Teaching Interaction Procedure Research Articles

The effectiveness of an executive function program for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder

The effectiveness of an executive function program for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder

Training behavior technicians to become behavior artists through the teaching interaction procedure

AbstractIn his 1985 lecture, Richard Foxx outlined several traits that distinguished behavior technicians from behavioral artists. He argued that these distinguishing factors made the difference in whether a behavior change proved successful or not. These features have added to the growing body of work around compassionate care in behavior analysis. This study demonstrates that Foxx's skills of behavioral artistry can be taught to a selection of three behavior technicians, demonstrating that technicians are able to learn the topographical behaviors of behavioral artistry through the teaching interaction procedure. A multiple baseline design across three participants was used. Data from this study demonstrates that all three participants showed improvement in their ability to engage in three components identified as part of Foxx's behavioral artistry.

An Evaluation of a Teaching Interaction Procedure Implemented in a Recess Setting

The teaching interaction procedure (TIP) is a strategy that has been demonstrated as effective in promoting social skill acquisition in school settings for young students with social communication deficits (Leaf et al., 2009; Leaf et al., 2010). However, a frequently cited criticism of social skills training is the lack of generalizability of target skills to novel contexts (Bellini et al., 2007). The purpose of the study was to evaluate a TIP-based social skills intervention conducted on the playground, intended to promote generalizability through training in naturalistic settings and to evaluate generalizability of skill acquisition to the classroom. Eight students 5-8 years old with an educational classification of autism or developmental delay participated in the study. The primary dependent variable was skill acquisition in the playground setting, and a secondary measure was generalized skill acquisition to the classroom setting. Target skills included appropriate body language, participation, and responding to initiations. A multi-probe design embedded within a multiple baseline design across target skills with concurrent replication across participants was used to evaluate the primary and secondary measures. Overall, results suggest that increases in skill acquisition were observed during implementation of the TIP across most participants and skills in both training and generalization phases. However, substantial variability was noted across participants related to maintaining skill acquisition during maintenance and follow-up phases in both the training and generalization settings. Limitations of these results are discussed as well as implications for school practitioners.

Effective remote staff training of objective session notes.

Session notes are a required component of documenting behavior analytic sessions. The direct training of writing objective session notes is important to the success of direct line staff completing adequate documentation and meeting requirements set forth by agencies, certification boards, and insurance funders. However, in-person training is not always immediately available due to contextual restrictions. This study evaluated the effectiveness of implementing the teaching interaction procedure when training staff remotely to objectively document client progress within session notes. Three Registered Behavior Technicians™ (RBT®s) were trained via telehealth to complete session notes objectively. Results showed that all 3 participants met the mastery criterion during probes measuring the objective documentation of home-based behavior analytic sessions. These findings suggest that a training package, such as the teaching interaction procedure, can be effectively implemented remotely when conducting staff training.

Using the teaching interaction procedure to train interventionists to implement the Cool versus Not CoolTM procedure

AbstractThe teaching interaction procedure is a behavior analytic procedure that has been used to target the development of social skills. The teaching interaction procedure consists of labeling the target skill, providing a meaningful rationale, describing the steps of the target skill, modeling the skill, role‐play, and providing feedback throughout the interaction. Although the teaching interaction procedure has been used to teach a variety of social skills for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it has only been used to train staff in two studies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of the teaching interaction procedure to teach three interventionists to implement the Cool versus Not Cool™ procedure to target the development of social skills for children diagnosed with ASD. The results of a multiple baseline design demonstrated that the teaching interaction procedure was effective for all three interventionists. Results of the child participants' skill acquisition are also provided.

The Teaching Interaction Procedure as a Staff Training Tool.

The teaching interaction procedure is an evidence-based procedure that has been utilized for the development of social skills. The teaching interaction procedure consists of labeling the targeted skill, providing a meaningful rationale for the importance of the skill, describing the steps of the targeted skill, modeling the skill, and providing feedback throughout the interaction. Although the teaching interaction procedure has been used to teach a variety of social skills to children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other social and behavioral disorders, its use has not been evaluated for training staff. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a teaching interaction procedure to teach 3 interventionists the skills to implement a teaching interaction procedure to target the development of social skills for children diagnosed with ASD. The results of a multiple-baseline design showed the teaching interaction procedure was effective at teaching all 3 interventionists how to implement a teaching interaction procedure.

A Meta-analysis of School-Based Social Interaction Interventions for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of school-based social interaction interventions for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). All 27 studies meeting predetermined inclusion criteria utilized single-case designs. Peer-mediated interventions, peer networks, behavioral skills training, and the teaching interaction procedure were the most frequently utilized strategies and produced large effects for lower, moderate, and higher functioning adolescents with ASD. Teachers rarely implemented interventions, though large effects were reported when they served as intervention agents. Future research concerning the acceptability and feasibility of using social interaction interventions in the classroom is needed in order to facilitate evidence-based practice. Additionally, research that targets more complex and nuanced social behaviors and assesses collateral effects such as academic performance and friendship quality appears warranted.

Using the Teaching Interactions Procedure to Teach Social Skills to Children With Autism and Intellectual Disability.

This study implemented a modified teaching interaction procedure to teach social skills to 4 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with an intellectual disability. A multiple baseline design across social skills and replicated across participants was utilized to evaluate the effects of the modified teaching interaction procedure. The results demonstrated that the teaching interaction procedure resulted in all participants acquiring targeted social skills, maintaining the targeted social skills, and generalizing the targeted social skills.

