TEACHING DECEPTION SKILLS IN A GAME-PLAY CONTEXT TO 3 ADOLESCENTS WITH AUTISM

Baron-Cohen (1992) found that students with autism are impaired in the ir ability to deceive. A multiple-baseline across-subjects design was conceptualized to test the hypothesis that such students could be taug ht to deceive. Two conditions were presented in baseline and treatment phases. In Condition 1, the student guessed in which hand a small obj ect was hidden when the experimenter presented two closed fists. In Co ndition 2 the student hid the object and presented two closed fists to the experimenter for a guess. Reinforcement was delivered contingentl y upon independent guessing during Condition 1 in both baseline and tr eatment phases. Under Condition 2, reinforcement was delivered noncont ingently during the baseline phase and contingently upon successive ap proximations to the target behavior of deception during the treatment phase. All students displayed the acquisition of at least three of the responses included in the deception response during the baseline phas e, and two students showed an erratic acquisition of the total skill d uring the baseline phase. Results indicate that students with autism c an learn to deceive, even without formal intensive training.