Teaching Problem Explanations Using Instructive Feedback

Instructive feedback (IF) is a procedure in which extra information is presented to a participant during the consequence portion of instruction for other skills. Previous research has demonstrated that participants with intellectual disabilities may acquire a portion of non-targeted skills (secondary targets) without explicit instruction when extra information is presented. Previous research has demonstrated that IF has resulted in more efficient instruction for participants with disabilities as a whole. However, few studies have focused on participants with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Additionally, the measures of secondary target acquisition in past research have focused solely on discrete responses (e.g., one-word utterances). The current investigation extended the IF literature related to participants with ASD by including longer verbal responses as secondary targets and assessing maintenance for both primary and secondary targets. Across three participants, IF resulted in the acquisition of at least a portion of secondary targets without explicit teaching. For two participants, additional instruction was required before IF resulted in acquisition of secondary targets. Across all three participants, gains observed for both primary and secondary targets in intervention were maintained.