Normal peer models and autistic children's learning.
Typical peers can rapidly teach new discrimination skills to autistic children simply by showing the correct answers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The researchers asked typical kids to show the right answers to hard picture games. Four autistic children watched these peer models.
The team used a multiple-baseline design across tasks. They tracked how many answers each child got right before, during, and after the peers showed the answers.
What they found
Correct answers jumped up fast once the peer models started. The gains stayed even after the peers stopped showing answers.
All four autistic kids learned the new tasks quickly. The study showed large, lasting improvements.
How this fits with other research
Castells et al. (1979) tried peer help two years earlier. They also saw quick gains, but only for social play, and the skills did not spread to new places.
Jason et al. (1985) moved peer teaching from table tasks to real-life jobs like buying snacks. Their peer tutors needed a short training first, yet the autistic kids still learned and kept the skills.
Kourassanis-Velasquez et al. (2019) added video clips on top of live peer models. They targeted joint attention, not just right answers, and saw gains spread to new peers.
These papers line up: peer models work for many skills. The 1981 study is the base; later work adds training, video, or new targets.
Why it matters
You can use typical classmates as live models when you need to teach tough discriminations. No extra gadgets or long training are required—just have the peer show the right move a few times. Start with one task, then add more once you see the jump in correct answers. The skill is likely to stick even after you pull the peer out.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Present research and legislation regarding mainstreaming autistic children into normal classrooms have raised the importance of studying whether autistic children can benefit from observing normal peer models. The present investigation systematically assessed whether autistic children's learning of discrimination tasks could be improved if they observed normal children perform the tasks correctly. In the context of a multiple baseline design, four autistic children worked on five discrimination tasks that their teachers reported were posing difficulty. Throughout the baseline condition the children evidenced very low levels of correct responding on all five tasks. In the subsequent treatment condition, when normal peers modeled correct responses, the autistic children's correct responding increased dramatically. In each case, the peer modeling procedure produced rapid achievement of the acquisition which was maintained after the peer models were removed. These results are discussed in relation to issues concerning observational learning and in relation to the implications for mainstreaming autistic children into normal classrooms.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1981 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1981.14-3