Just What is Response Generalization Anyway?
Technical definitions of response generalization can be difficult to understand so I will start with two examples of response generalization. In my early teens I was taught to type on a keyboard. Much later, I used those same typing skills to learn how to use swipe-to-text on my phone. Here’s another example. I learned about street safety as a child during a course in elementary school with my bike. I started using the same safety skills when walking. Now the definition. Essentially, response generalization has occurred when a person uses a new skill, that can be similar to a known skill, to access a known consequence. Let’s break down these 2 examples;
Example 1
I was taught to drive in a specific car. It was a manual and sometimes the engine would turn off on a left turn. When I finally got another car, I learned to drive it, despite it being an automatic and the engine staying on.
Example 2
Did you have a street safety course in elementary or primary school? Our parking lot was made to look like a city block, with streets, fake shops, and street signs. Those of us with bikes were asked to bring them and everyone else walked. I had a bike and learned how to navigate streets. About a year later we moved somewhere new and much closer to the school so I stopped riding my bike. I used the same safety rules I learned on my bike, while walking in a new place.
Doesn't Response Generalization Happen on Its Own?
For many people, response generalization happens naturally. Driving a car is a perfect example. No one had to specifically teach you how to drive each car, but sometimes it isn’t that easy. Individuals with developmental disorders tend to struggle with spontaneous generalization and benefit strongly from ABA programs that specifically teach for response generalization (Pratt, Wickerd, & Steege, 2019).
Why is Response Generalization important?
Response generalization is important and often an explicit goal of ABA intervention because it allows individuals to independently use new versions of skills they have been taught in situations where a known consequence is available; like the example of me learning to use swipe-to-text on my phone by myself after being taught to type on a keyboard. The effect of response generalization helps extend the effects of ABA intervention to new environments where ABA services may not be available. To put it another way, the skills being taught in any specific environment, like the clinic or the school, are more likely to be used in other places, like the home and the community, when response generalization is a goal in treatment.
How Do You Support Response Generalization?
Supporting Generalization is a major goal of ABA treatment and is addressed throughout the entire course of treatment (Pratt, Wickerd, & Steege, 2019). Let’s look at an example first and talk about the steps after. When you are teaching a child to ride a bike, you may start with training wheels, or you may hold onto them. You will also likely stay relatively close to your home, likely on your street. As your child gets more stable, you may remove a training wheel, or a hand. If they remain upright you may remove both training wheels or let go. If they stay up, they may start to ride further and further away from the house.
The idea is that you support the child as they are learning a skill (it doesn’t have to be bike riding) while being thoughtful of the places and situations where they will eventually use the skill. If I wanted to teach someone a skill I would use these basic steps. Let’s use the example of “riding a bike” used above.
Use a variety of examples of any materials used in the skill
In the case of riding a bike there are a few different things used, from bikes, to helmets, to safety and road signs. It is important to make sure that the child you are teaching has exposure to different types of all of these materials, like seeing or using different bikes or helmets.
Practice using the skill in different places and situations
When teaching someone to ride a bike, it would be important to make sure that they practice to ride in a few places, like on their home street, at an intersection, or at a stoplight. It is impossible to take your child for supervised practice everywhere they will ever ride a bike. What is important is to practice at places they will encounter that are similar everywhere you ride a bike, like responding to a stop sign.
Make sure the person knows when they can, and can’t, use the skill
When teaching any skill it is important to also teach times and situations where using the skill is appropriate, as well as teaching times and situations that are not appropriate. For riding a bike every family will be different and that is okay. It is important to be clear about when bike riding can, and cannot, take place like; “Be home before dinner” or “You can ride your bike after you finish your homework and chores”. This also includes rewarding the child for riding their bike during the correct times (it can be simple, like saying, “You are so fast on your bike! Nice work!”)
Making it Fun
When your child learns a new skill, be energetic and animated for them to show you the skill. Have them practice the skill, or practice with them, using different materials, like encouraging a child using pencils to try using paint. It can serve as quality time together that also serves a purpose of helping your child become more independent and flexible. Response generalization can also be an incredibly rewarding experience to be a part of. Being part of a child’s play when they learn that they can do things on their own is really special.
References
Pratt, J. L., Wickerd, G. D., & Steege, M. W. (2019). Generalization and maintenance. In S. G. Little & A. Akin-Little (Eds.), Applying psychology in the schools book series. Behavioral interventions in schools: Evidence-based positive strategies (p. 97–111). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000126-006