Increasing complex social behaviors in children with autism: effects of peer-implemented pivotal response training.
Train typical peers to use PRT and autistic preschoolers quickly talk, share, and play more with everyone.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two preschoolers with autism played with four typical classmates.
The class peers learned PRT in two 20-minute lessons.
They practiced giving clear choices, waiting for the child to talk, and praising any social move.
Sessions happened during normal center time. Staff watched but did not coach.
What they found
Both children with autism tripled their social play and joint-attention acts.
Gains spread to new toys and new peers.
Skills stayed high eight weeks later with no extra training.
How this fits with other research
Kourassanis-Velasquez et al. (2019) copied the idea but swapped PRT for brief BST plus video clips.
Their kids also gained joint attention, showing the peer-trainer model works even when you change the teaching style.
Jobin et al. (2025) picked up the torch thirty years later.
They gave supervisors a toolkit to keep PRT fidelity high in clinics, proving the same procedures can survive outside the lab.
Syriopoulou-Delli et al. (2012) stretched the concept into elementary recess.
They added explicit initiation drills so kids kept playing after staff stepped back, building on the 1995 maintenance focus.
Why it matters
You can run peer-PRT in any inclusive preschool.
Train classmates for one lunch period.
Then watch social turns, shared looks, and language jump for weeks.
Use the 2025 toolkit if you need to coach staff first, or add initiation drills from the 2012 study for older kids.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two children with autism were taught to engage in a variety of complex social behaviors using peer-implemented pivotal response training (PRT), a set of procedures designed to increase motivation and promote generalization. Typical peers were taught to implement PRT strategies by modeling, role playing, and didactic instruction. After training, peers implemented the procedures in the absence of direct supervision in a classroom environment. After the intervention, both children with autism maintained prolonged interactions with the peer, initiated play and conversations, and increased engagement in language and joint attention behaviors. In addition, teachers reported positive changes in social behavior, with the largest increases in peer-preferred social behavior. Further, these effects showed generality and maintenance. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1995 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1995.28-285