The effects of schedule of reinforcement on stimulus overselectivity in autistic children.
Shift to a VR:3 schedule during overtraining to help autistic kids watch every cue, not just one.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Foster et al. (1979) worked with autistic children who focus on only one part of a picture. This habit is called stimulus overselectivity.
First the kids learned a simple discrimination with a CRF schedule. That means every correct answer earned a reinforcer.
Next the team gave extra trials. Half the kids kept the CRF schedule. The other half switched to VR:3. That means correct answers paid off after about every three responses.
What they found
Children who stayed on CRF kept picking just one cue. Children who moved to VR:3 started noticing more parts of the picture.
The VR:3 group showed less overselectivity after the same amount of extra training.
How this fits with other research
Huguenin (2000) later got the same drop in overselectivity with teens who had severe ID. Instead of changing the schedule, the team used long computer drills and single-stimulus warm-ups. Both studies show the problem is fixable, just with different tools.
Fixsen et al. (1972) showed that stopping self-stimulation first lets autistic kids learn a discrimination. The 1979 paper adds a second lever: after the child is ready, switch to VR:3 so they notice every cue.
Boyle et al. (2021) also tinkered with schedules in autistic kids, but they thinned reinforcement after FCT. Their mixed results remind us that schedule changes help only when they match the skill you are teaching.
Why it matters
If a learner keeps picking the wrong card because he saw only the color stripe, try thinning the schedule. After he masters the first discrimination, move from CRF to VR:3 for the extra trials. The small ratio still keeps him engaged, yet the slightly leaner pay makes him scan the whole stimulus. You can start with VR:3 today—no new materials needed.
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Join Free →After the child hits mastery on CRF, flip to VR:3 for the next block of review trials and track if he starts picking the correct compound cue.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Recent research demonstrated that when autistic children are presented a discrimination task with multiple cues, they typically respond to an abnormally limited number, usually one, of the available cues. This phenomenon, termed "stimulus overselectivity," has been implicated as a possible basis for many of the behavioral deficits characteristic of autism. The present investigation was conducted to systemically analyze the effects of changing the schedules of reinforcement during discrimination training on subsequent stimulus overselectivity. Twelve autistic children were taught a discrimination involving multiple visual cues, with a CRF schedule of reinforcement. The children were then overtrained on either the same (CRF) schedule or on a partial (VR:3) reinforcement schedule. Subsequent overselectivity on single-cue test trials was then assessed. Results suggested that significantly less overselectivity occurred when the children were presented with the VR:3 reinforcement schedule during overtraining. These results are discussed in terms of variables influencing overselectivity and in terms of implications for designing treatment procedures for autistic children.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1979 · doi:10.1007/BF01531446