Using video modelling to teach culture-specific dressing skills

ABSTRACT

The importance of cultural factors in Applied Behaviour Analysis has gained recent attention. In the present study, video modelling was used to teach participants with autism a culture-specific dressing skill, how to wear ghutra and agal, the traditional Emirati head garment. A multiple probe across participants design was used with baseline, video modelling training, and post-intervention phases. During training, participants watched a video model and then completed the skill according to a task analysis. No reinforcement or correction procedures were used. Two participants acquired the seven-step chain using video modelling. One participant failed to accurately complete one step. For this participant, a remediation procedure, including prompting and Teaching with Acoustical Guidance (TAGteach^TM), was used to shape the response topography for this step. With the addition of remedial training, the participant met mastery criterion. A social validity survey showed that the skill was relevant and the video modelling procedure was acceptable.

KEYWORDS:

• Video model
• TAGteach^TM
• remedial strategy
• autism
• culture
• dressing skills
• task analysis

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Katarzyna Kopacz and Daniel Sheridan for their assistance with data collection; Nasir Al Masaood for the Figure 1 original artwork (used with permission); and Dr Jonathan Seaver for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. This study was presented at the 2016 conference of the European Association for Behaviour Analysis, Enna, Sicily.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.