Establishing imitative behavior and stimulus control in retarded children using peer trainers

• Main Author: Viventi, Judith A.
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1976
• Subjects: Imitation; Reinforcement (Psychology); Children with mental disabilities; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/1892; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2891&context=uop_etds

Two severely retarded children were trained to serve as imitative learning trainers for two profoundly retarded children. Initially, one trainer reinforced the correct imitations of one trainee but not the other. A second trainer reinforced the correct imitations of a second trainee but not the first trainee. A multiple baseline _comparison revealed that initial training produced high rates of imitative responding to both the reinforcing and non-reinforcing trainers. .Generalization of initiative responding to both trainers in a new setting was also demonstrated. Stimulus control of imitative responding was achieved when the reinforcing and non-reinforcing trainers for each trainee reversed those roles. Imitative responding to both trainers was recovered when both trainers reinforced trainees' correct imitations. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of peers as imitative behavior trainers for retarded children, and generalization of imitative responding across settings and trainers.