Effects of Serial Multiple Exemplar Training on Bidirectional Naming in Children with Autism

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often involves language deficits, including challenges with bidirectional naming (BiN).
• Effective interventions are needed to improve BiN skills in young children with ASD.
• Understanding the learning histories that support BiN is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a Serial Multiple Exemplar Training (S-MET) procedure for improving BiN in preschool children with ASD.
• To assess generalization of BiN skills across settings and people following S-MET.

Main Methods:

• A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was employed.
• S-MET involved training listener and speaker behavior for individual stimuli until BiN was achieved.
• Generalization probes were conducted to assess cross-setting and cross-person effects.

Main Results:

• Three of the four preschool children with ASD met the mastery criterion for BiN.
• The fourth participant demonstrated significant improvement in BiN performance.
• Generalization of trained BiN skills was observed across different settings and people for some participants.

Conclusions:

• S-MET appears to be a promising intervention for enhancing bidirectional naming in preschool children diagnosed with ASD.
• The findings contribute to the understanding of learning histories necessary for developing BiN.
• Further research is warranted to explore the broader applicability and long-term effects of S-MET for language development in ASD.