Effects of Presession Pairing on Preference for Therapeutic Conditions and Challenging Behavior
A quick playful pairing moment before DTT was the clear favorite of a 4-year-old with autism and cut her negative talk.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with one 4-year-old girl who had autism. They wanted to see if she would rather start work after a quick play with the teacher or jump right into table-top drills.
They used a kid-friendly choice board. She could pick presession pairing (two-minute play), free play alone, or immediate discrete-trial instruction. Each day she tapped the picture she wanted.
What they found
Every single time she picked presession pairing. She never chose free play alone or straight work.
Her negative talk also dropped once the choice system began. The short play first seemed to set a happier tone.
How this fits with other research
Rodriguez et al. (2024) used the same concurrent-chains choice board. They added three to five forced trials to stop biased picks. Lugo did not use forced trials, yet the girl still showed a clear favorite.
Grindle et al. (2002) added a quick audiovisual cue inside DTT to help kids wait for delayed rewards. Lugo moves the fix earlier: a fun two-minute moment before any trials start.
O'Neill et al. (2018, 2022) fine-tune prompt timing during DTT. Lugo fine-tunes the social moment right before DTT. Both lines aim to cut errors and stress, just at different time points.
Why it matters
Start each session with a two-minute toy share that has no demands. Let the child choose that or two other entry options using a simple picture board. You may see less grumbling and more cooperation before the real work even begins.
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Offer a 2-minute toy share right after greeting; use a three-picture choice board and honor the pick.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The current study examined child preference for presession therapeutic conditions. A 4-year-old female diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was exposed to three conditions in a concurrent-chains arrangement: presession pairing (PSP) prior to the onset of discrete-trial instruction (DTI), free play (FP) prior to DTI, or immediate onset of DTI. Initial link selections in the concurrent-chains arrangement suggested a relative preference for the PSP condition across multiple therapists. Negative vocalizations decreased across all conditions following implementation of the concurrent-chains arrangement with no differentiation between therapeutic conditions.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s40617-018-0268-2