Date of Award

Winter 1-19-2018

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Applied Behavior Analysis and Clinical Science

Department

Health Professions

Committee Member(s)

Sarah Slocum, PhD, BCBA-D (Committee Chair)

April Michele Williams, PhD, BCBA-D

Johanna McDonald, MS, BCBA

Supervising Faculty Member

Dr. Sarah Slocum

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that responding to questions regarding past events is a developmental milestone typically reached by age three or four. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) might struggle with this skill in comparison to their neurotypical peers. This study describes a methodology for teaching subjects with ASD intraverbal responses about past events by systematically increasing delays between the presentation of target stimuli and the delivery of a question about the target stimuli. Probes of the terminal delay were conducted after each successive increase in delay. Results showed both subjects successfully responded to questions after a 30-min delay following some level of treatment. This study demonstrated an effective method for teaching intraverbal responses describing past events. More research is needed to replicate these results, study different methods for teaching this skill, and test theoretical mechanisms for remembering.

Rights Holder

Jeanne Stephanie Gonzalez

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