Increasing vocal variability in children with autism using a lag schedule of reinforcement.
A simple Lag 1 schedule quickly makes nonverbal children with autism produce more varied sounds.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with two nonverbal children with autism.
They used a Lag 1 schedule: the child had to say a different sound each time to earn a reinforcer.
No new toys or prompts were added; only new sounds got rewards.
What they found
Both children quickly made more different sounds.
The number of new, untrained sounds grew right away.
How this fits with other research
Olin et al. (2020) ran a direct replication and got the same boost, but they added echoic prompts and visual aids for older, speaking kids.
Jones et al. (2010) extended the idea to play: a Lag 3 schedule made children build varied block towers without extra blocks.
Cohrs et al. (2017) went further, using Lag 2 after multiple-exemplar training to create flexible social answers in group lessons.
Together these studies show the Lag rule works from sounds to blocks to conversation.
Why it matters
If a child echoes the same word or play move, try a Lag 1 schedule first.
Reinforce only new responses for a few minutes each day.
The tactic is simple, needs no extra materials, and now has 15 years of replications across ages and skills.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Variability has been demonstrated to be an operant dimension of behavior (Neuringer, 2002; Page & Neuringer, 1985). Recently, lag schedules have been used to demonstrate operant variability of verbal behavior in persons with a diagnosis of autism (e.g., Lee, McComas, & Jawor, 2002). The current study evaluated the effects of a Lag 1 schedule on the vocal variability of 2 nonverbal children with a diagnosis of autism. Results showed systematic increases in variability during the Lag 1 schedule. Implications of lag schedules for speech and language training are discussed.
The Analysis of verbal behavior, 2009 · doi:10.1007/BF03393071