In the present study, differential response procedures were used with sample and comparison stimuli in an attempt to facilitate acquisition of matching-to-sample tasks in 2 elementary school pupils with autistic disorders. In Study 1, in which differential response procedures were used, one of the students was taught matching to sample with pictures and printed words as stimuli. The results showed that differential responses to the comparison stimuli facilitated the student's matching performance. In contrast, when differential response procedures were used with the samples, facilitative effects were not found. In Study 2, in which differential response procedures were also used, the other pupil was taught category matching-to-sample tasks. The pupil acquired category matching only when the differential response procedure was used with both samples and comparisons. The results of both studies relate to the emergence of 2-component discriminations in matching-to-sample, that is, a successive discrimination between samples, and a simultaneous discrimination between comparisons.

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We taught a 9-year-old girl with autism to say "thank you," in the contact of a "learning and snack" routine. The routine consisted mainly of 4 situations: learning letters (requesting instructions), learning how to do line drawings for coloring (returning an article), preparing snacks (requesting an article), and having a snack (requesting an article). The results were as follows: (1) the girl acquired the target behavior in the 4 situations; (2) in a probe done in free play and daily living situations, generalization was observed. These results suggest that in order to get a child to say "thank you" spontaneously in various situations, teaching should be given in various situations that are included in the child's routine. The situation of handing over an article facilitates generalization of the expression of "thank you."

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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