The Social Referencing Observation Scale (SoROS) for children: Scale development and reliability
SoROS gives BCBAs a reliable lab code for normal preschool social referencing, filling the gap under the autism-focused BOSCC.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new lab tool called the Social Referencing Observation Scale (SoROS). They watched 264 preschoolers without autism during three short play setups.
Two coders scored each video to see if the scale gave the same numbers every time.
What they found
The coders agreed strongly on every item. The scale caught typical social referencing looks, smiles, and checks in all three scenes.
Because the numbers were steady, the authors say SoROS is ready to spot missing steps in kids who later need help.
How this fits with other research
Grzadzinski et al. (2016) and Kitzerow et al. (2016) built a similar lab tool, the BOSCC, but for autistic preschoolers. SoROS copies the tight coding style yet aims at typical kids to map normal first.
Earlier parent forms like SSRS and PKBS (Hui-Ting et al., 2011) and the SRS subset (Eric et al., 2013) also track preschool social skills. Those forms rely on mom or dad ratings, while SoROS uses live video, giving you eyes in the room instead of memories on paper.
Byrne et al. (2022) later stretched the BOSCC upward to kids with phrase speech. Together the papers form a ladder: SoROS sets the baseline for typical 3-5-year-olds, BOSCC marks change in autistic peers, and BOSCC-PSYF covers older talkers.
Why it matters
You now have a quick, free scale that shows what normal social referencing looks like. Run SoROS during intake with any preschooler you worry about. If the child skips the look-check-act chain, you have early numbers to start teaching before bigger gaps grow.
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Film a 5-minute toy-and-stranger play setup, code SoROS items, and see if the child gives clear social referencing looks.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractThe Social Referencing Observational Scale (SoROS) is being developed to measure and detect deficits in social referencing skills in children between 2.6 and 5.0 years of age. This study is the first in the sequence, describing the first phases of development. First, three different scenarios designed to evoke social referencing behaviors were selected. We called the scenarios Fear, Pain, and Joy. In the pilot study, social referencing in 60 typical children was scored. Based on the data from the pilot study, the scoring system was refined and another 204 children were tested. We report descriptive data on social referencing in typical children across age and gender. Our main finding was that all children showed social referencing in that they first looked for cues in another person as for how to behave, and second behaved accordingly. This was the case across all three tested scenarios. Inter‐rater reliability for individual scoring behaviors in all three scenarios was good to high. The descriptive data for how typical children behave in these scenarios can provide the basis for detecting deficits in social referencing and for planning interventions.
Behavioral Interventions, 2021 · doi:10.1002/bin.1789