Teaching children with autism to play a video game using activity schedules and game-embedded simultaneous video modeling.

Teaching children with autism to play a video game using activity schedules and game-embedded simultaneous video modeling. Abstract Children with autism autism(ô`tĭzəm), developmental disability resulting from a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It is characterized by the abnormal development of communication skills, social skills, and reasoning. have severe and pervasive pervasive,adj indicates that a condition permeates the entire development of the individual. impairments insocial interactions and communication that impact most areas of dailyliving and often limit independent engagement in leisure activities. Wetaught four children with autism to engage in an age-appropriate leisureskill, playing the video game Guitar Hero II[TM] through the use of (a)an activity schedule to set up, turn on, and turn off the game andsystem, (b) simultaneous video modeling embedded Inserted into. See embedded system. in the game to teachmanipulation of the Guitar Hero II[TM] controller to play the game, and(c) the training of multiple exemplars of songs to develop a generalized gen��er��al��izedadj.1. Involving an entire organ, as when an epileptic seizure involves all parts of the brain.2. Not specifically adapted to a particular environment or function; not specialized.3. repertoire Repertoire may mean Repertory but may also refer to: Repertoire (theatre), a system of theatrical production and performance scheduling Repertoire Records, a German record label specialising in 1960s and 1970s pop and rock reissues of playing Guitar Hero II[TM] A multiple-probe design acrossparticipants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the trainingpackage. All of the participants successfully learned to play GuitarHero II[TM] and playing skills generalized to a song and a setting notused during training. KEYWORDS: activity schedules, autism, leisure skills, promptfading fadingfading skin coloring. See Arabian fading syndrome (below). Declining in body condition, general health, activity and productivity.Arabian fading syndromegeneral health is unimpaired. , video modeling ********** Teaching age-appropriate leisure skills to individuals withdevelopmental disabilities is important as these skills have beenrecognized as filling habilitative needs (Jerome, Frantino, &Sturmey, 2007; Schleien, Wehman, & Kiernan, 1981) that may increasequality of life. Children with autism or other disabilities who can playgames with their peers have increased opportunities to learn socialskills from their peer interactions and may also improve their motorskills (Luyben, Funk, Morgan, Clark, & Delulio, 1986).Unfortunately, little research has been conducted to identify effectivemethods to teach leisure skills to children and adults with autism andrelated disabilities. The few that have been conducted have focused onusing task analyses in various formats. For example, Schleien andcolleagues (1981) taught individuals diagnosed with mental retardation mental retardation,below average level of intellectual functioning, usually defined by an IQ of below 70 to 75, combined with limitations in the skills necessary for daily living. to play darts dartsIndoor target game. It is played by throwing feathered darts at a circular board with numbered spaces. The board, usually made of cork, bristle, or elmwood, is divided into 20 sectors valued at points from 1 to 20. . The teaching procedure consisted of verbal cues andassistance with a step-by-step training model. The dart skills weremastered and maintained during free time, but the time required to teachthe skills was lengthy. More recently Jerome et al. (2007) taught theage-appropriate leisure skill of navigating (networking, hypertext) navigating - Finding your way around. Often used of the Internet, particularly the World-Wide Web.A browser is a tool for navigating hypertext documents. the internet to adults withautism and mental retardation using a 13-step task analysis inconjunction with backward chaining In AI, a form of reasoning that starts with the conclusion and works backward. The goal is broken into many subgoals or sub-subgoals which can be solved more easily. Known as top-down approach. Contrast with forward chaining. and errorless teaching procedures. Activity schedules involve presentation of a series of written orphotographic prompts for each specific task of the desired chain ofactivities (Massey & Wheeler, 2000; McClannahan & Krantz Krantz is the name of two persons: Kermit E Krantz Physician and inventor Grover Krantz Bigfoot researcher , 1999).Activity ` reduce the need of the instructor to directly promptcompletion of the activity, thus decreasing the possibility that thelearner may become dependent on instructor-delivered prompts. Once theskill is acquired, the instructor's presence can be faded asquickly as possible to promote independent behavior. Activity scheduleshave repeatedly been shown to be effective in promoting leisure andinteractive play-skill acquisition for children with autism (Betz,Higbee, & Reagon, 2008; Machalicek et al., 2009; McClannahan &Krantz, 1999; Spriggs, Gast, & Ayres, 2007). For example, MacDuff,Krantz, and McClannahan (1993) taught children with autism to en-gageindependently in previously mastered leisure skills using an activityschedule. IN addition, MacDuff et al. used multiple-exemplar training(Stokes Stokes, William 1804-1878.British physician. Known especially for his studies of diseases of the chest and heart, he expanded on the observations of John Cheyne in describing the breathing irregularity now known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration. & Baer, 1977) to promote generalization gen��er��al��i��za��tionn.1. The act or an instance of generalizing.2. A principle, a statement, or an idea having general application. across leisureactivities and demonstrated schedule following behavior in the presenceof novel leisure activities. Bryan and Gast (2000) also implementedactivity schedules and multiple-exemplar training to promotegeneralization of leisure skills to novel activities. The activityschedules in their study were comprised of pictures that depicted de��pict?tr.v. de��pict��ed, de��pict��ing, de��picts1. To represent in a picture or sculpture.2. To represent in words; describe. See Synonyms at