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A Preliminary Evaluation of Conventional and Progressive Approaches of Discrete Trial Teaching for Teaching Tact Relations with Children Diagnosed with Autism

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Abstract

This study compared the effects of a conventional approach and a progressive approach to discrete trial teaching when teaching tact relations to 12 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The conventional approach was informed by best practice guidelines for teaching receptive and expressive language (Green Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16(2), 72–85, 2001; Grow & Leblanc Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6(1), 56–75, 2013) and other relevant research (e.g., Graff & Karsten Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(2), 37–48, 2012; León & Rosales Journal of Behavioral Education, 27(1), 81–100, 2018; Majdalany et al. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(3), 657–662, 2014). The progressive approach was informed by guidelines outlined by Leaf, Cihon, Leaf, et al. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 9(2), 361–372, (2016a) and Leaf, Leaf, McEachin, et al. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 46(2), 720–731, (2016c). In this study, highly vocal-verbal participants diagnosed with ASD were randomly assigned to the conventional or progressive condition and received 20 sessions of intervention. Following intervention, statistical analysis was used to evaluate and compare the effects of each condition. Although both were effective in teaching the participants tact relations, there was a statistically significant difference in the number of tact relations learned in the progressive condition when compared to the conventional condition.

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No funding was received for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endicott College, Beverly, MA, USA

    Christine M. Milne, Justin B. Leaf, Mary Jane Weiss & Joseph H. Cihon

  2. Autism Partnership Foundation, Justin B. Leaf., 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA, 90740, USA

    Christine M. Milne, Justin B. Leaf, Julia L. Ferguson, Joseph H. Cihon, Matthew S. Lee, Ronald Leaf & John McEachin

Authors
  1. Christine M. Milne
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  2. Justin B. Leaf
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  3. Mary Jane Weiss
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  4. Julia L. Ferguson
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  5. Joseph H. Cihon
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  6. Matthew S. Lee
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  7. Ronald Leaf
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  8. John McEachin
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Correspondence to Justin B. Leaf.

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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with 1964 Helsinki decoration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from the parents of all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

The first and second authors conceptualized the original paper and wrote the original draft. All other authors made major contributions and changes throughout the process. The first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh author have commercial products available about behavioral intervention, progressive ABA, and autism.

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Milne, C.M., Leaf, J.B., Weiss, M.J. et al. A Preliminary Evaluation of Conventional and Progressive Approaches of Discrete Trial Teaching for Teaching Tact Relations with Children Diagnosed with Autism. Educ. Treat. Child. 45, 357–381 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-022-00084-4

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