Unit 2 Instructors Notes Flashcards
Purpose of Assessment
- Identify:
- Current skills/level
- Comparison
- Barriers
- Design:
- Intervention/Teaching Strategies
- Goals
- Monitor:
- Track Progress
Traditional Assessment
- Looking @ Cognitive processes
- Expressive-Receptive distinction
- Standardized; Norm Reference
Behavioral Assessments
- Environmental variables
- Identifying Verbal Operants
- Criterion-references assessments
Treatment Focus
- For children with ASD:
- Effective Language
- Social Skills
- Self-care
- Motor, academics etc
Assessments Help Us……
True:
- Determine if we should intervene
- Compare to typical development
- Identify IEP goals
False:
- Clearly project a completion date
- Remove env barriers
- Predict overall success rate
History:
Skinner Onward
- 1950s: Jack Michael & Lee Meyerson
- 1963: Joseph Spradlin- Parsons Language Sample
- 1970s: Kalamazoo Valley Multi-handicap Center (Michael, Mark Sundberg)
History
Sundberg
- 1998: ABLLS (Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills) with James Partington
- Teaching Language to Children with Autism or Other Developmental disabilities
- 2008: VB-MAPP
Developing the VB-MAPP
Issues:
“What is normal anyway?”
-Disagreement on development
Other assessments only breakdown to expressive-receptive distinction
Who had early, heavy influence in carrying Skinner’s analysis into applied settings?
a) Jack Michael
b) Roger Brown
c) Brian Iwata
d) Steven Hayes
a) Jack Michael
Which is credited as the first language assessment based on Skinner’s analysis?
a) ABLLS
b) VB-MAPP
c) Parson’s Language Sample
d) PEAK
c) Parson’s Language Sample
VB-MAPP Sections
- Milestones
- Task Analyses & Skill –Tracker
- Barriers
- Transition
- Placement and IEP goals
Milestones
-Criterion referenced skills
-Mands, Tacts, Listener Responding, Echoics, Intraverbals
-Play Skills
-Visual Performance and MTS
-Arranged by typical development sequence
3 “Levels”
Which child would be best suited for the VB-MAPP assessment?
a) An 8-year-old with mild ASD
b) A 3-year-old with typical language but severe problem behavior
c) An 18-month-old with no delays
d) A 3-year-old with no diagnosis but appears to be falling behind peers
d) A 3-year-old with no diagnosis but appears to be falling behind peers
Echoics
- Syllables
- Simple & repeated
- 2-syllable combinations
- 3-syllable combinations
- Prosody
- Emphasis
- Pitch Variations
- Volume
- Duration
Which section of the VB-MAPP assesses function of problem behavior?
a) Barriers
b) Transitions
c) Milestones
d) VB-MAPP does not assess problem behavior
d) VB-MAPP does not assess problem behavior
How many skills are on the Milestones Assessment?
a) 120
b) 170
c) 200
d) 250
b) 170
Task Analysis & Skills Tracking
*Example: Social Play Milestone 3:
“Spontaneously looks at other children 5 times in 30 minutes”
- 3a. Takes desired item from an adult 3 times
- 3b. Reacts positively to being approached by other children 2 times
- 3c. Responds to greeting from others with 2 seconds of eye contact 2 times
Barriers
- 24 potential barriers
- Score each 0-4:
0 = No problem 1 = Occasional Problem 2 = Moderate Problem 3 = Persistent Problem 4 = Severe Problem
Barriers Examples areas:
- Neg Bx
- Prompt Dependent
- Scrolling
- Escape/Avoidance
- Hyperactivity
- Failure to Generalize
- Weak Skill Areas
- Weak Scanning
- Sensory Defensiveness
Transitions
- Id the skills that increase probability of success in less restrictive env
- 18 areas
- Score each 1-5 (higher = better)
- Several areas scored based on milestones and barriers assessments
- For example: Instructional Control
- A total score of 6 or 7 on negative bx and instructional control on barriers = 1
Transitions E.gs.
- Overall Milestones; Overall Barriers
- Works independently
- Generalization of Skills
- Rate/Retention of New Skills
- Range of RX
- Self-help Skills
- Self-directed play
- Toileting
- Eating Skills
Placement & IEP Goals
- Provides direction for each milestone
- Suggestions for IEP Goals
- Helps to balance program
Which assessment would be essential if attempting to integrate a child into a mainstream setting?
a) Transition
b) Barriers
c) Skills Tracker
d) Echoics sub-assessment
A) Transition
Intraverbals
What does early, typical intraverbal development sound like?
-Fill-ins
-Songs
c-Part Mand
- Intraverbals
- What do Weak inter verbal responses sound like?