represent. locations participants needed to visit to engage in the activities.Participants learned to follow the schedule quickly and skillsgeneralized to novel leisure activities. Betz et al. (2008) used jointactivity schedules to increase peer engagement in interactive gamesamong dyads of preschoolers with autism and also observed generalizedschedule following when the order of activities was resequenced and whennew games were introduced. Another procedure that may be effective in teaching leisure skillsis video modeling. Video modeling involves the viewing of a video clip A short video presentation. which provides a model for an individual to imitate im��i��tate?tr.v. im��i��tat��ed, im��i��tat��ing, im��i��tates1. To use or follow as a model.2. a. (Ayres &Langone, 2005; LeBlanc, Coates, Daneshvar, Charlop-Christy, &Morris, 2003). Shipley-Benamou, Lutzker, and Taubman (2002) noted thatvideo modeling can increase independence by reducing the need for aninstructor to promote learning. In one study, Paterson and Arco (2008)used video modeling to increase appropriate toy play whilesimultaneously decreasing repetitive behavior with students with autism.Dauphin Dauphin, town, CanadaDauphin(dô`fĭn), town (1991 pop. 8,453), SW Man., Canada, on the Vermilion River. It is the retail and distribution center for an agricultural, lumbering, and fishing area. , Kinney, and Stromer (2004) incorporated video models directlyinto computer-based activity schedules to teach sociodramatic play to achild with autism and also observed generalized responding aftermultiple exemplar ex��em��plar?n.1. One that is worthy of imitation; a model. See Synonyms at ideal.2. One that is typical or representative; an example.3. An ideal that serves as a pattern; an archetype.4. training in the form of matrix training. Although both video modeling and activity schedules have been usedto teach play skills and increase independence, neither strategy hasbeen used to teach video game play, a common leisure skill forschool-aged children. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was toteach young children with autism to play the video game Guitar HeroII[TM] independently. The skill was taught through the use of amultiple-component intervention A procedure used in a lawsuit by which the court allows a third person who was not originally a party to the suit to become a party, by joining with either the plaintiff or the defendant. package. One component consisted of aversion of simultaneous video models (i.e., learner engages in theresponse while the video is shown) (Kinney, Vedora, & Stromer, 2003;Sancho, Sidener, Reeve REEVE. The name of an ancient English officer of justice, inferior in rank to an alderman. 2. He was a ministerial officer, appointed to execute process, keep the king's peace, and put the laws in execution. , & Sidener, 2010; Taber-Doughty, Patton,& Brennan, 2008) that are directly embedded in the Guitar HeroII[TM] video game to teach correct note selection on the guitar-shapedgame controller. That is, as a note to be played is modeled by the videogame on the television screen, the participant should press thecorresponding button on the controller at that time. The cameraperspective of the video models displayed in the game is from that ofthe learner. A second intervention component was an activity schedulethat was used to teach participants to set up, turn on, and turn off thegame and system. Finally, multiple exemplars of songs were taught tofacilitate a generalized repertoire of playing Guitar Hero II[TM]. Method Participants The participants were three boys and one girl, all diagnosed withautism by independent outside agencies. All could match colors, had finemotor skills adequate to manipulate manipulateTo cause a security to sell at an artificial price. Although investment bankers are permitted to manipulate temporarily the stock they underwrite, most other forms of manipulation are illegal. the Guitar Hero II[TM] gamecontroller, tolerated manual prompting, had a limited leisure skillrepertoire, and had previously used activity schedules for other tasksbesides playing video games See video game console. . They exhibited minimal behavior problemsand all were able to read the written texts that were embedded into theparticipants' full day activity schedules to indicate when it wastime to play Guitar Hero II[TM] The participants were also able tofollow a photographic activity schedule which they used to set up andshut off the game. James was 11 years old and had experience playingvideo games (e.g., Mario Kart Mario Kart is a series of go-kart-style racing video games developed by Nintendo as a series of spin-offs from their trademark and highly successful Super Mario series of platformer adventure-style video games. [TM] Wii Bowling[TM], and Sonic theHedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog is a fictional hedgehog character that serves as the mascot of the Japanese video game company Sega. The name is also the title of several entries in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. [TM]). James previously used activity schedules for makingcoffee and baking baking:see cooking. bakingProcess of cooking by dry heat, especially in an oven. Baked products include bread, cookies, pies, and pastries. cookies. Jackie was also 11 years old and hadexperience playing video games (e.g., Wii Sports Wii Sports is a video game produced by Nintendo for the Wii. It was a launch title, and is included as a pack-in game with the Wii console in all territories except Japan, making it the first game included with the launch of a Nintendo console since Super Mario World [TM] and MonkeyBall[TM]). Jackie followed a full-day activity schedule and had used anactivity schedule to make trail mix. In addition, both James and Jackiehad previously been exposed to video modeling to teach simple toy playand shoe tying. Martin was 12 years old and had experience playing videogames (e.g., Frogger[TM] and Mario Kart[TM]). Martin followed a full-dayactivity schedule. Jared was 9 years old and had previously played videogames (e.g., Mario Kart[TM] and Monkey Ball[TM]). Jared also followed afull-day activity schedule. Both Jared and Martin had previously beenexposed to video modeling to teach a single skill, shoe-tying. Setting and Materials The study took place in a self-contained classroom in a privateschool for children with autism. Four to five