A produção de variabilidade em respostas intraverbais de crianças com autismo e a seleção de respostas novas

• Ano de defesa: 2014
• Autor(a) principal: Romano, Claudia
• Orientador(a): Micheletto, Nilza
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Psicologia Experimental: Análise do Comportamento
• Departamento: Psicologia
• País: BR
• Palavras-chave em Português: Variabilidade; Autismo; LAG; Comportamento verbal
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Variability; Autism; Verbal behavior
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::PSICOLOGIA::PSICOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL
• Link de acesso: https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/16727

The purpose of the present study was to test whether three different contingencies (LAGdirect reinforcement, ACO- intermittent reinforcement e EXT- extinction) could produce varied intraverbal responses to an academic question, which used to be answered in a stereotyped manner by children with a diagnosis of autism. It was also a goal to assess whether the variability taught could facilitate the selection of new responses. Two experiments were carried out. In the Experiment 1, participants P1, P2, and P3 were exposed to two separate contingencies in a sequential manner: one phase in which a contingency to produce variability was in effect and another phase in which a contingency to select new responses was in effect. In the Experiment 2, participants P4, P5, and P6 were exposed to a concurrent schedule: in one component a contingency to produce variability was in effect and in the other component a contingency to select new responses was in effect. The three first experimental phases were the same for all six participants. In phase 1, participants who had a diagnosis of autism and who responded to an academic question in a stereotyped manner, according to a baseline intraverbal test (LB), were selected. In phase 2, using a multiple baseline design between topographies, six intraverbal topographies were taught through a procedure that involved fading out of a verbal model. Phase 3 consisted of a probe in which a procedure similar to LB was used to assess the effect that teaching the six intraverbal topographies to the academic question (phase 2) had on varying the response to the question. In phase 4, the participants were randomly assigned to one of the following condition: LA, AL, or EL. In the LA condition (LAG-ACO), P1 and P4 were first exposed to the direct reinforcement of variability in a progressive LAG (1 to 4) and then to an intermittent reinforcement schedule that was yoked to their performance on the LAG. In the AL condition (ACO-LAG), P2 and P5 were exposed to the same contingencies in inverse order. In the EL condition (EXT-LAG), P3 and P6 were first exposed to extinction of the intraverbal responses taught and then to direct reinforcement using a LAG contingency. The direct reinforcement of variability using the progressive LAG was the only contingency that resulted in varying the response topography in the two experiments. Intermittent reinforcement and extinction produced relatively stereotyped responding (i.e., participants emitted one or two intraverbal topographies in response to the academic question) and did not facilitate new responses. In the second phase of Experiment 1, when direct reinforcement of new responses was implemented after the LAG contingency, new responses were selected for two of three participants. In the Experiment 2, the concurrent schedule did not result in the selection of new responses. Therefore, the sequential contingencies programmed for variation and selection, in Experiment 1, seem to have facilitated the selection of new intraverbal responses