- Echolalia
- Rote
- Scrolling/Scripting
- Dependent on sight of item
- Lack conversational skills
Weak Intraverbals
Potential Causes:
- No formal training
- Training too early/out of developmental sequence
- Target responses not in repertoire as other operants
- Over conditioned specific stimulus
- Training hasn’t considered VCD
*Teaching Intraverbals
- Prerequisites: Mand, Tact, Listener
- Nonverbal stimulus control
- Verbal Conditional Discrimination (More research needed!!)
Responding to which antecedent would likely require verbal conditional discrimination?
a) Tell me a hot food.
b) What’s your dog’s name?
c) Where do you eat lunch?
d) All of these
e) A and B, but not C
d) All of these
In order to catch up to typical peers, you must program quickly to and through intraverbal responding.
a) True
b) False
b) False
Common Errors
- Before 18 months:
- no IV
- At 2 years:
- some IV (name, songs) but struggle with “Wh” questions. Maybe 50% artic.
- At 3 years:
- Conditional Discriminations still difficult. “Why”/“When” question errors. Struggle with prepositions.
- Much better at 5 years
Filling in a phrase like, “Twinkle, twinkle, little…” likely wouldn’t develop until what age?
a) 12 months
b) 2 years
c) 3 years
d) 5 years
b) 2 years
A novel audience would likely be able to understand about what percent of a 2.5 year old’s words?
a) 5%
b) 25%
c) 50%
d) 75%
c) 50%
B.F. Skinner
Christi notes
A failure is not always a mistake, it may only be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.
History
- Skinner began his work on VB in 1934
- Published VB in 1957
- Worked closely with Fred Keller co-founder of Bx Ana
- Jack Michael, who is considered on of the main founders of the field of ABA and taught Skinner’s analysis of VB in multiple universities
- Parsons Language Sample was the 1st language assessment (1963) by Joe Spradlin
- Montrose Wolf founded JABA
- Bx Autism tx (DTT/ABA) by Wolf, Risley, & Mees (1964)
Verbal Operant
All instances of verbal bx can be classified into verbal operants
• Functional units of lang (form & function)
• Each verbal operant involves separate sources of
control (environmental variables)
• A-B-C
• Functionally independent of each other (different
effects on environment)
• Each operant shares a common antecedent (SDs & MOs) & consequence
• Most vb is under multiple control & is comprised of
Purpose of Assessment
- Determine Child’s Skills
- Compare to typically developing language
- Establish IEP goals
- Design individualized intervention
- Determine teaching strategies
- Track progress, provide outcome measures & make changes
Intervention
The primary focus of an intervention program for children with autism
should be on the development of effective ________ and _____ ______.
What kind of language assessments?
Standardized
- Norm referenced: make references to the population
- Doesn’t generalize
- Laborious
- Age score not representative
- e.g. IQ Test
What Kind of language Assessments?
Behavioral ass
- Criterion references
- Speaker & listener as separate repertoires
- V. operant in the fx unit w/ separate sources of control
Selecting Curriculum
*Curriculum for individuals w/ language delays should be driven by:
• Typical development
• Assesses all of the verbal operants
• Assess in the natural environment (where the skills are needed) & teaching will make use of formal, informal & natural trials.
ABLLS: Partington & Sundberg (1998), ABLLS-R Partington
*contained too many skills to be assessed or taught (476, over 1500 cells)
• Significant steps in development not highlighted
• Confusing progression of skills
• Steps in cells were too small for IEP goals
• Not developmentally balanced
• No content on how to conduct the assessment
• No description of the verbal operants
VB MAPP 2008
1) Milestones
1) Milestones:
170 measurable learning & language milestone across
3 development levels(0-18 months, 18-30 months, & 30-48 months)
VB-MAPP (2008)
2) Criterion Referenced Skills:
- Criterion referenced skills: Mands, Tacts, Listener Responding, Echoics, Motor Imitation, VP & MTS, Play & social Skills, Intraverbals,
VB-MAPP (2008)
3) Include Skills
Includes skills that are typically acquired in a specific sequences by typically dev children. Acquisition of these skills can lead to typical language & academic skills.
VB-MAPP (2008)
- Developmentally balanced across the verbal operants. Tries to avoid rote responding due to deficits in related verbal operant.
- During assessment if probe 3 steps up without correct responses then stop probing that operant or skill set.
- Designed for a variety of individuals… NOT just autism!
VB-MAPP
24 Barriers to Learning scored on a Likert scale of 24 common learning & language acquisition barriers
e.g. Bx prob, Instructional control, scrolling, defective: mand, tact, intraverbal, defective scanning, defective conditional discriminations, failure to generalize, weak motivators, response requirement weakens the motivators, Rx dependency
VB-MAPP
Transition Assessment
- looks at whole child -scored on a likert scale of 18 areas to help provide an objective evaluation of skills & existing learning capabilities.