classmates Classmates can refer to either: Classmates.com, a social networking website. Classmates (film), a 2006 Malayalam blockbuster directed by Lal Jose, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indragith, Sunil, Jagathy, Kavya Madhavan, Balachandra Menon, ... of theparticipants and four to five teachers were also present in theclassroom during experimental sessions. The primary experimenter, agraduate student and a classroom instructor for children with autism,conducted all sessions. Several other instructors from thestudents' classrooms were trained by the primary experimenter andaided in data collection. The room contained five desks with two chairsat each. A table off to the side of the room held a Sony Play Station2[TM] video game system used to access and play the Guitar Hero II[TM]game, the Guitar Hero II[TM] game controller, and a television used todisplay the video from the game. The photographic activity schedulefollowed for playing the video game itself contained 27 pages withlaminated laminated/lam��i��nat��ed/ (-nat?ed) having, composed of, or arranged in layers or laminae. laminatedmade up of laminae or thin layers. color photographs located in the center of the pages. The taskanalysis of the photographic activity schedule is depicted in Table 1.Table 1Task Analysis for Playing Guitar Hero II[TM]Task1. Obtain materials2. Put game cartridge in game system3. Insert yellow plug in hole4. Insert white plug in hole5. Insert red plug in hole6. Press switch in back of game system7. Turn on TV8. Make sure video is on9. Press reset button10. Put on guitar (handle to left over right shoulder)11. At START screen press green button12. On Training press green button13. Strum down once to the word PRACTICE14. Press green button15. Strum down__times (to correct song)16. Press green button17. Press green button Strum up to EASY18. Press green button19. On FULL song press green button20. Strum down 3 times to SLOWEST21. Press green button22. Play song23. Scroll down 5 times to Exit button24. Press green button25. Turn off system in the back26. Turn off TV The Guitar Hero II[TM] game. To play the game, the player holds aguitar-shaped game controller which has five buttons along its neckcolored green, red, yellow, blue, and orange (see Figure 1, top image).The player selects the song to be played by pressing a round startbut-ton on the main body of the controller and takes the role of theguitar player in the animated band. In the game, an animated rock bandis displayed on stage (Figure 1, bottom image). While the animated band"plays" the selected song (minus the guitar part), thegame's embedded simultaneous video models depict de��pict?tr.v. de��pict��ed, de��pict��ing, de��picts1. To represent in a picture or sculpture.2. To represent in words; describe. See Synonyms at represent. each guitar noteas a highlighted colored circle scrolling (chat, games) scrolling - To flood a chat room or Internet game with text or macros in an attempt to annoy the occupants. This can often cause the chat room to be "uninhabitable" due to the "noise" created by the scroller. Compare spam. along a stylized styl��ize?tr.v. styl��ized, styl��iz��ing, styl��iz��es1. To restrict or make conform to a particular style.2. To represent conventionally; conventionalize. guitar fretboard. These highlighted circles correspond to the colored buttons onthe neck of the controller (see Figure 1, bottom image for a screenimage of the game). As each note to be played is presented on thescreen, the player must press the colored button on the controller thatmatches it in color, timing, and duration while strumming a bar on themain body of the controller. The greater the number of matches made, thehigher the player's score on the game. When a match occurs, thatspecific guitar note sounds and an animated flame shoots from the circlerepresenting the note on the screen, both on a fixed ratio 1 schedule ofreinforcement reinforcement/re��in��force��ment/ (-in-fors��ment) in behavioral science, the presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the frequency of subsequent responses, whether positive to desirable events, or . If the player emits an error (i.e., plays an incorrectnote on the controller), the music stops and a high pitched sound occursuntil the next correct note is played. To reduce the difficulty of thegame in the present study, the songs were set to "practice"mode (the easiest and slowest setting). During practice mode, only threeof the five buttons (green, red, and yellow) on the controller were usedto play all songs. In addition, the songs used were only instrumentaland were not accompanied by lyrics lyricsnpl [of song] → paroles fpllyricslyric npl [of song] → Text m. At the conclusion of a song, thegame displayed the percentage of correctly played notes on the screen. Dependent Variables and Data Collection Data were collected for schedule completion and on-task behaviorusing paper-and-pencil methods while data on guitar playing wereobtained from electronic data collection embedded within the Guitar HeroII[TM] game. During each session, a trained observer scored whether thechild accurately completed each component of the photographic activityschedule immediately after the component. See Table 1 for a completetask analysis of all steps which generally fell into the followingcategories: (a) setting up game system and guitar controller, (b)selecting the settings (e.g., song, speed), (c) playing the song, and(d) exiting and turning off the game. Three responses were required toscore a step of the task-sequence as correct: (a) pointing/looking atthe page, (b) completing the target behavior, and (c) turning the pageof the schedule. Data were summarized as the percentage of correctlycompleted schedule components per session. The trained observers also scored on-task behavior which wasdefined as (a) visually attending to the materials by orienting o��ri��ent?n.1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia.2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality.b. A pearl having exceptional luster.3. the headwithin approximately a 45-degree held of view of the materials, (b)looking at the schedule, (c) manipulating the materials as they weredesigned to be used, or (d) transitioning from one scheduled activity toanother in the absence of stereotypy stereotypy/ster��eo��ty��py/ (ster��e-o-ti?pe) persistent repetition or