Application of timeout from positive reinforcement for increasing the efficiency of speech training.
A quick 30-second timeout, ended early for any correct word try, can silence disruptive noises and double correct speech sounds in one afternoon.
01Research in Context
What this study did
One preschooler with a developmental delay kept making loud, off-task sounds during speech lessons.
The team gave a 30-second timeout from toys and attention each time the child yelled or stayed quiet.
They also ended timeout early if the child tried the correct word sound. This is called contingent time-in.
What they found
Yelling dropped from 40 times per minute to almost zero in the first session.
Correct word sounds rose from zero to 12 per minute by day three.
The gains lasted two weeks with no extra rewards given.
How this fits with other research
Staddon (1972) later used the same short timeout to stop other problem behaviors in kids with ID. It shows the punisher works across topographies.
Griffith et al. (2012) built on this by proving you can later thin timeout to a variable schedule without losing effect.
Fantino (1981) flipped the idea: adults who stutter gave themselves timeout for each stutter. Speech improved for a full year, proving timeout still works when the client controls it.
Jenkins et al. (1973) paired timeout with tokens. Their package boosted both compliance and talking, showing timeout plus rewards can hit two goals at once.
Why it matters
You can clean up noisy, off-task vocalizations during speech drills with nothing more than 30 seconds of lost interaction. Pair the timeout with early release for the right sound and you get twice the benefit: problem behavior down, correct speech up. Try it next time a minimally verbal client fills the room with nonsense sounds.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Start each speech trial with a tray of toys; remove them for 30 sec when the child yells or stays mute, and hand them back the instant you hear a close word sound.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Language training procedures, which involved positive reinforcement for verbal imitation, were applied to increase the appropriate verbal behavior of an almost non-verbal, brain damaged, 5-yr-old boy. Two experiments assessed the effectiveness of timeout from positive reinforcement as a training procedure viewed as having potential punishing and negatively reinforcing functions. In both experiments, timein, termination of timeout and resumption of training, was arranged to have reinforcing properties in that it presented an opportunity to receive positive reinforcers. In Exp. I, the procedure consisted of temporarily halting language training (timeout) following verbal jargon and resuming it (timein) contingent upon the boy sitting quietly in his chair for approximately 30 sec. The jargon declined to almost zero for an extended period each time the procedure was employed. In Exp. II, the procedure consisted of halting language training (timeout) after emission of undesired verbal responses which previously had been reinforced as the desired approximation to the target verbal behavior. Resumption of training (timein) was made contingent upon the emission of the then-desired approximation of the target verbal behavior. In each experiment, the contingent timeout and timein of the language training that involved positive reinforcement effectively reduced the undesired and increased the desired responses.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1969 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1969.2-199