Comparison of simultaneous prompting and no-no prompting in two-choice discrimination learning with children with autism.

Three kids with autism learned two-choice picture games. The team pitted two prompting styles against each other in the same session.

One style was simultaneous prompting: teacher shows both pictures and gives the answer right away. The other was no-no prompting: teacher shows only the correct picture first, then adds the wrong one later.

No-no prompting taught every skill to every child. Simultaneous prompting worked only once out of nine chances.

Kids reached mastery faster when the wrong choice stayed off the table at first.

Durand et al. (1990) also used an alternating-treatments design. They found constant time delay beat system of least prompts for preschoolers with delays. Both studies show that slowing the prompt helps kids win.

Morris et al. (1982) added a 3-second wait and saw better discrimination. No-no prompting builds in a natural wait by hiding the S-.

Gorgan et al. (2019) showed no single prompt fix works for every kid. Bailey et al. (2010) found the same pattern: no-no worked across the board, but the earlier mixed results remind us to test, not assume.

If you run two-choice teaching, try no-no prompting first. Show the right card alone for a second, then add the foil. This tiny delay sharpens stimulus control and can cut your trial count. Keep measuring, though—some learners may still need a different style.