sameness of acts, ideas, or words. ster��e��o��ty��pyn.1. The maintenance of one attitude for a long period. (adapted from MacDuff et al.,1993). On-task behavior was recorded using a 60-s momentary mo��men��tar��y?adj.1. Lasting for only a moment.2. Occurring or present at every moment: in momentary fear of being exposed.3. Short-lived or ephemeral, as a life. timesampling procedure with intervals signaled by a Polder Motivator[TM]vibrating vibrating,v using quivering hand motions made across the client's body for therapeutic purposes. timer timer,n radiographic timing device that functions as an automatic exposure timer and a switch to control the current to the high-tension transformer and filament transformer. The face of the timer is calibrated in seconds and fractions of seconds. . Data were summarized as percentage of intervals inwhich the participant was on-task during a session. Guitar playing wasdefined as pressing the colored buttons on the game controller withenough force to register in the game and produce a musical note.Although accuracy of note playing (correspondence between the notemodeled on the screen and the game controller button pressed) was not arequirement of the study, the percentage of correctly played notes wascalculated by the game and this score appeared on the screen at theconclusion of each song. Experimental Design A multiple-probe across participants design was used to assess theeffectiveness of using an activity schedule on correctly completedschedule components, on-task behavior, and guitar playing duringbaseline, intervention, generalization probes, and maintenance phases.Baseline measures were taken prior to training. Once baseline was stablefor the first participant, training was introduced, while the otherthree participants remained in the baseline phase. Baseline probes wereconducted with the remaining participants at least once per week. Theintroduction of the training procedure was staggered across the fourparticipants. The four songs chosen for the study were "You Really GotMe" by Van Halen, "Mother" by Danzig,"Girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet For a writer and broadcaster see Matthew Sweet (writer)Sidney Matthew Sweet (born c. October 6, 1964) is a pop-rock musician from Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. , and "Strutter strut?v. strut��ted, strut��ting, strutsv.intr.To walk with pompous bearing; swagger.v.tr.1. To display in order to impress others. " byKiss. The songs ranged in duration from 5 min 7 s to 7 min 12 s andcontained 248-301 musical notes. For each participant, three songs weretaught and a fourth song, which never appeared during teaching sessions,was used as a probe to assess generalization of playing the video game.Assignment of songs to teaching or probe was counterbalanced acrossparticipants such that a different song was used for eachparticipant's generalization probe. Procedure Pre-training color assessment. To assess whether the participantshad adequate color-matching skills to operate the Guitar Hero II[TM]game controller, red, yellow, and green bins were placed in front of theparticipant. Next, 10 small red, yellow, or green items were presentedone at a time to each participant and he or she was asked to place theitem in the bin that corresponded to its color. All participants wereable to correctly match each item presented to its corresponding coloredbin. In addition, participants were shown 10 flashcards depicting red,yellow, or green musical notes that corresponded to the button on thegame controller. All participants pressed the colored buttons on thecontroller that matched the color on the cards for all 10 trials. Preference assessment. Snacks were used as putative Alleged; supposed; reputed.A putative father is the individual who is alleged to be the father of an illegitimate child.A putative marriage is one that has been contracted in Good Faith and pursuant to ignorance, by one or both parties, that certain reinforcersthroughout the study. These were chosen by a brief multiple-stimuluswithout replacement preference assessment based on procedures describedby Carr CARR CarrierCARR Customer Acceptance Readiness ReviewCARR Carrollton RailroadCARR Corrective Action Request and ReportCARR City Area Rural Rides (Texas)CARR Configuration Audit Readiness ReviewCARR Customer Acceptance Requirements Review , Nicolson, and Higbee (2000). Specifically, an array of 10snacks was placed in front of the participant and the verbal instruction"pick a snack" was presented. After a snack was selected, theparticipant was given 10 s to consume the snack before it was removedfrom the array and the verbal instruction was repeated. Attempts toselect more than one item at a time were blocked and trials continueduntil all items were selected or until the participant stopped makingselections. The entire procedure was repeated for three sessions and theaverage percentage of presentations with selection was converted to arank for each item. The top five snacks were presented in a cup at theend of each experimental session. Baseline. Before each session, the participant selected which ofthe top five ranked snacks he or she would earn. A written instructionthat stated "Play Guitar Hero" was placed in theparticipant's daily activity schedule to signal the participant totake a small, plastic bin labeled "Guitar Hero" from his orher shelf in the classroom. This bin was empty during baseline sessions.The participants had access to the television, the Play Station 2[TM]video game system, and the Guitar Hero II[TM] game and controller. Noprompting or manual guidance was used. No participant ever played thevideo game during baseline, thus, within 5 min of retrieving his or herbin from the classroom shelf, the session was ended. The cup of thepreferred snack item was provided to the student at the end of thesession independent of performance. Intervention. Before each intervention session, the participantselected which of the top five ranked snacks he or she would earn.During training, snacks were delivered in a clear plastic cup forattending, staying on-task, and correctly completing schedulecomponents. Participants were given access to the snacks at theconclusion of the session. Snacks were restricted for use during thestudy to prevent satiation sa��ti��a��tionn.The state produced by having had a specific need, such as hunger or thirst, fulfilled.sa . The written script that read "Play Guitar Hero" remainedin place in each participant's daily activity schedule and accessto the television, the Play Station 2[TM] video game system, and theGuitar Hero II[TM] controller was provided. The small plastic bin oneach participant's shelf contained the photographic activityschedule used for playing the game. Each session was approximately 15min in duration and included all three songs assigned as��sign?tr.v. as��signed, as��sign��ing, as��signs1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection.2. for training withthe order of presentation of songs randomized ran��dom��ize?tr.v. ran��dom��ized, ran��dom��iz��ing, ran��dom��iz��esTo make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. by draw withoutreplacement. Two consecutive sessions occurred each day. After every 7thor 8th training session, the assigned generalization probe song waspresented. Generalization probes occurred under the same conditions asin baseline. During training songs, manual prompting was used to guide theparticipants' fingers to press the buttons to play the notes on thecontroller to match those depicted in the video model embedded in thegame. Prompts were faded from hand-over-hand prompting to wrist prompts,then forearm prompts, and finally to shadowing. Prompts were faded assoon as the participant completed 70% of the components or greater fortwo consecutive sessions. When a participant emitted an error, theprompt level was returned to hand-over-hand prompting for one trial andthen returned to the previous prompting level before the error was made.If the participant completed 50% of the components or lower on guitarplaying for one session, the instructor reintroduced full manual promptsfor one session and then used the previous prompt level prior to the lowscore on the following session. The participants were taught to follow the activity schedule usingmanual prompts with graduated time delay (i.e., progressively longerintervals between presentation of the natural stimulus and presentationof the response prompt). The time-delay procedure started at a 0-s timedelay for full manual guidance for two sessions and increased 2 s whenthe student completed 100% of the components for two consecutivesessions until the terminal delay of 4 s was reached. If the participantmade an error, the instructor returned to a 0-s time-delay for that stepfor one trial and then returned to the previous time-delay level. Photographic activity schedule pages were completely removed whenthe participant met mastery criterion (100% correct components, 80% ontask for 2 sessions) during training songs, and also completed all theschedule components during their generalization probes. The schedule wasremoved because it was assumed that the activity schedules were nolonger needed to complete the components. The picture that depicted thesong to be played during that session, however, always remained present.After the removal of the activity schedule, if the participant did notcomplete a step or made an error during a step for training songs, theinstructor reinserted the page depicting that step and prompted thecompletion of that step, if necessary. The page was then presented againin the next training session. When the participant correctly completedthe missed step in the presence of the picture, the picture was removedfor the next session. This process continued until the student correctlycompleted 100% of the schedule components in the absence of thepictures. A modification of the activity schedule removal was used for Jaredbecause his percentage of correctly completed components during thegeneralization probe songs remained low after he had met criterion ontraining songs. Rather than completely removing his schedule all atonce, as had been done for the other three participants, five pagesdepicting steps for which Jared had at one point made an error duringtraining songs were left in his schedule. When Jared met criterion onone of these steps, the page for that step was removed. Because Jaredcorrectly completed the components during a probe song soon afterschedule fading was begun, his entire schedule was removed after fourpages remained. Programmed reinforcement was systematically thinned (FR-1, FR-10,end of session, none) and then removed in conjunction with removal ofthe activity schedule after the participant correctly completed 100% ofthe schedule components at a 4-s time-delay and was on-task for 80% ofthe intervals scored for two consecutive sessions. The game-embeddedconsequences (i.e., an audible A protected MP3 file format from the Audible.com audio download service. See Audible.com. musical note sounding, pointaccumulation) remained in place. Two probe sessions were conducted in each child's home bothprior to baseline and after intervention to assess the extent to whichplaying Guitar Hero II[TM] generalized to the child's own home. Thesame song used during each participant's generalization probesthroughout the study was used for this home probe. A page from theactivity schedule with the assigned generalization song for eachparticipant was presented to the participant with the instruction"Play Guitar Hero II[TM]." No teaching or activity scheduleswere used. The participant received a cup of snack items at the end ofthe session independent of performance. Finally, a single maintenancesession was conducted for all participants 30 days after the lastparticipant reached mastery criterion. This session was identical tobaseline except that the participant chose which of the four songs toplay. A cup of snack items was provided to the participant at the end ofthe session independent of performance. Social Validity To evaluate the degree to which participant performance wasperceived as age-appropriate typical gaming, eight video segments weremade depicting the participants' behavior during baseline and afterreaching the mastery criterion in intervention. These video segmentswere then shown in a randomized order to 15 undergraduate Psychologystudents who were asked to provide a 5-point Likert-type rating forthree questions about the activity and the child's performance (seeTable 2).Table 2Social Validity Questionnaire and ResultsQuestion #1: The student is engaged in an age-appropriate leisureskill. Baseline InterventionParticipant Mean Range Mean RangeMartin 4.7 (4-5) 5.0 ---James 4.5 (4-5) 4.6 (4-5)Jackie 4.5 (4-5) 4.5 (3-5)Jared 4.4 (4-5) 4.3 (4-5)Question #2: The student is attending to the materials appropriately. Baseline InterventionParticipant Mean Range Mean RangeMartin 1.9 (1-3) 4.7 (4-5)James 1.8 (1-3) 4.5 (4-5)Jackie 1.6 (1-3) 5.0 ---Jared 2.0 2 5.0 ---Question #3: The student appears engaged in the skill as peers his orher age would. Baseline InterventionParticipant Mean Range Mean RangeMartin 2.0 --- 4.1 (3-5)James 2.0 --- 5.0 ---Jackie 1.0 --- 4.6 (4-5)Jared 1.5 (1-3) 4.8 (4-5)Note. 