Generalization and Maintenance in Applied Behavior Analysis

Overgeneralization:
- Definition: Emitting the target response in too many settings or to inappropriate stimuli.
- Result: Target response occurs in inappropriate situations.
- Example: A child says "good morning" at all times of the day after being taught it as a morning greeting.
Faulty Stimulus Control:
- Definition: Target response is cued by only a part of the appropriate discriminative stimulus or by an unimportant stimulus.
- Result: Target response occurs in the wrong situations.
- Example: A child calls all adults with glasses "Sally" after learning to say their therapist's name is Sally, who wears glasses.

Importance of Measurement: It's crucial to measure and analyze the extent to which a skill has generalized.
Generalization Probes:
- Definition: Tests conducted to assess generalization.
- Timing: Conducted before, periodically during, and after teaching.
- Purpose: To determine effective generalization strategies and save teaching time.
Conditions: Conducted under baseline conditions (without teaching strategies).
Types of Generalization Assessed:
- Stimulus/Setting Generalization: Demonstrating the target response with novel stimuli and in new settings.
- Response Generalization: Demonstrating novel responses that serve the same function as the learned response.

Definition: The extent to which a learned skill continues to be emitted after teaching is complete.
Importance:
- A primary goal in behavior analysis due to the focus on socially significant skills.
- Ensures students can use skills to access more of the world in a meaningful way.
Duration of Maintenance:
- Varies depending on the skill and its importance in the student's life.
- Example 1: Algebra skills learned in high school may not be maintained if not used after graduation.
- Example 2: Self-care skills like tooth brushing must be maintained throughout life.

Proactive Planning: Maintenance should be considered and planned for before teaching begins.
Key Strategies:
- Fading prompts to ensure the target response occurs in the presence of the natural stimulus.
- Fading reinforcement to naturally occurring levels.
Incorporating learned skills into play and everyday activities.
Integrating basic skills into more complex skill sets.

Maintenance Probes:
- Definition: Assessments conducted periodically after teaching is complete.
- Conditions: Conducted under baseline conditions (no prompts, natural reinforcement).
- Interpretation:
  - Accurate responding indicates skill maintenance.
  - Inaccurate responding indicates the need to restart teaching.
Level of Maintenance: Depends on the specific response and its use in the learner's life.

Planning: Identify generalization and maintenance strategies before teaching.
Purpose: Keep the end goal of the skill in mind, focusing on how and when the learner will use it.
Regular Probes: Conduct generalization probes regularly and maintenance probes at specified intervals after teaching.
Retraining: Reteach skills if maintenance probes show a lack of maintenance. If generalization probes don't show the the desired level of generalization, continue teaching and consider the strategies being used.

Overgeneralization and Faulty Stimulus Control: Issues that can arise during generalization.
Generalization Assessment: Use probes before, during, and after teaching.
Response Maintenance: The continuation of a learned response over time.
Promoting Maintenance: Fade prompts and reinforcement.
Maintenance Assessment: Use probes on a predetermined schedule.
Re-teaching: Necessary for skills not maintained.