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Bock 2007
Bock 2007
Marjorie A. Bock
This study examined the effect of a social–behavioral learning tal feedback, (c) exacting rules from experience, and (d) dif-
strategy intervention (SODA) on the social interaction skills of ferentiating essential from nonessential information. Studies
4 elementary school children with Asperger syndrome (AS). supporting executive functioning deficits in children with AS
More specifically, the study investigated the effect of SODA raise several questions: First, can children with AS learn think-
training on the abilities of 4 children with AS to participate in ing strategies that will effectively guide their information pro-
cooperative learning activities, play organized sport games, and
cessing during social interactions? Second, if so, will children
visit with their peers during lunch. A multiple-baseline-across-
with AS use these thinking strategies to guide their informa-
settings design (Tawney & Gast, 1984) was used to analyze
social behavior without SODA (baseline) and with SODA (inter- tion processing during social interactions? And third, if used,
vention) during fourth- or fifth-grade social studies cooperative will these strategies facilitate effective problem solving by chil-
learning activities, noon recess, and lunch. Maintenance probes dren with AS when they participate in social interactions?
occurred once a month for 5 months following completion of SODA (Bock, 2000, in press) is a social–behavioral learn-
the intervention. The participants benefited from the SODA ing strategy developed for children and adolescents with AS.
intervention. They presented increased percentages of time It provides a set of rules meant to help these youngsters attend
spent learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games, to relevant social cues, process these cues, and select specific
and visiting during lunch when SODA training began. When social skills they will use as they participate in a social activity.
SODA training discontinued, they maintained high performance When using SODA these youngsters learn to stop (S), observe
across all study conditions, nearly matching those achieved by
(O), deliberate (D), and act (A). The first three steps (S, O,
4 peers without disabilities. In addition, the participants pre-
and D) include three to five self-talk questions or statements
sented long-term memory of SODA 1 month after maintenance.
to guide information processing. The final step (A) helps
youngsters develop a specific list of things they will say and do
when participating in the social activity (see Figure 1).
The purpose of the current study was to replicate and
O
ne of the primary features of Asperger syndrome (AS) extend learning strategy research investigating the effects of
is social interaction deficits that occur across the life- social–behavioral learning strategy training on the social inter-
span (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Cesa- action skills of adolescents with AS. The current study repli-
roni and Garber (1991) noted that adolescents with AS are cated prior research by (a) using the same social–behavioral
often unable to understand the social customs associated with learning strategy (SODA); (b) using a SODA story and teach-
dating and other age-expected interactions. This confusion re- ing script derived from the real-life experiences of the study
garding social customs continues through adulthood. Thus, participants for training sessions; (c) comparing each partici-
it is not unusual to find adults with AS who experience high pant’s social behavior with that of a peer without disabilities
levels of social isolation and frustration (Cesaroni & Garber) before, during, and after training; and (d) teaching the par-
that may be due, in part, to significant deficits in executive ticipants to use SODA across three social activities they en-
function (EF; Ozonoff, 1998), including (a) inhibiting irrele- counter daily at school. The current study extended prior
vant responses, (b) modifying behavior based on environmen- research by (a) implementing the SODA intervention with
Method
Participants
Four male elementary students participated in this study. They
ranged in age from 9 years 3 months to 10 years 6 months at
the beginning of the study (see Table 1 for information about
each participant.) All were from middle income families that
lived in rural communities in the northern plains region of the
United States. An independent child psychiatrist diagnosed
each with AS prior to study participation. Diagnosis was made
on the basis of a full clinical assessment, including a detailed
developmental history, psychometric testing, and direct as-
sessment of social interaction skills by a clinician experienced
in the diagnosis of autism and AS. The participants’ nonverbal
IQs fell within the normal range, and each met the criteria
specified in the fourth edition, text revision, of the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–IV–TR;
American Psychiatric Association, 2000) for lack of gross lan-
guage delay development. No participant had a history of pre-
vious or current psychiatric or neurological disorder aside from
AS. At the time of the study, no participant received prescribed
medications. In addition, for 1 year prior to the study, each
participant received social skills instruction within the Theory
of Mind “mind-reading” intervention model (Howlin, Baron-
Cohen, & Hadwin, 1999) for approximately 2.5 hours per FIGURE 1. SODA strategy.
week. Immediately preceding study participation, the partici-
pants completed the informal assessment activities associated
with this intervention model. Their scores ranged from 86%
to 96%. The other study participants were boys without dis- TABLE 1
Participants’ Ethnicity, Age, Grade, IQ, and
abilities from the participants’ classes. They were selected at
Theory of Mind
random and served as the control participants for this study.
