1	TCLC Mississippi Behavior Clinic: Summer Institute Stimuli Analysis & Curriculum Development
2	Why would you conduct stimuli analysis? Stimulus generalization problems are one of the most commonly noted characteristics of autism (Sasso, Garrison-Harrrel, McMahon, & Peck, 1998; Sundberg & Partington, 1998; Belifore& Mace, 1994; Scott, Clark, & Brady, 2000
3	So? Consider the student whose teacher said the student was taught her letters.
4	Her training materials. These were her training stimuli.
5	So then? Her consultant cut the pictures off and showed her these….
6	And then…. Her consultant showed her these…
7	Guess what… The student didn’t know her letters. Guess who’s fault it wasn’t? Guess who was not very happy?
8	What is a concept? an abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances (Webster’s On-line Collegiate Dictionary) Any stimulus property(ies) that set the occasion for the same or functionally equivalent responses “A common tact that is under the control of a subset of properties which may be present upon a given occasion but probably never exclusively compose such an occasion." Skinner, 1957)
9	Attributes of Concepts Critical Define the concept Required for delivery of reinforcement Comprise the Sd Variable Accompany, but do not define the concept Are not required for reinforcement Are often the source of stimulus control problems in instruction
10	On the need for analysis of stimulus control in designing instructional materials… “ANY PROPERTY of a stimulus present when a verbal response is reinforced ACQUIRES SOME DEGREE OF CONTROL over that response AND THIS CONTROL CONTINUES to be exerted when the property appears in other combinations.”-Skinner, 1957, p. 107
11	This is a nid.
12	What is this?
13	What was reinforced? Saying “Nid” under the conditions of: Two circles Filled and unfilled Position Blue Green Figures touching White background
14	Reinforcement
15	Is this a Nid?
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17	Is this a Nid?
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19	Is this a Nid?
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21	What is this?
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23	What is this?
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25	Reinforcement
26	What was reinforced? Saying “Nid” under the conditions of: S1 / Two circles S2 / Filled and unfilled S3 / Position S4 / Blue S5 / Green S6 / Figures touching S7 / White background
27	The variable attributes of a carrot. Number Size Context Colored Drawn / Photograph Whole Parts Perspective
28	"Variable Features" Variable Features = Inappropriate stimulus control
29	The effects of inappropriate stimulus control Child’s behavior controlled by something else Child LOOKS like they know they answer Child LOOKS like they understand the concept Child really DOESN’T LEARN what they were supposed to learn Child’s time wasted Teacher’s time wasted
30	Key to avoiding inappropriate stimulus control Selecting appropriate stimuli
31	Selecting Appropriate Training Stimuli Identify the concept’s variable attributes Select stimuli that cover all attributes Use all stimuli right from the start
32	Flag Look at the following exemplars Decide if they would teach the concept Flag?
33	Poorly designed materials Account for some but NOT all variable features.
34	Running Look at the following training set and determine if they would adequately teach running.
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37	Answering “WH” Questions Look at these examples Decide Would they adequately teach the child to answer “WHO”questions? “Jane ran home.” “Mark skipped down the hall.” “Jesus marched quickly.” “Daniel fell to the ground.” “Molly barked loudly.”
38	Answering “WH” Questions Teaching set: “Jane ran home.” “Mark skipped down the hall.” “Jesus marched quickly.” “Daniel fell to the ground.” “Molly barked loudly.” Testing set: “Sally and John came over for dinner.” Late last night, Mark stopped by.” “He fanned the flames.” “John ran home and Sally went with Sharon.” “Who went with Sharon?”
