Date of Defense

4-23-2017

Date of Graduation

4-2017

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Richard Malott

Second Advisor

Nicholas Ostosh

Third Advisor

Tara Casady

Abstract

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty acquiring imitative skills, which may serve as an important factor in developing social skills and language (Miller et al., 2015; Ledford & Wolery, 2010; Young et al., 1994). Research has shown that most-to-least prompting is most effective for children who do not learn quickly (Libby et al., 2008). The goal of this study was to discover whether the presence of a mirror affected the rate of acquisition of imitative behaviors compared to a no-mirror condition, using most-to-least within-session prompt fading. This study used a multiple baseline design across sets of behaviors. Sets of behaviors were chosen for each condition that shared similar topographies, response effort, and automatic sensory consequences. A most-to-least within-session prompt fading procedure was used for both conditions. Past studies have observed the effects of a mirror on the acquisition of imitative targets, but this is the first study to use a most-to-least within-session prompt fading procedure with a mirror (Miller et al., 2015; Du & Greer, 2014). The results of this study show how a mirror affects the rate of acquisition of imitation when using most-to-least within-session prompt fading.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

Additional Files
Giulia Avelar Thesis Presentation.pdf (752 kB)
Defense Presentation
Download

Share

COinS