Matrix training of preliteracy skills with preschoolers with autism.
Teach the diagonal action-picture pairs first; some kids with autism will instantly say the rest, cutting your teaching time in half.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Four preschoolers with autism learned action-picture pairs like 'boy drinks' and 'girl jumps.'
The team used matrix training. They only taught the diagonal items. Then they checked if the kids could say the untaught combos.
What they found
Two kids started saying untaught pairs right away. The other two needed extra teaching.
In short, half the group showed recombinative generalization after just the diagonal set.
How this fits with other research
Jimenez-Gomez et al. (2019) later got the same result with toddlers and noun-verb play words. Every child in that study generalized, showing the method works even younger.
Marya et al. (2021) kept the diagonal plan but added speech-generating devices. Kids still blended new noun-verb tacts, proving the trick works with AAC.
McQuaid et al. (2024) moved the whole thing online. Two of three preschoolers still created untaught color-shape tacts over Zoom. One child needed booster sessions, just like the 2010 kids who needed extra teaching.
Why it matters
You can save teaching time by starting with the diagonal of any matrix. If the child combines untaught items, you’re done. If not, simply add the extra pairs. Try this next session: build a 3×3 matrix of action-picture cards, teach the diagonal, probe the rest, and only fill in what’s missing.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Matrix training is a generative approach to instruction in which words are arranged in a matrix so that some multiword phrases are taught and others emerge without direct teaching. We taught 4 preschoolers with autism to follow instructions to perform action-picture combinations (e.g., circle the pepper, underline the deer). Each matrix contained 6 actions on 1 axis and 6 pictures on the other axis. We used most-to-least prompting to train the instructions along the diagonal of each matrix and probed the untrained combinations. For 2 participants, untrained responding emerged after the minimum amount of training. The other 2 participants required further training before untrained combinations emerged. At the end of the study, 3 of the 4 participants performed the trained actions with previously known pictures, letters, and numbers. This study demonstrated that matrix training is an efficient approach to teaching language and literacy skills to children with autism.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2010 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2010.43-635