skill acquisition and behavior reduction

discrete trial teaching

a teaching method that breaks skills into small steps. The therapist gives an instruction, the learner responds, and the therapist gives feedback or a reward; structured teaching

naturalistic teaching

teaching skills during everyday activities, play, and natural situations by using the child's interests; probed into everyday activities.

incidental teaching

a teaching method that uses a child's natural interests to encourage learning.

task analysis

breaking a complex skill into smaller steps

chaining

teaching task analysis steps in a specific order until the learner can complete independently

forward chaining

first task step first then the rest in order (ex; grab toothbrush)

backward chaining

start with last task step (ex; put away toothbrush)

total task chaining

The child practices all six task steps during each teaching session, receiving help when needed.

shaping

teaching a new behavior by rewarding small steps that get closer and closer to the desired behavior.

Example: Teaching a child to say “hello.”

• Reward the child for making a sound.

• Then reward them for saying “he.”

• Then reward them for saying “hello.”

discrimination training

teaches a learner to respond differently to different stimuli.; learning what to respond to and what not to respond to.

sd (discriminative stimulus)

stimulus associated with the correct answer

s delta

stimulus associated with the incorrect answer

prompting

giving a learner help or clues to perform a behavior correctly. (Verbal, gestural, model, physical, visual)

prompt fading

gradually reducing help until learner can do skill alone

Example: A therapist teaches a child to wave hello.

• First, the therapist gently guides the child’s hand.

• Next, the therapist only models waving.

• Finally, the child waves independently.

token system/economy

a system where a learner earns tokens for desired behaviors and exchanges them for rewards.