Participant Ethnicity Agea Grade IQb TofMc
taught students with AS for a minimum of 5 years. The special sessment performance.
educators helped the author create SODA stories and teach-
ing scripts for the participants with AS and taught the partic- (baseline) and with SODA (intervention) during fourth- or
ipants with AS to use SODA. In addition, four paraeducators fifth-grade social studies cooperative learning activities, noon
and two university graduate students collected data three times recess, and lunch. Maintenance probes occurred once per
a day throughout the study, during cooperative learning ac- month for 5 months following completion of intervention
tivities in social studies, noon recess, and lunch. activities.
SODA. The replacement behaviors were to (a) participate in correct and incorrect steps and multiplying by 100 (Tawney &
cooperative learning activities for the duration of the activities Gast, 1984). The mean procedural reliability across all study
during fourth- or fifth-grade social studies, (b) play an orga- phases was 98%, 100%, 100%, and 100% for the special edu-
nized sport game (e.g., kick-ball) for the duration of noon re- cation teachers who worked with Bob, Joe, Alex, and Craig,
cess, and (c) visit with one or more peers while eating lunch respectively.
for the duration of lunch period. Bob, Joe, Alex, and Craig
participated in cooperative learning activities when they (a) sat Procedures
with their respective cooperative learning groups, (b) listened
Before the study began, the author collaborated with the spe-
to their group members, (c) provided information relevant to
cial education teachers to write one SODA story each for Bob,
the learning activity, and (d) helped create and/or present the
Joe, Alex, and Craig for social studies, noon recess, and lunch
groups’ final projects. They played an organized sport game
period, for a total of 12 stories. Each story incorporated the
when they (a) joined one of the two teams playing the orga-
SODA strategy shown in Figure 1. In addition, each included
nized sport game, (b) played the game following the rules, and
self-question and self-answer statements. While the self-question
(c) used appropriate social skills while playing the game (e.g.,
statements came from the SODA strategy, the self-answer
waited turn, used appropriate language). Finally, they visited
statements were individualized for each participant. Finally, as
with peers during lunch when they (a) sat at the lunch table
shown in Figure 2, the SODA stories were written in the first
with one or more peers, (b) listened to their peers’ conversa-
person and described the specific social–behavioral difficulties
tion, (c) shared relevant information or posed relevant ques-
the participants presented.
tions as they listened to their peers’ conversations, and (d) used
Once the SODA stories were written, the special educa-
appropriate social skills while eating lunch (e.g., used a nap-
tion teachers and the author created teaching scripts for each.
kin, carried tray to dump station).
The scripts contained questions meant to teach Bob, Joe,
Prior to the study, the author trained the four paraeduca-
Alex, and Craig the specific SODA components and the self-
tors and two university graduate students to record all in-
question statements associated with each. The scripts also con-
stances of the replacement behaviors presented by the students
tained questions meant to verify how their teachers and peers
and their peers to a minimum of 90% accuracy over three con-
would feel and act when they behaved as described in the
secutive sessions. They used stopwatches to document how
SODA story. The scripts contained questions meant to elicit
long the participants spent (a) participating in cooperative
other ideas regarding how the participants might act in each
learning activities during fourth- or fifth-grade social studies,
setting. In addition, the scripts contained questions meant to
(b) playing organized sport games during noon recess, and
help the participants identify how their teachers and peers
(c) visiting with one or more peer during lunch. Once the
would feel and act if they decided to do or say one of these
study began, they collected data during each social studies
things. Finally, the scripts contained specific directions regard-
class, each noon recess, and each lunch period across all study
ing how the special education teachers should react to correct
phases. Since the duration of the data collection sessions var-
and incorrect responses. Consequently, the teaching scripts in-
ied during the study, the total duration of the replacement be-
cluded questions and statements such as (a) “What does the
havior for each session was converted to a percentage of time
D in SODA represent?” (b) “Yes, the D represents deliberate,”
per session so that the data could be compared across sessions.
(c) “What five questions do you ask yourself when you delib-
The paraeducators and graduate students were blind to the
erate?” and (d) “That’s right, you ask yourself . . . .”
study’s purpose.
Phase A: Baseline. The paraeducators and graduate stu-
Interobserver Reliability. Interobserver reliability was dents recorded baseline data once per day across all three set-
calculated for 100% of the sessions across all study phases. It tings for each of the participants. If Bob, Joe, Alex, or Craig
was determined by calculating the scores for these sessions and bothered their peers during baseline, they received corrective
counting the number of agreements between the two ob- feedback (e.g., “Joe, please go to your desk and complete the
servers divided by the number of agreements plus disagree- assignment by yourself ”). No other intervention occurred
ments multiplied by 100 (Tawney & Gast, 1984). The mean during this phase.
interobserver reliability across all study phases was 93%, 96%,
95%, and 97% for Bob, Joe, Alex, and Craig and their peers, Phase B: Intervention. Immediately before social stud-
respectively. ies, recess, and lunch, the participants read the SODA stories.
When each child finished reading his story, he raised his hand
Procedural Reliability. The author gathered procedural to discuss the story with his special education teacher. Using
reliability data once during each study phase using a study pro- the SODA teaching scripts, the teachers discussed the stories.
cedure checklist. This checklist identified each of the steps the As soon as they finished, the participants went to social stud-
special educators must complete when teaching SODA to the ies, recess, or lunch. The paraeducators and graduate students
participants with AS. Procedural reliability was determined by continued to record data across all three settings once a day
dividing the number of correct steps by the total number of for each participant during the SODA intervention phase.
SODA Teaching Script: Introduce the student to this activity by saying, “SODA is a strategy some people use to
figure out what to do and say when confused. The following short story shows how you can use SODA to figure out what
to do and say when you work with your group in social studies. Please read the story silently and raise your hand when you
are finished so we can talk about it.”
Results
FIGURE 3. Percentage of time Bob and his peer spent
As indicated in Figures 3 through 6, the mean percentages of learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games, and
time Bob, Joe, Alex, and Craig spent participating in cooper- visiting at lunch.
ative learning activities in social studies, playing organized
sport games at noon recess, and visiting with peers at lunch
during baseline fell at or below 23%. They increased signifi- to SODA intervention (with a mean of 45.00%). Further,
cantly the first day each participated in SODA training. Fur- Bob’s performance levels actually increased during the 5 months
ther, they maintained high performance levels over a 5-month after he finished SODA training, reaching 77.80% for cooper-
period after they finished SODA training. ative learning, 84.80% for noon recess, and 49.00% for lunch.
During the cooperative learning condition, Bob showed a Bob’s peer showed high percentages of time—ranging from
gain of 58.00% from baseline (with a mean of 6.67%) to SODA 90.00% to 100.00%—learning cooperatively, playing orga-
intervention (with a mean of 64.67%). Similarly, during the nized sport games during noon recess, and visiting with peers
noon recess condition, he showed a gain of 67.46% from base- during lunch (see Figure 3).
line (with a mean of 3.29%) to SODA intervention (with a As shown in Figure 4, Joe showed a gain of 52.58% from
mean of 70.75%). In addition, during the lunch condition, he baseline (with a mean of 20.00%) to SODA intervention (with
showed a gain of 44.18% from baseline (with a mean of 0.82%) a mean of 72.58%) during the cooperative learning condition.
FIGURE 4. Percentage of time Joe and his peer spent FIGURE 5. Percentage of time Alex and his peer spent
learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games, and learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games, and
visiting at lunch. visiting at lunch.
Similarly, he showed a gain of 71.27% from baseline (with a As shown in Figure 5, Alex showed a gain of 47.67% from
mean of 9.86%) to SODA intervention (with a mean of baseline (with a mean of 16.00%) to SODA intervention (with
81.13%) during the noon recess condition. In addition, he a mean of 63.67%) during the cooperative learning condition.
showed a gain of 41.48% from baseline (with a mean of 7.27%) Similarly, he showed a gain of 74.43% from baseline (with a
to SODA intervention (with a mean of 48.75%) during the mean of 12.57%) to SODA intervention (with a mean of
lunch condition. Further, Joe sustained performance levels 87.00%) during the noon recess condition. In addition, he
over the 5 months after he finished SODA training, maintain- showed a gain of 41.93% from baseline (with a mean of 3.82%)
ing 76.00%, 81.80%, and 49.20% for the cooperative learning, to SODA intervention (with a mean of 45.75%) during the
noon recess, and lunch conditions, respectively. Joe’s peer lunch condition. Further, Alex sustained performance levels
showed high percentages of time—ranging from 84.00% to over the 5 months after he finished SODA training, maintain-
96.00%—learning cooperatively, playing organized sport ing 68.00%, 88.60%, and 48.40% for the cooperative learning,
games during noon recess, and visiting with peers during noon recess, and lunch conditions, respectively. Alex’s peer
lunch. showed high percentages of time, ranging from 79.00% to
Discussion
Bob, Joe, Alex, and Craig each benefited from the SODA in-
tervention. They presented increases in the percentages of
time they spent participating in cooperative learning activities
during social studies, playing organized sport games during
noon recess, and visiting with peers during lunch after SODA
training began. When SODA training discontinued, they
maintained the performance levels they attained during SODA
training. In fact, Bob showed increased mean performance lev-
els across intervention and maintenance phases for each study
condition. And finally, all of the participants demonstrated
long-term memory (Bruning, Schraw, & Ronning, 1995) of
SODA 1 month after maintenance. Their long-term memory
included both declarative knowledge recall of the SODA com-
ponents and self-questions or self-statements and procedural
FIGURE 6. Percentage of time Craig and his peer spent knowledge recall regarding actual ongoing use of SODA (An-
learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games, and derson, 1993; Squire, 1987). Based on the information they
visiting at lunch. provided in the follow-up interviews, their procedural knowl-
edge recall involved identification of new, appropriate behav-
iors they were presenting during the cooperative learning and
94.00%, learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games noon recess study phases. In addition, the information Bob
during noon recess, and visiting with peers during lunch. shared in the follow-up interview indicated that his procedural
Craig showed a gain of 55.00% from baseline (with a mean knowledge recall extended beyond the study conditions to
of 22.00%) to SODA intervention (with a mean of 77.00%) other classes throughout the school day.
during the cooperative learning condition. Similarly, he showed The study results reported here support those reported by
a gain of 65.63% from baseline (with a mean of 18.00%) to Bock (in press). Similar to that study, the present one provides
SODA intervention (with a mean of 83.63%) during the noon evidence that SODA training may lead to improved social–
recess condition. In addition, he showed a gain of 51.66% behavioral problem solving by children with AS. Similar to the
from baseline (with a mean of 14.09%) to SODA intervention participant in the earlier study, Bob, Joe, Alex, and Craig
(with a mean of 65.75%) during the lunch condition. Further, learned how to understand the mental states of other persons
Craig sustained performance levels over the 5 months after he during weekly social skills instruction derived from the The-
finished SODA training, maintaining 78.80%, 84.40%, and ory of Mind mind-reading intervention model (Howlin et al.,
66.60% for the cooperative learning, noon recess, and lunch 1999). Further, their performances on the informal mind-
conditions, respectively. Craig’s peer showed high percentages reading assessment activities associated with this model imme-
diately preceding study participation indicated that they had ders. Address: Marjorie A. Bock, Associated Colleges of Central Kansas,
both the declarative and procedural knowledge recall to use 210 S. Main, McPherson, KS 67460; e-mail: marjorie@acck.edu
these skills in the social situations they encountered on a daily
basis at school. Prior to SODA training, they had not been NOTE
using these skills to help them navigate these challenging so-
cial situations. Frith (2003) suggested that this is fairly com- I thank the participants, their teachers, and their paraeducators for
mon for persons with AS. She noted that while persons with their help with this study. I have learned a great deal from each of them.
AS can learn how to understand the mental states of others,
their use of this knowledge in daily situations is insufficient for REFERENCES
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Author.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Squire, L. R. (1987). Memory and brain. New York: Oxford Univer-
Marjorie A. Bock, EdD, is an associate professor of special education at sity Press.
the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas. Her current interests include Tawney, J. W., & Gast, D. L. (1984). Single subject research in special
brain research and education of students with autism spectrum disor- education. Columbus, OH: Merrill.