Just Follow the Directions! Joint control & Multistep Instructions

Following a novel multistep instruction - we all want our clients and students to achieve this goal. But how do we get there? Here’s a hint, it involves joint control but it doesn’t stop there.

Join Dr. Kevin Luczynski for a practical application of research-based strategies for teaching young children with ASD to follow novel multistep instructions on the first trial! Learn the 4-step procedure and hear about the findings from 2 recent studies.

Joint control is a less familiar topic to practicing behavior analysts (Lowenkron, 2006), and it provides a parsimonious, behavior-analytic account of first-trial performance (emergent responding) for certain tasks, those that often require what is commonly referred to as "recognition" among stimuli. Tasks of this nature include, as examples, match-to-sample, discriminating patterns, sequencing, reporting on past events, descriptive autoclitics, and accurately completing instructions. Dr. Luczynski will discuss the role of joint control and echoic rehearsal on instruction completion with children with an autism spectrum disorder. Early intensive behavioral intervention should prepare children to complete novel multistep instructions on the first try because they are common in educational and home contexts. Furthermore, procedures that facilitate the emergence of completing novel instructions allow for improved teaching efficiency, which is critical when providing early-intervention services.