Increasing social time allocation and concomitant effects on mands, item engagement, and rigid or repetitive behavior
Lead with the child’s favorite social game to turn avoidance into approach and cut stereotypy on the spot.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Morris and team worked with three kids who avoided most social contact.
The adults first asked parents what games, songs, or silly voices each child already liked.
They then walked into the room and started that exact game without any demands.
Sessions were videotaped to see how long the child stayed near the adult and what else happened next.
What they found
Every child spent more time near the adult when the adult led with the favorite game.
When social time went up, the children asked for items more often and played with toys longer.
Rigid hand-flapping or rocking dropped at the same time.
The changes showed up right away and stayed while the favorite games kept coming.
How this fits with other research
Laugeson et al. (2014) got the same drop in stereotypy by reading aloud, but they used a generic story.
Morris adds the twist of picking the exact game each child already loves, a step Rakhymbayeva et al. (2021) also used with a robot.
Hake et al. (1983) showed that staff prompts plus toys cut stereotypy and lifted purposeful play.
Morris keeps the toy part optional; the social game itself becomes the reinforcer.
Why it matters
If a client walks away from you, try starting with five minutes of their favorite silly voice or song.
No demands, just the game.
Watch if they move closer, talk more, and flap less.
You can fold this warm-up into any program without extra materials or data sheets.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Recent research has developed methods of assessing the function of generic, nonindividualized social interactions. The purpose of this type of assessment is to provide a measure of how an individual may respond to the types of interactions readily available in the natural environment. To date, no research has evaluated how the social time allocation of individuals for whom generic interactions are neutral or aversive could be improved. Moreover, no research has included additional dependent variables that may be functionally related to social time allocation. In the current study, we evaluated the effects of initiating preferred, individualized social interactions on the social time allocation of 3 participants for whom generic interactions functioned as neutral or aversive stimuli. The intervention increased social time allocation for all 3 participants. Next, we evaluated the relation between social time allocation and the occurrence of mands, item engagement, and rigid or repetitive behavior using the intervention data as well as secondary analyses of previously published datasets. The occurrence of mands and rigid or repetitive behaviors changed with improvements in social time allocation and were strongly correlated with social time allocation across participants. Implications for future research on, and the clinical use of, this type of assessment and intervention are discussed.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2022 · doi:10.1002/jaba.919