Evidence-Based Practices
By Isabella Abbinante
Practice
• The application of reinforcement
• Reinforcing only the appropriate
Differential Reinforcement
• Example: rewarding a child for
Picture Exchange
Communication System
(PECS)
Discrete Trial Training (DTT)
Description & Examples
designed to reduce the occurrence
of interfering behaviours, such as
aggression, self-injury, or stereotypic
behaviours
response or behaviour you wish to
increase, and reinforcing behaviours
that serve as alternatives to the
problem behaviours
brushing their teeth before bedtime,
while withholding the reward when
the child does not brush their teeth
before bedtime
• PECS is used to teach learners with
limited functional communication
skills to initiate exchanges and
interactions in a social context
• Specific prompting and
reinforcement strategies are used
that will lead to independent
communication
• It begins by teaching an individual
to give a single picture of a desired
item or action, then how to
discriminate pictures and put them
together in sentences. In more
advanced phases, individuals learn
how to answer questions and make
comments
• An ABA technique that breaks skills
down into small, “discrete”,
components
• The trainer teaches these skills one-
by-one, and along the way, uses
tangible reinforcements for desired
behaviours
 • Example: When teaching colours to
a child, the trainer might begin with
the colour red. They would ask them
to point to the colour, then reward
the behaviour. Next, they would
move on to teaching the colour
blue by itself, again reinforcing the
behaviour. Then they would ask
about both colours, and so on.

References

Autism Speaks. (2018, September 5). What is Discrete Trial Training?

Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://www.autismspeaks.org/expert-
opinion/what-discrete-trial-training

Bondy, A., & Frost, L. (n.d.). Picture Exchange Communication System

(PECS). Retrieved February 10, 2021, from https://pecs-
canada.com/pecs/

Differential Reinforcement - Special Learning Article. (n.d.). Retrieved

February 10, 2021, from https://www.special-
learning.com/article/differential_reinforcement