Using a group-oriented contingency to increase social interactions between children with autism and their peers. A preliminary analysis of corollary supportive behaviors.
A five-minute peer-prompt lesson plus a group sticker rule doubled social play for preschoolers with autism and kept peers coaching each other.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The researchers worked with preschoolers with autism and their classmates. They set up a group reward system. If every child joined in social play, the whole class earned stickers.
First the team taught the typical peers five quick prompts. They practiced for five minutes. Then the group contingency ran during free-play time. The team flipped the rule on and off four times to be sure it worked.
What they found
Social play doubled each time the group contingency was on. Peers also started cheering each other on without adult help. When the rule stopped, play dropped back. When it returned, play rose again.
How this fits with other research
Charlop et al. (1992) tried peer training alone three years earlier. They saw gains, but only after many practice rounds. Finney et al. (1995) shows that adding a group reward speeds the change and keeps peers coaching each other.
Alwahbi et al. (2021) looked at older kids on the playground. Peer training by itself did nothing. A simple written contract worked only after the reward piece was added. The pattern matches: peer training needs a contingency to matter.
Mueller et al. (2000) swapped the group reward for training many peer tutors. Both tactics raised social play. You can pick either approach: reward the whole group or train several buddies.
Why it matters
You can set this up in any inclusive preschool room in under ten minutes. Teach peers five short lines like "Let’s play" or "Nice job." Add a group reward that everyone wants. The children will do the prompting for you, and social play jumps right away.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The effects of a group-oriented contingency on the social and supportive interactions of three preschoolers with autism and their socially competent peers were examined. Children participated in daily manipulative play activities in groups of three (including one target child and two peers). A group reinforcement contingency increased all three target children's social interactions with peers (e.g., share, assistance, and play organizers) but produced few or no corollary supportive exchanges within the playgroups (e.g., one socially competent youngster tells another to "Ask [target child] to share the Lego toys with us"). After a withdrawal of treatment phase in which social interactions decreased to low levels, children were taught to direct supportive comments to other members of their playgroups. Following this brief training, the interdependent group contingency was reinstated to reinforce the share, assistance, and play organizer exchanges between the target children and peers. In addition to interacting with the target children, socially competent youngsters also used supportive prompts to facilitate the social exchanges between their remaining group members. Children's social and supportive interactions decreased and increased again during subsequent baseline and group contingency phases. These results are discussed with regard to the efficacy of group-oriented contingencies and the function of supportive peer behaviors.
Behavior modification, 1995 · doi:10.1177/01454455950191002