Generalization and maintenance of language responses. A study across trainers, schools, and home settings.
Switch to a VR-3 praise schedule at home to keep new language responses from fading after school DTT.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with four preschoolers who had developmental delays.
Each child learned new words in school using discrete trial training.
Then the researchers tested what happened when the kids used those words at home.
They compared three conditions: no reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, and a VR-3 schedule where every third correct response earned praise.
The design flipped back and forth (ABAB) to be sure the schedule, not chance, caused any changes.
What they found
When parents gave no reinforcement, the new words quickly disappeared at home.
Continuous reinforcement kept the words alive, but that is hard to keep up forever.
A light VR-3 schedule (praise about every third time) held the language steady for most kids.
In short, a little reinforcement goes a long way if you spread it out.
How this fits with other research
Aherne et al. (2019) extends this idea to staff. They showed that parents trained in DTT also lose skill over time unless they use a quick self-check sheet.
Richman et al. (2001) extends the same theme to stuttering. Parents who gave praise for fluent speech kept gains without daily drills.
Cengher et al. (2020) and Matson et al. (2011) look like opposites: they use extinction to spark new language. The trick is timing. F et al. withholds ALL praise and sees loss, while the newer studies withhold only OLD forms to make room for NEW ones. Same lever, different goal.
Neisworth et al. (1985) warns that even rich-then-extinction sequences fade; only one of two young adults kept stereotypy low after two weeks.
Why it matters
You do not need to deliver praise every time a child uses a new word at home. Switch to a VR-3 schedule once the response is strong. Tell parents to praise about every third correct use. This keeps the skill alive without burning them out.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Manipulating the reinforcement contingencies in training and generalization settings facilitated school-to-home generalization of language responses. Four developmentally disabled preschool children were trained in a one-to-one school setting to point to two sets of pictures in multiple baseline fashion. Initial generalization in the presence of a second trainer in school and the mother at home was documented in both no-reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement probe conditions (in which correct responses to nonprobe items were reinforced on a VR-3 schedule). High levels of correct responding with the second trainer at school were maintained in both the no-reinforcement and intermittent reinforcement conditions, regardless of the sequence of conditions. The reversal design showed that for three of the four children, intermittent reinforcement was necessary to maintain high levels of correct responding at home. Deterioration, increased variability, and, in some instances, extinction occurred when the no-reinforcement condition was in effect in the home setting.
Behavior modification, 1984 · doi:10.1177/01454455840083003