Document Type

Dissertation

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

PhD in Behavior Analysis

Dissertation Defense Date

2014

First Committee Member

Ahearn, William H.

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel H.

Third Committee Member

Karsten, Amanda M.

Additional Committee Member(s)

Bourret, Jason C.

Abstract

"Observational learning is a critical skill needed for the acquisition of social skills and is likely an important skill for learning within traditional educational settings. Although several varying definitions of observational learning have been posited, for the purpose of the present study, observational learning (OL) was defined as differential responding based on the observed response and its corresponding consequence. Although the demonstration of OL occurs during early childhood in the typically developing population, research suggests that OL may be limited in children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to develop an effective assessment to test for the presence of OL across a variety of academic and leisure tasks. If OL was deficient within the repertoire of the individual, we sought to teach it through a treatment package. Six participants diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder demonstrated deficits in OL. Following an initial assessment, a multiple probe design across OL task types showed that the treatment package produced acquisition of OL skills across multiple exemplars. Following training on attending, imitation, delayed imitation, and consequence discrimination, all participants engaged in OL across multiple tasks and generalization of OL was obtained."

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