The Teaching Interaction Procedure and Behavioral Skills Training For Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Review and Commentary

Teaching social behaviors and other pro-social skills is an important component of intervention for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Today, there are several procedures which are being implemented clinically and evaluated empirically to improve the overall social behaviors of individuals diagnosed with ASD. Two of these procedures are the teaching interaction procedure (TIP) and behavioral skills training (BST). In this paper, we describe both TIP and BST, provide the historical context of each of these procedures, highlight the differences of the two procedures, review and analyze the empirical evidence of the two procedures, and provide recommendations to clinicians, future researchers, parents, and other professionals. The paper is both an analysis of the current literature of the two procedures and commentary based upon our clinical experience working in research settings and various clinical settings.

Improving Conversational Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study of the Teaching Interaction Procedure (TIP)

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often impaired in their ability to generate and maintain conversations with others (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Poor conversational skills inhibit children with ASD from appropriately interacting with peers and family members, often prohibiting them from developing satisfying relationships with others. The teaching interaction procedure was utilized in the present intervention to improve conversational skills in four children with an ASD. Children ages 7-11 participated in an outpatient social skills group over a period of 10 weeks. Results suggest the teaching interaction procedure was effective in improving conversational skills for all participants. This study highlights issues related to conducting short-term group therapy with individuals with ASD.

Comparing the Teaching Interaction Procedure to Social Stories: A Replication Study

This study compared the teaching interaction procedure to social stories implemented in a group setting to teach social skills to three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The researchers taught each participant one social skill with the teaching interaction procedure, one social skill with the social story procedure, and one social skill was assigned to a no intervention condition. The teaching interaction procedure consisted of didactic questions, teacher demonstration, and role-play; the social story procedure consisted of reading a book and answering comprehension questions. The researchers measured participants' performances during probes, responses to comprehension questions, and responding during role-plays. The results indicated that the teaching interaction procedure was more efficacious than the social story procedure across all three participants.

COMPARING THE TEACHING INTERACTION PROCEDURE TO SOCIAL STORIES FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM

This study compared social stories and the teaching interaction procedure to teach social skills to 6 children and adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder. Researchers taught 18 social skills with social stories and 18 social skills with the teaching interaction procedure within a parallel treatment design. The teaching interaction procedure resulted in mastery of all 18 skills across the 6 participants. Social stories, in the same amount of teaching sessions, resulted in mastery of 4 of the 18 social skills across the 6 participants. Participants also displayed more generalization of social skills taught with the teaching interaction procedure to known adults and peers.

Teaching typically developing children to promote social play with their siblings with autism

Siblings are important “peers” for children. Unfortunately, children with autism often do not play or interact often with their typically developing siblings. The purpose of this study was to teach three typically developing children (ages 4–6) skills that were likely to increase the amount and quality of social play interactions with their brothers who have autism. A teacher used the teaching interaction procedure to teach typically developing children to provide clear instructions and prompt and reinforce appropriate play behavior such as joining into a play activity, sharing toys, and engaging in appropriate toy play. All three typically developing children learned the targeted skills during role-plays with a teacher and, to a large part, generalized the skills when they played with their brothers with autism. In addition, some children who learned these skills increased their positive interactions and decreased negative interactions during a free-play period with their sibling with autism.

Group teaching of conversational skills to adolescents on the autism spectrum

Adolescents with autism struggle with developing meaningful social relationships. Learning appropriate conversational skills can be an important first step in creating friendships. A procedure that has been effective in teaching conversational skills to typically developing adolescents is the teaching interaction procedure, which involves describing the target behavior, why it should be used, when it should be used, and the steps in the skill, modeling the behavior, and having the learner role-play. Throughout the teaching process, feedback is given to the adolescent. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the teaching interaction procedure could be used to teach adolescents with autism conversational skills in a group setting. Five children, four on the autism spectrum and one with ADHD, were taught conversational basics, how to give positive feedback to a speaker, and how to answer and ask open-ended questions. A multiple-probe design across behaviors and replicated across participants revealed that four of the five participants mastered all three conversational skills, while the fifth participant mastered two of the skills. While no participants fully generalized the skills to interactions with a typical peer, participants showed some generalization to those interactions.

The effectiveness of a group teaching interaction procedure for teaching social skills to young children with a pervasive developmental disorder

Deficits in social skills are characteristic of children with autism. Clinicians often include teaching these skills as part of comprehensive curriculum. One method of developing social skills for children with autism is the teaching interaction procedure. This procedure involves describing the behavior, providing a rational and cues when to use the behavior, dividing the skill into smaller steps, demonstrating the behavior, having the learner role play the behavior, and providing feedback. This study implemented a teaching interaction procedure as part of group social-skills instruction for five children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. A multiple-probe design across behaviors and replicated across participants was used. All five participants acquired the social skills taught to them and generalization was promoted.

Increasing social skills and pro-social behavior for three children diagnosed with autism through the use of a teaching package

This study assessed the effectiveness of a Teaching Interaction procedure for four social skills across three participants diagnosed with autism. All social skills fell into four broad domains (i.e., social-communication, play, emotion skills, and choice/selection skills). In addition, a teaching package was used to increase communication between the three participants and three selected target peers. The teaching package consisted of the Teaching Interaction procedure, reinforcement, and priming of participants to demonstrate social skills and to engage with their target peers. Prior to intervention, participants displayed near zero levels of the four social skills that were targeted; after intervention, all three participants were able to demonstrate these skills. Prior to intervention, participants did not communicate or play with their selected target peer; after intervention, participants were able to increase the amount of play and communication. A multiple baseline design showed that the teaching package was effective in teaching both the targeted social skills and in increasing the development of initial associations that could lead to friendships for three children diagnosed with autism.