Date of Award
12-2020
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Applied Behavior Analysis: M.S.
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Benjamin Witts
Second Advisor
Michele Traub
Third Advisor
Odessa Luna
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
autism spectrum disorder, joint attention, gaze following, responding, generalization
Abstract
This study evaluated the implementation of behavioural intervention (i.e., prompting, prompt fading, discrete trial teaching, social reinforcement, and multiple exemplars) to teach three children all diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) how to respond to bids for joint attention by following another’s eye gaze. Additionally, generalization of each child’s responding was evaluated across four different bid types (i.e., varied presentation and/or stimuli used), as well as with a parent/caregiver. To promote generalization, teaching occurred in both the child’s home and clinical environment, as well as when seated at a table or on the floor while engaging in an activity. Using a multiple baseline design across bid types for each participant, the results showed that behavioural intervention to teach responding to joint attention bids using gaze following was successful for all participants. Response generalization was shown across bid types for all participants. All participants’ skills were also generalized to their parent or caregiver.
Recommended Citation
Wickstrom, Randi, "Training Responding to Joint Attention Bids Using Gaze Following and Multiple Bid Types" (2020). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 77.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/77
Comments/Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my advisor and committee chairperson, Dr. Ben Witts. Thank you for your teaching, patience, and guidance from first year Experimental Analysis of Behaviour through to the completion of this thesis project. I will forever be a better behaviourist and critical thinker because of you. I’d also like to extend my thanks to my thesis committee, Dr. Michele Traub and Dr. Odessa Luna for their feedback and support. A special thanks to Dr. Kim Schulze for supporting me in my practicum and the beginning of my research on joint attention.