Correção de erros no ensino de crianças diagnosticadas com o Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA)

Abstract

Error correction is an important aspect in the analytic-behavioral intervention to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Current practice on this subject is only partially based on empirical evidence under controlled experimental conditions. The efficiency of some components of correction procedures, such as the transfer trial and the distractor trial, is not yet clear. The present doctoral dissertation comprises two experiments aiming to investigate the use of such components while teaching tact, listener selection, and intraverbal repertoire to children diagnosed with ASD. In both studies, the effects of implementing the programmed intervention were evaluated through a multiple baseline experimental design among repertories and through the alternating treatment design that allowed the comparison between experimental conditions. Study 1 aimed to evaluate the effect of transfer trials (independent variable) on teaching the above mentioned repertoires to two children diagnosed with ASD. In general, the results point to a tendency: for teaching the repertoires of speaker (tact and intraverbal) the CTT procedure proved to be more effective and efficient, as for the teaching of listener selection repertoire was the STT procedure that contributes to a more efficient learning. Study 2 aimed to investigate the effects of distractor trial (independent variable) during the error correction procedure on teaching tact, listener, and intraverbal repertoires to three children diagnosed with ASD. The results consistently demonstrated that both experimental conditions were effective. This doctoral dissertation adds empirical data on the role of the transfer trial and the distractor trial as possible components of error correction procedures, fostering knowledge and discussion about using corrective procedures in behavioral intervention in children with ASD.