Biomedical subjects

Ruth Anne Rehfeldt

Publications and source records attributed to Ruth Anne Rehfeldt.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Evaluating the establishment and maintenance of visual-visual and gustatory-visual equivalence relations in adults with developmental disabilities.

Four adults with developmental disabilities were taught to make conditional discriminations between either pictures and their corresponding printed English and Spanish words, or tastes and their corresponding printed English and Spanish words. Participants required more training trials to master the visual-visual conditional discriminations than the gustatory-visual conditional discriminations, and 3 of the 4 participants performed with higher accuracy on visual equivalence class test trials than gustatory-visual equivalence class test trials. A follow-up equivalence test conducted 30 to 40 days later showed substantially greater stability over time for the gustatory-visual classes than for the visual classes, for all participants. That participants acquired gustatory-visual conditional discriminations, as well as equivalence classes based on those conditional discriminations, may have relevance for incorporating gustatory stimuli into mand training sessions, as well as for teaching individuals with sensory impairments in other modalities.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Establishing derived requesting skills in adults with severe developmental disabilities.

This project examined whether a history of reinforced relational responding would result in derived requesting skills in 3 adults with disabilities. Participants were first taught to request preferred items using pictures; they were then taught conditional discriminations between pictures and their dictated names and between dictated names and their corresponding text. Finally, requests for preferred items using corresponding text were evaluated. All 3 participants demonstrated derived requesting skills.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Using stimulus equivalence technology to teach emotion recognition to adults with acquired brain injury.

The purpose of this study was to use stimulus equivalence technology to teach emotion recognition skills to three adults with acquired brain injuries. A pre-test, post-test design was employed to test for acquisition of the facial recognition skills after training. Computer presentation of the stimuli was used. A pre-test was conducted, in which participants' abilities to expressively label facial representations of emotions and match distinct representations of emotions to other representations depicting the same emotion were examined. Next, participants received matching-to-sample training, in which they were first taught to receptively identify the facial representations of the basic emotions happiness, sadness and anger. They were then taught to receptively identify facial representations of those same emotions that were different from the first representations. When mastery criterion was attained, a post-test identical to the pre-test was presented. Results showed that the participants were able to demonstrate increased facial-emotional recognition skills after training.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Creating activity schedules using Microsoft Powerpoint.

We describe how PowerPoint presentation software can be used to create computer activity schedules to teach individuals with special needs. Presented are the steps involved in creating activity schedules with close-ended and open-ended activities, and for preparing schedules that include photos, sounds, text, and videos that can be used to occasion an individual's engagement in a variety of learning activities.

Appointments and Schedules↗

PubMed2004

Increasing the happiness of individuals with profound multiple disabilities: replication and extension.

A multielement design was used to compare the effects of three treatments on the happiness of 3 individuals with profound multiple disabilities. The conditions were typical programming using materials selected by staff, presentation of preferred materials plus social interaction, and social interaction alone with no materials present. Both the presentation of the preferred items with social interaction and social interaction alone resulted in higher happiness indicators than typical programming. The combination of preferred items and social interactions was somewhat superior to social interaction alone.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗

PubMed2003

Functional analysis and treatment of verbal perseverations displayed by an adult with autism.

The function of perseverative speech for an adult man who had been diagnosed with autism and mental retardation was examined. Results showed that verbal perseverations were maintained by social attention. An intervention consisting of differential reinforcement of appropriate verbal responses and extinction of perseverative verbal responding was effective in decreasing verbal perseverations.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Enhancing tolerance to delayed reinforcers: the role of intervening activities.

Three participants with moderate to profound mental retardation were exposed to choices between an immediate small amount and a delayed larger amount of a preferred reinforcer. All participants initially showed a relatively high preference for the smaller reinforcer, suggesting impulsive choice making. However this preference reversed, suggesting self-control, when the larger reinforcer was available immediately and, over time, its delay was gradually increased. Results highlight the potential utility of incorporating concurrent activities into self-control training paradigms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Establishing preference for unreliable reinforcement in adults with dual diagnoses.

We evaluated the choice responding of three adults dually diagnosed with developmental and psychiatric disabilities using concurrent schedules of reinforcement. Specifically, participants were given a choice between a response option resulting in reliable reinforcement and a response option resulting in unreliable reinforcement. Our primary purpose was to shift preference from reliable to unreliable reinforcement via the systematic presentation of stimuli during delay intervals. A second purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of intervening stimuli in shifting preference at differing delay-to-reinforcement intervals. Preference for unreliable reinforcement was first examined in the absence of stimulus presentations during delays, at three different delay values. Next, we aimed to establish preference for unreliable reinforcement by presenting pictures of reinforcers during delays preceding unreliable reinforcement. Preference was again examined at three different delay values. In the absence of stimulus presentations during delays, participants were shown to prefer reliable reinforcement, particularly at the longer delay value. When stimuli were presented during the delays, two of the three participants preferred unreliable reinforcement, particularly the longer the delay value. These results suggest that the presentation of intervening stimuli during delays may help facilitate tolerance for unreliable reinforcement.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing the acquisition and generalization of two mand forms with adults with severe developmental disabilities.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether manual sign or the Picture Exchange Communication System (P.E.C.S.) (Frost and Bondy, 1994) would be more effective in teaching mand skills to adults with mental retardation in the severe and profound range. Four participants were taught to mand for four reinforcing items using both communication modalities, in an alternating treatments design. Three of four participants demonstrated criterion performance across all four mands using P.E.C.S. first. Two of those three participants later demonstrated criterion performance for the mands using manual sign. The fourth participant was removed from the study during training due to illness, but her progress indicated greater acquisition with P.E.C.S. Generalization probes conducted at participants' respective residences showed that three participants demonstrated generalization across settings using P.E.C.S., and two participants demonstrated generalization across settings using manual sign. Participants were also more likely to mand for reinforcing items not present using P.E.C.S. than using manual sign.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Observational learning and the formation of classes of reading skills by individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.

We investigated whether individuals with developmental disabilities will demonstrate stimulus classes after observing another individual demonstrate the prerequisite conditional discriminations. In Experiment 1, participants learned conditional discriminations among dictated words, pictures, and printed words. They also observed a model without disabilities demonstrate conditional discriminations among a different set of dictated words, pictures, and printed words. The classes assigned to each participant belonged to a larger superordinate category, as did the classes assigned to each model. The superordinate categories were different for participants and models. All participants subsequently demonstrated full stimulus classes with the stimuli involved in direct training: They named pictures, read printed words, and matched pictures and words to one another. However, based on observing a model, none of the participants demonstrated full stimulus classes. In Experiment 2, participants learned conditional discriminations among the stimuli in three sets, and observed a model's training with the stimuli in three different sets. The classes assigned to each participant belonged to the same larger superordinate category as did those assigned to their respective model. All participants subsequently demonstrated full stimulus classes with the stimuli involved in direct training. They also demonstrated full classes with at least one of their model's sets of training stimuli. When full stimulus classes did not occur from observing a model, participants named the model's pictures, read the model's printed words, or matched the model's pictures and words. Stimulus class technology, coupled with the opportunity to observe another individual perform a skill, may be an economical and efficient means of teaching persons with developmental disabilities.

Autistic Disorder↗