Prompting methods are common amongst animal trainers, both novice and experts. However, there is little empirical evidence to demonstrate the strengths or weaknesses of common prompting procedures. The current study assessed the strengths and weaknesses during behavior acquisition of two prompting methods, luring and targeting. Luring placed an edible directly in front of the animal which guided the animal through the desired behavior. Targeting, however used a target, an arbitrary object the animal has been trained to touch, guide behavior. A cat was trained, using each method, to walk around a flower. Walking around the right flower pot was trained using luring and walking around the left flower pot was trained using targeting. After both behaviors were acquired, a delay cue method was designed to transfer stimulus control. Later a combination of a delay cue and prompt fading was used. During acquisition the luring method acquired the behavior of walking around a pot more quickly with consistently fewer errors. During stimulus transfer the cat began independently initiating the behavior earlier with the target trained behavior and produced more correct behaviors after the verbal cue. Luring appeared to produce the faster behavior, but after stimulus transfer it could be concluded that …

Dance is an enjoyable activity that children can engage in across the lifespan. Many children with autism have limited leisure activity, such as dance, and also have challenges in terms of overall health related to physical activity. Previous research suggests that there are both immediate and prolonged benefits of exercise. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a group dance period on on-task behavior, social attending, affect, stereotypic behavior, and disruptive behavior of three girls diagnosed with autism. The experimenter employed a reversal to evaluate the effects of a "dance party" on a range of behaviors over time. During dance activities, staff and children danced as a group and were observed before and after the dance period. During baseline there was no dance party. While no differences were found across measures, the children did have high levels of favorable affect during the dance party. The results are discussed in the context of previous literature and directions for future studies.