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2= Disagree, 3=Undecided, 4=Agree,5=Strongly Agree Inter-Observer Agreement (IOA IOA Institute on Aging (University of North Carolina)IOA Institute of AcousticsIoA Institute of AstronomyIOA Indian Olympic AssociationIOA Islands of Adventure (Universal Studios theme park)) and Procedural Integrity The primary experimenter and a second independent observersimultaneously scored participant behavior on a point-by-point basis forcorrectly completed schedule components of the task-analysis. They alsoscored the percentage of intervals during which the participant wason-task during a session. Inter-observer agreement data were calculatedby dividing the total number of agreements (either on components orintervals) by the total number of agreements plus disagreements andmultiplying by 100. Inter-observer agreement data were collected in vivoduring at least 33% of the sessions for each condition and participant.Agreement for correctly completed schedule components was 100% for allparticipants during baseline and 100% for all participants except Jared(99%) during intervention. Mean agreement for on-task behavior duringbaseline was 100% for all participants except Jared (98% duringbaseline) and 98% for each participant during intervention. To assess procedural integrity, before each session of datacollection an observer was provided with written operational definitionsof all implementation components along with a summary of the manualprompt levels, time-delay intervals, and reinforcement schedule used forthat session. The observer scored in vivo whether these components wereimplemented correctly on a trial-by-trial basis and also whether thematerials were properly set up for the session. Procedural integritydata were collected during 48%, 45%, 40%, and 39% of sessions forMartin, James, Jackie, and Jared, respectively. A second in vivoobserver collected independent data on the procedural integritymeasures, which was calculated as previously described. Proceduralintegrity was 100% for all sessions for each participant and IOA forprocedural integrity was 100%. Results Figure 2 shows the percentage of correctly completed activityschedule components for each participant. During baseline, thepercentage of correctly completed schedule components was low for allparticipants; however, intervention resulted in systematic increases inthe percentage of correctly completed schedule components with continuedhigh levels of performance throughout removal of the schedule, prompts,and programmed reinforcement. Martin's (top panel) correctcomponent implementation increased from 16% in baseline to 97% duringintervention with mastery of all schedule components in 27 sessions.Programmed reinforcement was fully removed after 31 sessions. James(second panel) completed only 4% of components correctly throughoutbaseline, increasing to 97% for training songs and 90% for the probesong during intervention. James required 17 sessions to master theschedule components and 18 sessions before programmed reinforcement wasfully removed. Jackie (third panel) did not correctly complete anyschedule components during baseline, increasing to a mean of 99% ofcomponents for training songs and 86% of components for probe songs.Jackie met the criterion for schedule mastery in 13 sessions andreinforcement was fully removed after 14 sessions. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] Jared (bottom panel) completed less than 1% of schedule componentscorrectly during baseline, increasing to a mean of 98% correctlycompleted components during intervention for training songs. However, heonly completed a mean of 27% of components correctly during all probesong sessions. Jared required 23 sessions to acquire the schedulecomponents. Because Jared did not receive a score of 100% on probe songsas the other participants had, the systematic thinning of the schedulewas used. The full schedule was removed after 25 sessions. After thefirst session, once Jared learned the schedule components only fivepages remained in the schedule. Following the second session, four pagesremained in the schedule. The next day was a generalization probe and hescored 100% on the second session. Because the generalization probecalled for no schedule, the entire schedule was removed the next daybecause he had scored 100% during generalization. Programmedreinforcement was fully thinned after 25 sessions. The home probesconducted prior to baseline resulted in similarly low schedulecompletion for all participants (range, 0 - 12% across participants)increasing to 100% for all participants except James (98%) afterintervention. The maintenance probes resulted in correct completion of100% of the schedule components for three participants and 96% for thefourth (James). Figure 3 depicts the percentage of intervals in which eachparticipant was scored as on-task during the 60-s momentary timesampling procedure. Martin's on task behavior (top panel) increasedfrom a baseline mean of 25% of intervals during baseline to a mean of98% during intervention. James (second panel) increased on-task behaviorfrom a baseline mean of 11% to an intervention mean of 93% of intervalsduring training songs and during the probe song. Jackie's meanpercentage of intervals on-task (third panel) during baseline was 0% forboth training and probe songs increasing to an intervention mean of 96%of intervals during training songs and 81% during the probe songs.Finally, Jared's mean percentage of intervals on-task (bottompanel) during baseline was variable with a mean of 42% of intervals ontask. During intervention, the mean percentage of intervals on-task fortraining songs increased to 97% but remained at 43% for the probe song.The home probes conducted prior to baseline and after interventionproduced similar results with a low mean percentage of intervals on-taskduring the pre-test (range 0 - 20%) increasing to 