• The assessment demonstrated efficacy in pinpointing optimal echoic teaching strategies.

Conclusions:

• The developed assessment procedure is effective in identifying the most suitable echoic teaching method for individuals with ASD and developmental delays.
• This approach supports the establishment of echoic responding, a foundational skill for language acquisition.