- Some areas include: Are generalization trials required, Acquisition rate of new skills, Rate & severity of problematic behavior, Adaptability to change, Ability to engage in observational learning & considers the score on barriers assessment
VB-MAPP
Task Analysis & Skills Tracking
*900 total tasks in the VB-MAPP task analysis
• Allows for more detailed skills tracking
• NOT prerequisite skills for a specific milestone!
• Building a whole repertoire
• No TA for echoics or spon vocals
VB MAPP
pros
Updated 1x per year •Implementation in the natural envir •Echoic levels based on syllables •Criterion referenced
•Based on Skinner’s analysis of vb
VB-MAPP
Cons
Most development references do not agree on development
• Most development references present receptive & expressive language only
Intraverbal Problems
*Absent or weak intraverbal bx, despite strong mands, tacts, & listener (receptive) skills
• Rote intraverbal responses/scripted responses
• Difficulty answering questions–especially complex
questions
• Excessive rote scripting
• No conversational skills
• Echolalia with intraverbal questions
• Poor peer intraverbal interaction
• Irrelevant intraverbal bx
• Self as a listener with overt intraverbal bx
Potential causes of Intraverbal Problems
- Tact, mand, & listener (receptive) prerequisites are not mastered.
- Too early to focus on intraverbals.
- Weak listener discriminations
- Out of developmental sequence
- Words change the meaning of the sentence: (if, but, can’t, or usually, its, for, of)
- Lacks verbal conditional discriminations
- VCD training may be needed
Conditional Discriminations
One discriminative stimulus (SD) or motivational operation (MO) alters the evocative effect of a second stimulus, and establishes the second stimulus as an SD or MO, and they collectively evoke a response
Conditional Discriminations
A discrimination in which reinforcing a response is contingent (conditional) on another stimulus
Conditional Discrimination
one stim changes the significance of another stim
Sa-S1 –R –SR Sb-S1-R-Ext Sa-S2 –R –Ext
S1 = bunny picture S2= giraffe picture
Sa= “select the rabbit”
Sb= other instruction (“find the animal with spots”) R= selecting the picture
SR = socially meditated rein: token, candy, “good job” Ext= no access to any preferred items or access to attention
Conditional Discriminations CD
-one stim changes the significance of another stim
Example: Select the bunny that is grey
Verbal Conditional Discriminations (VCd)
- When one verbal stimulus alters the evocative effect of a 2nd verbal stimulus, & collectively they evoke a differential response
- VCD main sources of control for most intraverbal bx!
- What day is today? Rainy.
- Who drives you to school? Car!
- What do you wear to the beach vs. What do you take to the beach
- How are you? vs. How old are you?
Verbal Conditional Discriminations VCd
- Much of our VB is controlled by verbal SDs. But, many children with autism fail to acquire intraverbal bx despite strong mand, tact & listener repertoires. Even when some intraverbal stimulus control is demonstrated the control is lost when VCD are involved.
- The ultimate principle that underlies conditional discriminations is stimulus control
- Skinner: “compound verbal stimulus”.
Verbal Conditional Discriminations (VCd)
The individual components must first demonstrate stimulus control
Ex: Rain, today, house, roof
These individual operants can then be systematically brought together in a CD task using
a variety of procedures.
CVD is almost always used in intraverbals
Verbal SD1
Verbal Conditional Discrimination
The individual components must first demonstrate stimulus control
Ex: Rain, today, house, roof
These individual operants can then be systematically brought together in a CD task using
a variety of procedures.
CVD is almost always used in intraverbals
Intraverbal Programming
- Typically developing children serve as a guide for an intraverbal curriculum
- Look for balance across the scores of the VB- MAPP (Is the child ready for intra. training?)
- Many mastered & fluent mands, tact, & listener repertoires!
- don’t move from the nonverbal context too quickly
- Carefully sequence the intraverbal tasks (e.g., the VB-MAPP intraverbal task analysis)
Intraverbal Programming
Contd…
• Use LRFFC as a means to teaching intras
• Watch out for rote responding!
• Back down the curriculum sequence if necessary!!
• Analyze errors & sources of control
• Want generalized intraverbal responses prior
to combing VCDs
• Mix & rotate VB trials
Conclusion
A behavioral analysis of these verbal errors can help us better understand the errors made by children with ASD & avoid those errors by better sequencing the curriculum tasks, & by providing the necessary instruction, especially on VCDs
We need more research on VCDs!
- The verbal stimulus is gradually faded to and MO in:
A. Functional communication training
B. Echoic to mand transfer control procedures
C. Compliance training
B. Echoic to mand transfer control procedures
- Which of the following is included in the milestones?
A. mands B. intraverbals C. reading D. A and B E. all of the above
E) All of the above
- Which of the following is not included in the barriers assessment?
A. obsessive compulsive behavior B. hyperactive behavior C. noncompliant behavior D. all of the above E. none of the above
c) Noncompliant BX
- Which of the following is not included in the transitions assessment?
