Ensino de respostas de descrição do próprio comportamento para crianças com desenvolvimento atípico

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a teaching procedure for the acquisition and maintenance of descriptions of two children s own behaviors. These have atypical development and delayed language, but have emited basic verbal operants such as mands, echoics, intraverbals and tacts of objects. The procedure consisted of installing echoing responses of descriptions of actions performed by the participants after the question, What are you doing? . The actions included the handling of selected material as reinforcers in structured situations at school. Eight responses of descriptions of actions for each participant were selected. The descriptive responses involved a description of the action, of the action and of the handled object or of the action and the product of the action. Some responses were similar as they were descriptions of the same action, but with a different product. The presentation of a verbal prompt for each response and the fading out of this prompt were necessary for the teaching of these verbal responses. The fading out was composed of three levels in wich parts of the prompts were gradually withdrawn until the entire prompt was no longer necessary. A multiple baseline design across responses was used. After training each response, a session alternating the trained responses was done to verify if this alternating would interfere in the maintenance of some responses. Tests were applied to verify the occurence of trained responses and new responses to new stimuli and of new responses during new actions. Generalization tests were also used to assess reaction to new settings and new people. A follow-up was done with one of the participants. With the procedure completed, both participants began using the eight responses of description. One of the eight responses selected for each participant did not require training, but were generated during training of similar responses. During the tests, both participants gave trained responses as well as new responses with some new stimuli. During the execution of actions not performed during training, the participants did not give responses of description of their own behavior indicating the need to train for the production of new responses, except when the responses are generated from training of similar responses. Generalizations were assessed in a different setting, to new person and in a different setting with a new person. In the follow-up with one participant held eighty days after the experiment, there was a one hundred percent maintenance of six of eight responses