100% for allparticipants during the post-test. All four participants were on-taskduring 100% of the intervals during the maintenance probes. [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] Guitar playing was summarized as the percentage of correctly playednotes for each song. No scores were reported for any of the participantsduring baseline because none of them turned on the system to play thegame. During intervention, however, Martin correctly played a mean of85% of notes during training songs and 77% of notes during the probesong. Similarly, James correctly played 76% of notes during trainingsongs and 72% of notes during the probe song. Jackie correctly played84% of notes during training songs and 90% of notes during the probesong. Jared correctly played 79% of notes during training songs and 57%of notes during generalization songs. Because Jared did not turn on thevideo game system during half of the generalization probes, however,only four generalization sessions were used to calculate his percentageof correctly played notes. During maintenance probes, the percentage ofcorrectly played notes was 94% for Martin, 80% for Jackie, and 93% forJared. Due to a technical error, no percentage of correctly completednotes could be obtained for James during maintenance. The results of the social validity ratings (Table 2) indicate thatthe undergraduate students rated playing this video game as a veryage-appropriate leisure skill across both baseline and trainingconditions for all participants (range 4.3-5.0, agree to stronglyagree). They did not agree that the participants were attending to thematerials during the baseline video segments (range 1.6-2.0, stronglydisagree to disagree) but did agree that participants were appropriatelyattending to materials during the training video segments (range 4.5-5,agree to strongly agree). Lastly, the undergraduate students did notagree that these participants engaged in the skill as peers their agewould during the baseline video segments (range 1-2, strongly disagreeto disagree) but did agree that these participants were engaged as peerstheir age would be during the training video segments (range 4.1-5,agree to strongly agree). Discussion The current study demonstrated that a training package consistingof an activity schedule, simultaneous video models embedded in a videogame, and multiple-exemplar training was effective in teaching youngchildren with autism a generalized repertoire of an age-appropriateleisure skill, playing the video game Guitar Hero II[TM]. Theparticipants continued to correctly complete all schedule components andremained on-task when the manual prompts, photographic activityschedule, and programmed reinforcement were fully removed. In addition,the Guitar Hero II[TM] playing skills generalized from a training songand setting to a probe song in a setting in which teaching did not occur(the participants' homes). These skills also maintained 30 daysafter the conclusion of training. One surprising result in the present study concerned theparticipants' rapid acquisition of the note playing accuracy foreach song. No mastery criterion had been provided for this skill becausethe goal of the study was for the students to be engaged in anage-appropriate leisure skill, regardless of accuracy when playing theGuitar Hero II[TM] video game itself. Also surprising were the highlevels of correctly completed components and on-task behavior observedduring the post-intervention sessions conducted in the student'shome because programming for generalization across settings had not beenimplemented. Because the same game materials were present in bothsettings, however, this arrangement may have functioned as programmingfor common stimuli (Stokes & Baer, 1977), thus increasing thelikelihood that generalization of game playing occurred in the home. Thegeneralization of game playing to the home setting in the current studyincreases the functionality of this leisure skill. Maintenance was programmed for by eventually removing the entireschedule and programmed reinforcement for all participants. Althoughhigh levels of correctly completed components and intervals on-task werenot surprising, it was surprising, however, that three of the fourparticipants used the expedited removal of the photographic activityschedule. There is a paucity pau��ci��ty?n.1. Smallness of number; fewness.2. Scarcity; dearth: a paucity of natural resources. of research to help guide the decisions ofwhen and how quickly to remove a schedule. The removal of the scheduleand reinforcement allows for maximal max��i��maladj.1. Of, relating to, or consisting of a maximum.2. Being the greatest or highest possible. functionality of leisure skills.For the participants in the present study, it is likely that they nowhave the skills to play this video game with siblings siblingsnpl (formal) → fr��res et s?urs mpl (de m��mes parents)or friends withouta schedule to follow or reinforcers present. This implementation of video modeling in the present study differsfrom prior studies in that no previous studies used video modelsembedded in an electronic game to teach game play. In addition, unlikemany video modeling studies in which an actor is shown in the videoengaging in the activity to be imitated (e.g., McCoy & Hermansen,2007), the present study used the point of view from that of thelearner. The video model showed the buttons on the guitar controllerthat needed to be pressed. This is a similar procedure to that used byShipley-Benamou et al. (2002) in which the experimenters designed videomodels from the point of view of the learner to teach five differentdaily living skills. Finally, the game used a form of simultaneous videomodeling in which the participant engaged in each component of the modelas it was shown (Kinney et al., 2003; Sancho et al., 2010; Taber-Doughtyet al., 2008). One limitation of the game-embedded video models used inthe present study, however, is that the game does not allow for theremoval of the video model to assess generalization of the skill taughtin the model's absence, as would typically be done in a videomodeling study. The present study also expands upon previous research on leisureskills. Jerome et al. (2007), for example, taught age-appropriateleisure skills to adults with autism and mental retardation. Incontrast, the participants who learned leisure skills in the presentstudy were children diagnosed