Prompting and Errorless Learning

1. Errorless Learning

There are two primary uses for prompting and fading within skill repertoire building. The first, errorless learning, is used for teaching new skills and mass trials. It is a procedure used to teach a new skill involving the immediate prompting of the response during the initial teaching stages and systematic removal of prompts to avoid errors.

Errorless learning

• promotes immediate learning
• prevents errors
• avoids confusion and frustration for the patient

As a behavior technician, it is your job to ensure the patient succeeds. All of the examples of prompt fading that you have watched so far in this section have been examples of errorless learning. The prompt is faded systematically across trials to prevent errors until the patient can respond correctly without a prompt.

Keep in mind the following terms for errorless learning:

• Acquisition: the learning of a new skill that is not yet in the patient’s repertoire
• Acquisition skill/target skill: the response or new behavior currently being taught to the patient
• Prompt hierarchy: a systematic arrangement of prompts used in a particular order to facilitate learning, usually arranged according to the level of strength of the prompt or the amount of support given to the patient

term to know

Errorless Learning

A procedure used to teach a new skill involving the immediate prompting of the response during the initial teaching stages and systematic removal of prompts to avoid errors

2. Most-To-Least Prompting

Most-to-least prompting means that you start with providing a prompt that provides the most assistance and fade to a prompt that provides the least assistance across trials in an effort to prevent errors.

Most-to-least prompting is a fading procedure using stronger, more intrusive prompts during initial instruction and progressing to less intrusive prompts over time to enable success and independence.

This method guarantees initial success and helps the patient contact, or receive, reinforcement, making learning fun!

With this method, use the most intrusive prompts first to ensure the patient’s response is correct. Once the patient begins the response with prompts, fade to a prompt that provides less assistance.

This method ensures initial success and helps the patient earn reinforcement. As the prompt is faded, the instruction becomes a discriminative stimulus with stimulus control over the response.

EXAMPLE

Target: Sweeping the floor

1. Full physical prompt: hand over hand with the patient’s hands demonstrating how to sweep.
2. Partial physical prompt: the behavior technician places the patient’s hands on the broom in the correct place and the patient completes sweeping motion independently.
3. Vocal directive: the behavior technician tells the patient to place their hands on the broom and move it back and forth in a sweeping motion.
4. Correct performance by the patient without prompts.

EXAMPLE

Target: Clapping

1. Full physical prompt: Hand over hand with the patient’s hands, pick up hands, and bring together in clapping motion.
2. Partial physical prompt: Hand over hand with the patient’s hands, bring hands up, the patient completes clapping motion independently.
3. Partial physical prompt: Prompting the patient’s arms up with slight upward guidance directed at the patient’s forearms.
4. Partial physical prompt: Prompting the patient’s arms up with a slight touch to the patient’s elbow.
5. Correct performance by the patient without prompts.

EXAMPLE

S^D: “Give me Blue.”

• Trial 1: Full physical prompt (hand-over-hand).
• Trial 2: Partial physical prompt (the behavior technician places the patient’s hand on the picture).
• Trial 3: Gestural prompt (the behavior technician points to the picture).
• Trial 4: No prompt.
• Trial 5: No prompt.

term to know

Most-To-Least Prompting

A fading procedure using stronger, more intrusive prompts during initial instruction and progressing to less intrusive prompts over time to enable success and independence.

3. Prompt Fading Procedures

Let's discuss prompt fading procedures for errorless learning. While we are attempting to prevent errors using errorless learning, there will be errors from time to time when you begin to fade your prompts.

If this occurs, then you could provide an informational "No" if instructed by your BCBA, then immediately provide the last effective prompt on the next trial in an effort to ensure a correct response. Then, the prompt fading process should be repeated over successive trials.

If an error occurs during the fading process,

• provide an informational “No” (even if the trial was a prompted trial and the patient responded incorrectly to the prompt, and if instructed by your BCBA).
• re-present the S^D with the last effective prompt to ensure a correct response.
• begin to fade the prompt over successive trials.