Teaching an Infant to Request Help

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Infant Communication

Background:

• Manual sign training in infants promotes early communication and socialization.
• Early communication skills may reduce the likelihood of dangerous behaviors in infants.
• Previous research demonstrated the efficacy of behavioral interventions for teaching infant signing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extend previous findings by teaching an 8-month-old infant with developmental delays to sign for "help" when items were inaccessible.
• To assess the generalization of the "help" sign to reduce unsafe behaviors.
• To investigate the need for further training to establish appropriate antecedent control over signing behavior.

Main Methods:

• Applied behavior analysis techniques, including delayed prompting and differential reinforcement, were used.
• The infant was taught to sign "help" when preferred items were out of reach.
• Generalization and appropriate stimulus control were assessed through systematic observation.

Main Results:

• Delayed prompting and differential reinforcement effectively taught the infant to sign for "help".
• The learned sign generalized to situations previously associated with unsafe climbing behaviors.
• Undesirable generalization occurred when the infant could independently access items, necessitating further intervention.

Conclusions:

• Manual sign training is an effective strategy for promoting functional communication in infants with developmental delays.
• While generalization of skills is beneficial, careful programming is required to ensure appropriate stimulus control.
• Additional targeted teaching may be necessary to refine the use of signs in specific contexts.