39	Variation in Pictures In-situ Isolated Single/multiple Perspective (profile, front on, back) Zoom (whole picture, part of picture) Cartoon Color Line drawing Photograph
40	Discrimination and Operation Practice The following pictures represent the minimum rational set-Correct or Incorrect If incorrect, state what is missing
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42	What pictures should be added? Examples of multiples NEXT SET - ZIPPERS
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44	What pictures should be added? NONE – Good Set NEXT - SWIMMING
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46	What pictures should be added? NONE – GOOD SET NEXT CONCEPT - CLIMBING
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48	What pictures should be added? Black and white Line drawings NEXT CONCEPT - PLATES
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50	What pictures should be added? In-situ pictures NEXT CONCEPT - CHAIRS
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52	What pictures should be added? Cartoon pictures NEXT CONCEPT - BIKING
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54	What pictures should be added? NONE – GOOD SET NEXT CONCEPT - VEHICLES
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56	What pictures should be added? Additional water vehicles Additional trains Construction Vehicles NEXT CONCEPT – What Questions
57	What? “She ran home.” “All the kids skipped down the hall.” “Pete marched quickly.” “Daniel always fell to the ground.” “In the morning, Molly barked loudly.” What did she do? What did the kids do? What did Pete do? What did Daniel do? What did Molly do? NEXT CONCEPT ADVERBS
58	What should be added? “She ran home.” “All the kids had skipped with a jump rope. “Jesus marches quickly.” “Daniel always is falling to the ground.” “In the morning, the brown dog barked at the cat.” What did Jane do? What had all the kids done? What did the kids skip with? What does Jesus do? What is Daniel doing? What kind of dog? What did the dog do? What was the dog barking at?
59	Underline the Adverbs The boy worked quickly to complete his homework.” The professor really appreciated students who worked diligently. Tomorrow, Molly will bark.” Wow! Sam played hard. Tony does pilates daily. She wore a rather funny coat.
60	What’s missing? No adverbs “not” as an adverb Discriminate with other -lywords which are not adverbs: Friendly Burly Neighborly NEXT CONCEPT “WH” QUESTIONS
61	“WH” Questions “She ran home.” Where did she run? Who ran? “All the kids had skipped down the hall.” Where did they skip? Who skipped? “Pete marches quickly.” Where did he march? Who marched? “Daniel always is falling to the ground.” Where did he fall? Who fell?
62	What should be added? What did she do? When did she run? What did the kids do? When did they skip? What did Pete do? When did Pete march? Variability in question order Who, where, what, when When, where, what, who, Etc. Variability in answers vs. I don’t know responses Variation in question format What did Jesus do? What did he do? NEXT CONCEPT MATH EQUATIONS
63	2,3,5 Math Equations 2+3= 5-2= 3+2= 5-3=
64	What’s missing? Vertical equations in addition to horizontal equations
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66	Tact Extensions Generic tact extension [untaught] response emitted under the control of critical attributes Our goal (emphasis on the untaught) Metaphorical tact extension Response emitted under control of a stimulus that shares some (but not all) critical attributes with the original stimuli •Metanymical tact extension Response emitted under control of variable attributes Solecistic tact extension Response to irrelevant stimulus features
67	What kind of tact extension?
68	Error Analysis Metaphorical More discrimination training on examples & non-examples Ensure non-examples lack one and only one critical attribute
69	Error Analysis Metanymical Revisit the concept analysis and the teaching materials to ensure that attributes are correctly sorted as critical or variable Ensure that teaching examples contain a full range of variable attributes
70	Error Analysis Solecistic Increase (significantly) the number of examples Ensure that those vary across all irrelevant stimulus properties Add items that share those stimulus properties to other instructional programs
71	Some Conclusions All human behavior is lawful Arises through historical interaction of an organism’s physiology with its environment All operant human behavior occurs within a context Sd → R →Sr+ Stimulus control problems involve inappropriate Sd•R relationships Those relationships occurred as a function of the organism’s learning history A history largely arranged by us
72	Some Conclusions Therefore, it is up to us to arrange better learning histories A significant part of our learning history includes the materials (stimuli) to which we are exposed Building better learning histories requires careful analysis, selection, and arrangement of instructional materials.
73	Dispelling a Myth Children with autism have generalization problems Actually: Children with autism require us to be better instructional designers.
74	Guidelines for Instructional Materials ALWAYS use multiple stimuli Select the SMALLEST number of stimuli that represent the LARGEST range of variable attributes Present ALL examples right from the beginning NEVER present only one concept at a time If no discrimination, no learning EXCEPTIONS Purposeful and planned use of inappropriate stimulus control Prompting procedures Enhancing stimulus conditions