Abstract
Previous research has suggested that skills taught with a least-to-most prompting procedure to 80% and 90% accuracy did not always maintain high levels of performance maintenance. The present study replicates and extends previous research by evaluating the effects of various mastery criteria (i.e., 80%, 90%, and 100% accuracy across three consecutive sessions) on the maintenance of tacting skills taught with a most-to-least prompting procedure combined with a progressive time delay. Results of this study support previous research and further demonstrate that the highest levels of maintenance are achieved with 100% and 90% accuracy criteria for up to a month. For the 80% criterion, performance deteriorated during follow-up probes. Contrary to previous research suggesting a 90% criterion combined with least-to-most prompting procedures was not always sufficient for producing skill maintenance, the current study may provide preliminary support for the use of a 90% accuracy mastery criterion when combined with a most-to-least prompting procedure with a progressive time delay.
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Emily Longino, Sarah Richling, Cassidy McDougale, and Jessie Palmier declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.
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This study was conducted by the first author, under the supervision of the second author, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the master of science degree in applied behavior analysis at Auburn University.
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Longino, E., Richling, S.M., McDougale, C.B. et al. The Effects of Mastery Criteria on Maintenance: A Replication With Most-to-Least Prompting. Behav Analysis Practice 15, 397–405 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-021-00562-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-021-00562-y