Establishing Foundational Nonarbitrary Distinctive and Categorical Relational Responding in Children with Autism

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Relational Frame Theory (RFT) provides a framework for understanding human language and cognition.
• Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit challenges in developing complex relational skills.
• Foundational relational responses are crucial for advanced cognitive abilities like categorization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a sequence of training procedures for establishing foundational relational responses in children with ASD.
• To assess the emergence of distinctive (difference) and hierarchical (categorical) relational frames.
• To determine if trained skills transfer to novel stimuli and contexts.

Main Methods:

• A multiple baseline design across three children with autism was employed.
• Training involved simple and conditional discrimination procedures.
• Stimulus arrays and contextual cues ('same,' 'different') were used to assess relational responding.
• Generalization of skills to untrained stimuli was tested.

Main Results:

• Simple discrimination training successfully established the 'different' response, which generalized.
• Conditional discrimination training established 'same'/'different' relational responses, with generalization.
• Subsequent training improved conditional categorization/sorting skills, demonstrating generalization.

Conclusions:

• A sequential training approach is effective in developing foundational relational skills in children with ASD.
• These skills, including difference and categorization, can be taught and generalize.
• The findings support the application of RFT-based interventions for cognitive development in ASD.