Rocio Rosales, Karen Stone, & Ruth Anne Rehfeldt. The effects of behavioral skills training on implementation of the picture exchange communication system. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 541-549.

The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training (BST) package to teach the implementation of the first three phases of the picture exchange communication system (PECS) was evaluated with 3 adults who had no history teaching any functional communication system. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training package, which consisted of a video, written and verbal instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Results showed significant improvements relative to baseline in a short amount of training time and that skills generalized to a learner with a severe developmental disability. Skills were maintained at 1 month follow-up for 1 participant.

DESCRIPTORS: behavioral skills training, picture exchange communication system