The Effect of a Lag Schedule of Reinforcement on Variability in Toy Play in Children with Autism

Variability is a dimension of behavior that is altered and learned through reinforcement contingencies (Neuringer, 2002). The lag schedule of reinforcement is one way to establish contingencies in order to increase variability in block formations built by children diagnosed with autism. Napolitano, Smith, Zarcone, Goodkin and McAdam (2010), and Miller (1012) found that a lag schedule of reinforcement increased the variety of block formations built by children diagnosed with autism, both studies used the discriminative stimulus (SD) “build differently,” during intervention phases. The current study used a lag schedule of reinforcement along with the SD “build something,” throughout each phase. The results of this study showed that a lag schedule of reinforcement alone did not significantly increase variability in block formations built by all three participants. All three participants were age 8 and had an autism diagnosis.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Applied Behavior Analysis

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Cornell, Cloie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Richard Marsicano
• Meaghan Nolte
• Candis Coble

• Lag Schedule Reinforcement Autism Variability Play
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1205

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-2184