with autism. MacDuff et al. (1993) usedactivity schedules with previously learned leisure skills to teachon-task and on-schedule behavior. In the present study participants weretaught a novel leisure skill using a training package consisting ofactivity schedules, video modeling, prompts, and reinforcement. Inaddition, prior to the present study, no research had addressed theremoval of the activity schedule. MacDuff et al. (1993) had re-sequencedthe photographic activity schedule, but did not remove the schedule. One limitation of the present study is that the particular leisureskills taught may be of limited utility for younger learners. The finemotor skills needed to play the video game effectively may be difficultdue to less physically developed hands and fingers. Another limitationof the study is that this procedure never tested the participants'ability to play the video game outside of practice mode. It is unknownwhether the participants would be able to play the game effectivelyduring more typical "competitive" modes of the game, such asone would encounter when playing the game with a peer. However, masteryof the practice mode skills creates the opportunity for practicing moreadvanced skills that could be useful for other modes of the game. Future research may investigate the use of this training package toteach similar types of video games, as well as other leisure skills,with older learners with autism. The package could also be adapted toinvestigate the use of written activity schedules for participants whodemonstrate pre-requisite reading skills. Additional investigationmethods could also be conducted on optimal ways to fade activityschedules based on specific criterion levels, such as when to fade, thedirection to fade (removing pictures from front to back or back tofront), and how to fade systematically. Note This research is based on a thesis by the first author in partialfulfillment ful��fillalso ful��fil ?tr.v. ful��filled, ful��fill��ing, ful��fills also ful��fils1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises.2. of the requirements for the Master of Arts Master of ArtsNouna degree, usually postgraduate in a nonscientific subject, or a person holding this degreeNoun 1. Master of Arts - a master's degree in arts and sciencesArtium Magister, MA, AM degree in AppliedBehavior Analysis Some of the information in this article may not be verified by . It should be checked for inaccuracies and modified to cite reliable sources.Applied behavior analysis (ABA) . References Ayres, K. M, & Langone, J. (2005). Intervention and instructionwith video for students with autism: A review of the literature.Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 40, 183-196. Betz, A., Higbee, T. S., & Reagon, K. A. (2008). Using jointactivity schedules to promote peer engagement in preschoolers withautism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) was established in 1968 as a The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis is a peer-reviewed, psychology journal, that publishes research about applications of the experimental analysis of behavior to problems of social importance. , 41, 237-241. Bryan, L. C, & Gast, D. L. (2000). Teaching on-task andon-schedule behaviors to high-functioning children with autism viapicture activity schedules. Journal of Autism and DevelopmentalDisorders, 30, 553-567. Carr, J. E., Nicolson, A. C., & Higbee, T. S. (2000).Evaluation of a brief multiple-stimulus preference assessment in anaturalistic nat��u��ral��is��tic?adj.1. Imitating or producing the effect or appearance of nature.2. Of or in accordance with the doctrines of naturalism. context. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33, 353-357. Dauphin, M, Kinney, E. M., & Stromer, R. (2004). Usingvideo-enhanced activity schedules and matrix training to teachsocio-dramatic play to a child with autism. Journal of Positive BehaviorInterventions, 6, 238-250. Jerome, J., Frantino, E. P., & Sturmey, P. (2007). The effectsof errorless learning Errorless learningErrorless learning is a procedure introduced by Herbert Terrace (1963) which allows discrimination learning to occur with few or even with no responses to the negative stimulus (abbreviated S-). and backward chaining on the acquisition ofinternet skills in adults with developmental disabilities. Journal ofApplied Behavior Analysis, 40, 185-189. Kinney, E. M., Vedora, J., & Stromer, R. (2003).Computer-presented video models to teach generative gen��er��a��tiveadj.1. Having the ability to originate, produce, or procreate.2. 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A comparison of video priming and simultaneous video modeling toteach play skills to children with autism. Education and Treatment ofChildren, 33, 421-442. Schleien, S. J., Wehman, P., & Kiernan, J. (1981). Teachingleisure skills to severely handicapped adults: An age-appropriate dartsgame. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 14, 513-519. Shipley-Benamou, R., Lutzker, J. R., & Taubman, M. (2002).Teaching daily living skills to children with autism through videomodeling. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4, 165-175. Spriggs, A. D., Gast, D. L., & Ayres, K. M. (2007). Usingpicture activity schedule books to increase on-schedule and on-taskbehaviors. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 42,209-223. Stokes, T. F, & Baer, D. M. (1977). An implicit technology ofgeneralization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 349-367. Taber-Doughty, T., Patton, S. E., & Brennan, S. (2008). Acomparison of simultaneous vs. delayed video modeling when used bystudents with moderate disabilities in community settings. Journal ofSpecial Education Technology, 23, 1-18. Alyssa Blum-Dimaya, Kenneth F. Reeve Caldwell College Caldwell College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Caldwell, New Jersey.Founded in 1939 by the Sisters of Saint Dominic, the college is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Universities, chartered by the State of New Jersey and registered with the Hannah Hoch Rethink re��think?tr. & intr.v. re��thought , re��think��ing, re��thinksTo reconsider (something) or to involve oneself in reconsideration.re Autism Correspondence to Sharon A. Reeve, Department of Applied BehaviorAnalysis, Caldwell College, 120 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, NJ 07006;e-mail:sreeve@caldwell.edu.