Effects of three-step prompting on compliance with caregiver requests.

Ruser et al. (2007) taught caregivers a three-step way to give requests.

The steps are: say the request, wait, then guide the child if needed.

The team tracked how many prompts each caregiver used and how often kids obeyed.

After training, caregivers gave fewer extra prompts.

Kids followed requests more often.

The package cut adult work and raised child cooperation at the same time.

Burgess et al. (1971) did the same thing decades earlier with two children who had severe delays. They also paired prompts with praise and saw big jumps in following directions.

Takashima et al. (1994) looks like a clash: autistic preschoolers obeyed “do not” orders far less than peers. The gap closes once you see they tested harder “stop” rules, not everyday “please sit” requests.

Halbur et al. (2020) adds a parent voice. After learning three prompt styles, every mom picked least-to-most, not three-step. The 2007 study shows three-step works; the 2020 study shows parents may like something else.

You can trim prompt stacks and boost compliance in one move. Train caregivers to give one clear request, pause, then guide only if needed. Model it in session, have them practice, and graph both prompts and compliance. You should see the same double win F et al. found.