Advisor(s)

Karen Gould

Contributor(s)

Laura Dudley, Hanna C. Rue

Date of Award

4-2012

Date Accepted

4-2012

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department or Academic Unit

Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology.

Keywords

behavioral sciences, remedial trials, skills acquisition

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare rates of multiplication fact acquisition in a control condition with two other remedial trial conditions. The participants were two school-aged children with autism. During a pretest, the participants were presented with flashcards containing unsolved multiplication facts and were asked to solve the problems. Problems which were solved incorrectly were considered unknown and were randomly assigned to the three training conditions. During training, praise was delivered contingent on correct responding across all conditions. In the baseline condition (differential reinforcement), an error produced no consequences. In both remedial trial conditions, incorrect responses resulted in the experimenter providing the correct response followed by repetition of the trial. In the relevant condition, the participant was required to repeat the solution to the incorrectly solved multiplication problem three times, whereas in the irrelevant condition the participant was required to repeat three unrelated words. Results indicated that both remedial trial conditions resulted in faster skill acquisition for both participants over differential reinforcement alone. Furthermore, both participants exhibited higher rates of acquisition during the irrelevant remedial trial condition compared to the relevant remedial trial condition. These data suggest that remedial trials enhance performance by creating a negative reinforcement paradigm for correct responding. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights Holder

Ashley N. Weimar


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