The Effects of Differential Reinforcement on the Variable and Novel Pretend Play Behaviors of Children with Autism

Abstract

Play is important in the development of every child. A deficit in appropriate play skills is commonly associated with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As such, play skills are often a target of comprehensive intervention programs for young children with ASD. Many different approaches have been used within the context of comprehensive interventions to teach pretend play skills to children with autism, but a limited number of these studies focus specifically on increasing variable or novel play behaviors. The goal of the present study was to use differential reinforcement of novel and variable responses to teach three preschoolers with autism to engage in a variety of pretend play behaviors. A multiple baseline design across participants and playsets was used. Appropriate pretend play behaviors were differentially reinforced based on whether the behavior occurred for the first time in a session or for the first time in the study. Results showed increases in variability of pretend play behavior, engagement in novel behavior, use of novel play objects per session, and engagement in appropriate play as compared to baseline levels across all children and almost playsets. These findings indicate that differential reinforcement can be used to increase variability of appropriate pretend play behavior of children with autism.