Modifying the affective behavior of preschoolers with autism using in-vivo or video modeling and reinforcement contingencies.
Video modeling works just as well as live modeling for teaching basic emotions to preschoolers with autism—and both travel to new people and places.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with three preschoolers with autism.
Each child watched short clips or saw live demos of adults showing sympathy, thanks, or mild disapproval.
After every model, the adult gave praise or a small toy for copying the right face, voice, and words.
The study used a multiple-baseline design across kids to be sure any gains came from the teaching, not just maturation.
What they found
Both video and live modeling plus rewards quickly boosted appropriate emotional responses.
The children used the new skills with new people and in new places without extra training.
Parents and teachers noticed the gains at home and at school, showing the change lasted.
How this fits with other research
Wilson (2013) ran a similar video-vs-live test in preschool classrooms and saw mixed results: some kids did better with video, others with live.
The difference seems to be setting. Angeliki taught one-on-one at home, while P taught during busy class time where noise and peers may have blurred the model.
Argott et al. (2017) took the same package further and taught four children deeper empathy like matching faces, gestures, and words to feelings.
Their success shows the 2005 method can climb from basic emotions to complex empathy by adding more steps.
Landry et al. (1989) proved video alone could teach full conversations long before this study.
Angeliki simply shifted the target from words to feelings, showing one tool can serve many social goals.
Why it matters
You now have two equal roads to teach preschool clients how to show sympathy, thanks, or disapproval.
If a child loves screens, start with a 30-second video model and reinforce copies.
If the room is hectic or the child ignores screens, model live and hand over the same praise or toy.
Either way, probe in new spots and with new people right away; the 2005 and 2017 data say generalization can happen without extra drills.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to modify the affective behavior of three preschoolers with autism in home settings and in the context of play activities, and to compare the effects of video modeling to the effects of in-vivo modeling in teaching these children contextually appropriate affective responses. A multiple-baseline design across subjects, with a return to baseline condition, was used to assess the effects of treatment that consisted of reinforcement, video modeling, in-vivo modeling, and prompting. During training trials, reinforcement in the form of verbal praise and tokens was delivered contingent upon appropriate affective responding. Error correction procedures differed for each treatment condition. In the in-vivo modeling condition, the therapist used modeling and verbal prompting. In the video modeling condition, video segments of a peer modeling the correct response and verbal prompting by the therapist were used as corrective procedures. Participants received treatment in three categories of affective behavior--sympathy, appreciation, and disapproval--and were presented with a total of 140 different scenarios. The study demonstrated that both treatments--video modeling and in-vivo modeling--systematically increased appropriate affective responding in all response categories for the three participants. Additionally, treatment effects generalized across responses to untrained scenarios, the child's mother, new therapists, and time.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2005 · doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0014-9