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Biomedical subjects

A L Egel

Publications and source records attributed to A L Egel.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of question-answering skills in autistic children.

We conducted an investigation to evaluate the effects of a training strategy for teaching autistic students generalized responses to three forms of wh--questions (what, how, and why). Students were taught, using modeling and reinforcement procedures, to answer questions with magazine pictures as the referents. Each question form was divided into two or more subcomponents reflective of common social usage and was taught within the context of a modified multiple probe design across subcomponents. Following acquisition of each subcomponent, generalization to natural context and storybook questions was assessed; additional probes were conducted to assess responding over time and whether acquisition of responses to questions promoted question-asking skills. Results showed that the picture training procedure was effective in teaching a generalized response to questions for which the relevant cue was visible, whereas specific generalization programming was required for situations in which the relevant cue was not visible. All acquired responses were durable over time.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1988

Effects of fenfluramine on social behavior in autistic children.

Deficit in social interaction is a primary component of infantile autism. However, in the majority of drug studies, social interaction has not been measured consistently over time. Therefore, we examined, in a crossover design, the effect of fenfluramine on the social interactions of seven autistic children. Social interaction was measured one to three times per week, while the children were in open placebo, placebo, or drug phases of the study. The results demonstrated that the effect of fenfluramine on social interaction was inconsistent across children, with two children possibly demonstrating a tolerance to the behavioral effects of the drug. The results are discussed with respect to genetic and pharmacologic factors.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1986

A direct prompting strategy for increasing reciprocal interactions between handicapped and nonhandicapped siblings.

We investigated the effects of a sibling training procedure, consisting of direct prompting and modeling, on the occurrence of reciprocal interactions between nonhandicapped and handicapped siblings. Data were obtained for training, generalization, and follow-up. Results of a multiple-baseline design across three pairs of siblings showed that: direct prompting of interactions was an effective strategy for increasing reciprocal interactions between handicapped and nonhandicapped siblings; the training procedure resulted in increased levels of initiations and responsiveness to initiations; reciprocal interactions between siblings generalized to larger play groups or across settings; reciprocal interactions between handicapped subjects and untrained, nonhandicapped peers increased without direct training; the siblings' levels of interactions were maintained at 6 mo follow-up; and these findings were judged socially valid by the siblings' parents.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1986

Experimental analysis of response covariation among compliant and inappropriate behaviors.

Reliable changes in a variety of behaviors, or classes of behaviors, when only one is manipulated experimentally, have demonstrated that even topographically dissimilar responses can be functionally related. We investigated such a relationship between topographically different child behaviors (compliance and inappropriate activities) by using a methodology that tests for response covariation. Five conditions were provided to sequentially increase and decrease first one and then the other of these behaviors, with the degree of covariation between the two behaviors (i.e., the relationship between changes in the targeted and nontargeted behaviors) being the finding of interest. Results showed that, regardless of the intervention used, the behavior targeted, or the direction manipulated, the nontargeted behavior reliably covaried inversely with the targeted one. The findings have immediate relevance to the clinical treatment of multiple behavior problems exhibited by children. Furthermore, the study of relationships between responses and the processes underlying these relationships can have important implications for understanding the complexity characteristic of human behavior not yet analyzed by behavioral research.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1979

Measuring musical abilities of autistic children.

Three normal children with reported musical ability and three autistic children were tested for the ability to imitate individual tones and series of tones delivered by voice, piano, and synthesizer. Accuracy of imitation was judged by two independent observers on the basis of pitch, rhythm, and duration. The autistic children overall performed as well as or better than the age-matched normal children. These results are discussed and their implications for future neurological and clinical research are considered.

Adolescent↗