A. acquisition rate of new skills B. weak motivators C. ability to engage in observational learning D. all of the above E. none of the above
B. weak motivators
- Which of the following is true of the VB-MAPP?
A. criterion based B. suggestions for placement & IEP goals C. based on Skinner’s analysis of VB D. A and C E. all of the above
E. all of the above
- What verbal operant should you teach first, when working with an “early learner”?
a. Autoclitic
b. Listener responding c. Mand
d. Tact
c) Mand
- What type of prompting should you implement when using errorless teaching?
a. Least-to-most prompting
b. Most-to-least prompting
c. No-no prompting
d. Whichever works best for the learner
b) Most to Least
- The mand is maintained by which type of reinforcement?
A. Generalized conditioned reinforcement
B. Specific reinforcement
C. Specific MO
B. Specific reinforcement
- A tact is under the antecedent control of?
A. Verbal stimulus
B. Motivating Operation C. Non-verbal stimulus
D. Reinforcement
C. Non-verbal stimulus
- The milestones are based on ___________.
A. verbal operants
B. typically developing children
C. children on the autism spectrum
D. cognitive markers for language development
B. typically developing children
- What should children have in their repertoires behavior teaching intraverbals?
A. carrier phrases
B. Mo to engage in conversation
C. mands and tacts
D) All of the above
C. mands and tacts
- The first mands and tacts should be:
A. functional to the leaner B. what typically developing kids of the same age have C. Based on norm referenced assessments D. A and B E. All of the above
A. functional to the leaner
- Where you should you conduct the VB-MAPP assessment?
A. in a controlled sterilized environment
B) In the natural Env
C. in the classroom that is the goal
D. a combination of the above
B) In the natural Env
- Which of the following is/are reasons to assess language?
A. determine operant levels and deficits
B. select appropriate goals
C. design intervention program and track progress
D. all of the above
D. all of the above
- The mand is under the control of an MO. What else must be in place for a mand to
occur?
A. Specific reinforcement
B. A listener/SD
C. verbal stimulus
D. All of the above
B. A listener/SD
- What verbal operant should you teach first, when working with an “early learner”?
a. Autoclitic
b. Listener responding c. Mand
d. Tact
c) Mand
- When barrier scoring a 3 or 4 has been identified what should be done?
A. conduct a DA and/or FA
B. target the previous milestone to strengthen those responses before moving forward.
C. design and implement programming to target the deficit based on assessment
D. All of the above
E. A and C
E. A and C
- Which of the following is a problem with the ABLLS?
A. Just a listing of skills with examples, and a scoring criteria B. out of developmental sequence C. too many skills to assess D. steps too small for IEP goals E. all of the above D. B,C,&D
E. all of the above
- The most important part of transitioning a child to a less restrictive environment is that:
A. The new environment includes peer-models
B. The new environment results in the most effective learning possible for a child
C. The new environment has the least amount of support
D. The new environment uses traditional academics and curricula
B. The new environment results in the most effective learning possible for a child
- Intraverbals are under the antecedent control of:
A. SDs
B. Mos
C. verbal stimuli
D. non verbal stimuli
c) Verbal Stimulus
- The main sources of control for most intraverbal behavior involve:
A. autoclitics B. A strong repertoire of tacts and listener discriminations C. Verbal Conditional Discriminations D. All of the above E.Only A & C
c) VCDs
- In the VB-MAPP the transitions assessment helps to ________.
A. developing programming to help learners move from one activity to another
B. assess moving from a preferred activity to a less preferred activity
C. Determine if child can move to a more typical learning environment
D. A & B
E. All of the above
C. Determine if child can move to a more typical learning environment
- I am always pressed for time. So, in the grocery store I am always searching for the shortest checkout line that has a light “on” vs. “off.” This is an example of:
a. Conditional Discrimination
b. Response Generalization c. Stimulus Generalization
d. Evocative Effects
a. Conditional Discrimination
- The mand is mostly controlled by:
A. SDs
B. Mos
C. verbal stimulus
D. non verbal stimulus
B) MOs
- About how often should you assess the VB-MAPP?
A. every 6 months
B. once a year
C. constantly
B) Once a yr
- By what age do most children have a generalized imitative repertoire?
A. 4 yrs old
B. 18 months
C. 2.5 yrs old
c) 2.5 yrs old
- How many milestones up do you probe in which the child scores a zero before you stop?
A. one
B. two
C. three
D. you continue to probe all the skills
c) Three
- An average/typical 18 month old can mand for about ____ items.
A. 1 B. 2 C. 5 D. 10 E. 10-20
d) 10
- Assess in the natural environment (where the skills are needed) and teaching will make use of _________.
A. natural trials
B. formal and informal trials
C. formal, informal & natural trials
D. none of the above
C. formal, informal & natural trials
