title: Establishing books as conditioned reinforcers for preschool children as a function of an observational intervention.
abstract: We tested the effects of an observational intervention (Greer & Singer-Dudek, 2008) on establishing children's books as conditioned reinforcers using a delayed multiple baseline design. Three preschool students with mild language and developmental delays served as the participants. Prior to the intervention, books did not function as reinforcers for any of the participants. The observational intervention consisted of a situation in which the participant observed a confederate being presented with access to books contingent on correct responses and the participant received nothing for correct responses. After several sessions of this treatment, the previously neutral books acquired reinforcing properties for maintenance and acquisition responses for all three participants.
authors.affiliation: Program in Teaching as Applied Behavior Analysis, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA. dudek@exchange.tc.columbia.edu
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Singer-Dudek
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oblak
authors.forename: R Douglas
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Greer
mesh_terms: D001877:Books; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation / Q000379:methods*; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology