Icon Teacher: Stimulus Control Shaping Technology

描述（由申请人提供）：这个第二期项目将完成Icon Teacher的开发，这是一个针对某些需要辅助/替代沟通（AAC）干预的儿童的产品。在AAC系统中，还没有学会说话的孩子可能会通过对代表他们想要的物品或活动的符号做出非语言的反应来表达他们的想要和需要（有时被称为“基于选择的交流”）。图标教师旨在教授一些类型的AAC交流的关键先决条件-用于表示此类项目或活动的图标的区分。就目前的目的而言，图标可以被定义为物理上不相同，功能上等同的刺激，可以在AAC系统中提供表征功能。图标老师将是一个计算机辅助教学程序，教图标和现实彩色照片之间的等价关系。该计划有三个主要组成部分：(1)对儿童鉴别AAC图标的准备情况进行初步评估；(2)为不容易掌握必要的对等关系的儿童制定一个程序化的教学顺序；(3)将技能概括为教师选择的媒介（即手持设备、便携式计算机屏幕或桌面印刷笔记本）的组件。教学部分将采用新开发的刺激控制塑造方法，这些方法已被证明可以有效地教授等价关系。当孩子完成图标教师项目后，他/她将为下一阶段的AAC教学做好准备，在这一阶段，对图标的反应将被建立为一种有效的功能交流方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Phase II project will complete the development of Icon Teacher, a product intended for certain children who require augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) intervention. In AAC systems, children who have not learned to speak may indicate wants and needs by responding nonverbally to symbols that represent desired items or activities (sometimes called "selection-based communication"). Icon Teacher is intended to teach a critical prerequisite for some types of AAC communication - discrimination of icons that are used to represent such items or activities. For present purposes, icons may be defined as physically nonidentical, functionally equivalent stimuli that can serve a representational function within an AAC system. Icon Teacher will be a computer-assisted instructional program to teach equivalence relations between icons and realistic color photographs. The program has three major components: (1) an initial assessment of child readiness for discriminating AAC icons; (2) a programmed instructional sequence for children who do not readily learn the requisite equivalence relations; and (3) a generalization component for skills to a medium selected by the teacher (i.e., handheld device, portable computer screen, or tabletop printed notebook). The instructional component will implement newly developed stimulus control shaping methods that have been shown to teach equivalence relations effectively. When the child completes the Icon Teacher program, s/he will be prepared for the next stage of AAC instruction in which response to the icons is established as an effective method of functional communication.