Document Type

Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Fall 2016

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Wendy Williams

Second Committee Member

Stephanie Stein

Third Committee Member

Ian Loverro

Abstract

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit significant delays, regression, and deficits. One deficit area is that of communication and social skills with peers. The present study assesses whether children diagnosed with ASD can learn to transfer the skill of producing mands for familiar items from an adult to a typically developing peer. This study replicates previous research and extends it with three additional manipulations: (a) reduction of prompt dependence, (b) transfer of manding control from an adult to a trained typically developing peer, and (c) a generalization test to a novel but trained typically developing peer. Results demonstrate that for 2 out of the 4 participants manding could be systematically transferred from the adult to a typically developing peer, and then generalized to a novel, typically developing peer. Implications for future research are discussed.

Language

English

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