Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Preliminary Analysis of Mastery Criterion Level: Effects on Response Maintenance

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Behavior Analysis in Practice Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Educators use a mastery criterion to evaluate skill acquisition programming for children with autism and other developmental disabilities; however, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no research evaluating how the mastery criterion level of accuracy affects the maintenance of those responses. This study investigated the effects of 3 skill acquisition mastery criterion levels (50%, 80%, and 90% accuracy) on response maintenance. Following mastery of a set of skills, maintenance was evaluated once a week for 3 to 4 weeks. Three elementary school–age children diagnosed with autism participated. Overall, the outcomes suggested that higher mastery criterion levels (90% correct) produced higher levels of maintenance responding. Additional research in this area is needed to clarify how different parameters of mastery criterion affect the generality of skills.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Carlson, J., & Minke, K. (1975). Fixed and ascending criteria for unit mastery learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 1, 96–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0078676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolch, E. W. (1948). Problems in reading. Champaign, IL: Garrard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dougherty, K. M., & Johnston, J. M. (1996). Overlearning, fluency, and automaticity. The. Behavior Analyst, 19, 289–292.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fienup, D. M., & Brodsky, J. (2017). Effects of mastery criterion on the emergence of derived equivalence relations. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.416. Advance online publication.

  • Fry, E. (1994). 1000 instant words: the most common words for teaching reading, writing and spelling. Laguna Beach, CA: Laguna Beach Educational Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haq, S. S., & Kodak, T. (2015). Evaluating the effects of massed and distributed practice on acquisition and maintenance of tacts and textual behavior with typically developing children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48, 85–95. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ivarie, J. J. (1986). Effects of proficiency rates on later performance of a recall and writing behavior. Remedial and Special Education, 7, 25–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, J. M., & O’Neill, G. (1973). The analysis of performance criteria defining course grades as a determinant of college student academic performance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 6, 261–268.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kocher, C. P., Howard, M. R., & Fienup, D. M. (2015). The effects of work-reinforcer schedules on skill acquisition for children with autism. Behavior Modification, 39, 600–621. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445515583246

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Majdalany, L. M., Wilder, D. A., Greif, A., Mathisen, D., & Saini, V. (2014). Comparing massed-trial instruction, distributed-trial instruction, and task interspersal to teach tacts to children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47, 657–662. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.149

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Majdalany, L. M., Wilder, D. A., Smeltz, L., & Lipschultz, J. (2016). The effects of brief delays to reinforcement on the acquisition of tacts in children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49, 411–415. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.282

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paden, A. R., & Kodak, T. (2015). The effects of reinforcement magnitude on skill acquisition for children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 48, 924–929. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.239

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Semb, G. (1974). The effects of mastery criteria and assignment length on college-student test performance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 61–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward-Horner, J. C., Cengher, M., Ross, R. K., & Fienup, D. M. (2017). Arranging response requirements and the distribution of reinforcers: a brief review of preference and performance outcomes. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 50, 181–185. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.350

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queens College, City University of New York, New York City, NY, USA

    Jessica L. Fuller & Daniel M. Fienup

  2. Manhattan Childrens Center, New York City, NY, USA

    Jessica L. Fuller

  3. Department of Health & Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, Box 223, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Daniel M. Fienup

Authors
  1. Jessica L. Fuller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel M. Fienup
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel M. Fienup.

Ethics declarations

The research was approved by the institutional review board of the affiliated university. All parents of participants provided informed consent for the children to participate in this study.

Author Note

The study was conducted by the first author in partial fulfillment of a master’s degree in applied behavior analysis at Queens College, City University of New York. The authors wish to thank Julia Brodsky and Bryan Tyner for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fuller, J.L., Fienup, D.M. A Preliminary Analysis of Mastery Criterion Level: Effects on Response Maintenance. Behav Analysis Practice 11, 1–8 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-017-0201-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-017-0201-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation