Emergence of Auditory-Visual Relations via Equivalence Class Formation in Children Diagnosed with Autism

Author(s)

Monteiro, Patricia C. M. ^[1] ; Barros, Romariz S. ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Fed Univ Para, Natl Inst Sci & Technol Behav Cognit & Teaching, Belem, Para - Brazil

^[2] Rd Arthur Bernardes, 1650 Q6 L15, BR-66825000 Belem, Para - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD; v. 66, n. 4, p. 563-571, DEC 2016.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

The acquisition of auditory-visual discriminations can be difficult for children diagnosed with autism. Training with class-specific consequences may be one way to facilitate acquisition of such discriminations in this population, compared to the standard all-visual procedure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the emergence of visual-visual and auditory-visual relations in children diagnosed with autism using class-specific consequences in a simpler training protocol that was based on identity matching. Four children participated in the study. The procedure comprised the following phases: 1) identity matching training (AA and BB), 2) tests for AB and BA emergent conditional discriminations, 3) training of non-emergent AB and BA relations (if necessary), 4) test for emergent SA auditory-visual discrimination, 5) auditory-visual discrimination training (if necessary), and 6) test for emergent SB auditory-visual discrimination. Two of the four participants showed emergence of equivalence relations involving visual (AB and BA) and auditory-visual (SA and SB) stimuli. These results document the inclusion of auditory stimuli (spoken words) in equivalence classes when presented as class-specific consequences in training. The data encourage further investigation of procedures for establishing auditory-visual discriminations via equivalence class formation with class-specific consequences in children diagnosed with autism. Two other participants did not reach the learning criterion for arbitrary conditional discrimination training. One possibility is that these difficulties are due to a lack of a prerequisite repertoire. Such data confirm findings of other studies and illustrate the difficulty associated with establishing these types of discriminations in low-functioning children diagnosed with autism. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/57705-8 - Institute for the Study of Behavior, Cognition and Teaching
• Grantee: Deisy das Graças de Souza
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants