Video-Based Interventions: Teaching Adults and Preschoolers

Long gone are the days in which technology is looked upon as a trivial novelty. Whether evoking positive or negative reactions, advancements in technology continue to alter our daily environments. One such example is Video Based Interventions (VBI). VBI utilize video recording to facilitate the acquisition of various skills and behaviors (Rayner, Denholm, & Sigafoos, 2009). While it may sound like a simple intervention at first, many procedural variations of have been examined in research and practice. The two experiments comprising the current study examined the effectiveness of video models when used in conjunction with other instructional methods. Experiment I examined the effectiveness of video prompting when paired with backward chaining. This treatment package was used to promote functional skill acquisition in preschool and kindergarten age children. Experiment II then used video modeling combined with performance feedback to teach the aforementioned video prompting treatment package to novel adults. During this experiment, the adults’ performance was assessed via treatment adherence when working with typically developing children. All child participants acquired and maintained their target skills through the use of the video-based treatment package. Adult participants were also able to maintain sufficient levels of treatment adherence upon completion of the adult video training. Social validity data indicated that both interventions were acceptable and practical methods of skill acquisition. This study’s findings support previous research regarding the effectiveness of video-based treatment packages when training children and treatment agents (Bellini & Akullian, 2007; Giannakakos et al., 2016; McCulloch & Noonan, 2013; Mechling, 2005; Moore & Fisher, 2007; Keenan, Keenan et al., 2007; Reeve et al., 2007)