Abstract
In this study, we examined the effects of stimulus control shaping as a procedure to promote the acquisition of new vocabulary using manual signs for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who had no vocal language skills. The research design using in this study was an A(differential reinforcement)B(stimulus control shaping) + probe design. The target behavior was the expression of manual signs corresponding to picture cards depicting objects. The trainer gradually changed the physical shape of the stimuli (shaping) by presenting cards that progressed from line drawings showing manual signs to those depicting objects. The dependent variable was the ratio of occurrence of the manual sign corresponding to the card depicting the object. The results showed that the child acquired the corresponding manual signs for all three objects, which were difficult through the deferential reinforcement alone. However, the correct response ratio decreased sequentially from the newly introduced items in the probe condition. We discussed these results in terms of the effects of differences in the shape of the shaping form of stimulus and the number of trials.
