Errorless learning
Errorless learning is a therapeutic approach designed to ensure that learners answer questions or perform tasks correctly, thereby enhancing their confidence and motivation. This strategy involves immediate cues or prompts from instructors, allowing students to respond correctly without the opportunity to make mistakes. Over time, these prompts are systematically reduced, enabling learners to answer independently. Originating from operant conditioning principles, where positive reinforcement is utilized to encourage desired behaviors, errorless learning has been particularly effective in teaching skills to individuals with autism and other cognitive impairments.
The technique incorporates various prompting methods, such as time-delay and most-to-least prompting, and emphasizes the importance of adjusting reinforcement based on the learner’s progress. Although the method aims to minimize errors, it acknowledges that mistakes may still occur, with incorrect responses typically resulting in withheld reinforcement rather than negative feedback. The overall goal of errorless learning is to create a supportive learning environment that fosters skill acquisition and reduces anxiety, ultimately facilitating more effective learning experiences across diverse populations.
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Errorless learning
Errorless learning, sometimes called errorless teaching, is a therapy strategy that makes sure the subject always answers correctly. As each skill is taught, the instructor provides an immediate cue or prompt. The subject has no chance of answering incorrectly. Over time, the prompts are removed and the subject answers correctly without them. Errorless teaching is a form of operant conditioning, meaning it uses reinforcement to change behavior or teach a skill. Individuals immediately provide a correct answer and receive positive reinforcement, such as praise. The strategy helps reduce feelings of discouragement that may be caused by providing incorrect answers. The method was developed for use in therapy for children with autism and has been used to help individuals with cognitive impairments or memory problems.
Background
Until the early twentieth century, behaviorists understood learning as a form of classical conditioning—the subject learns something through association; for example, fear of fire is a result of being burned. Beginning in the 1920s, behaviorist B. F. Skinner developed his ideas about operant conditioning, or changing behavior through either positive or negative reinforcement. The punishment or reward influences the subject to act in a particular way.
In 1955, therapist Jeanne Simons opened the Linwood Children's Center in Maryland and began accepting students who otherwise would likely have been sent to live in institutions. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had not yet been recognized, and children with characteristics of autism were thought to be unteachable. Simons developed a method of engaging the children through what interested them and incorporating it into lessons. Some students went on to graduate from high school, and some completed college. Simons's use of positive reinforcement proved to be effective in students' education.
Professor and researcher Charles Ferster worked in Skinner's laboratory at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow during the 1950s and studied children with autism at the Institute of Psychiatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine. He developed errorless learning working with animals and created behavior modification therapy to help patients with conditions such as depression. Ferster then spent several years at the Institute for Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, studying how behaviorism was used to treat negative behaviors, such as smoking. He began using errorless learning to teach young children with autism to speak. In 1965, Ferster began to analyze Simons's methods. He spent three years studying the Linwood program and defined what came to be known as the Linwood Method.
During the following decades, a number of researchers looked at methods of operant conditioning to teach individuals with autism. Subjects learned skills including academics, language, play, self-help, and social skills. Operant conditioning was used to discourage unwanted behaviors that interfered with the learning process. During the 1980s and 1990s, researchers learned more about infant and child development and began to explore developmental learning in children with autism. They soon discovered the importance of very early intervention in children with ASD.
Discrete trial training (DTT) had developed during the late twentieth century and proved to be an effective methodology for children with autism. DTT involves breaking down skills into simple steps and helping students learn these components one at a time until they have mastered the skills. Researchers began to use new techniques to motivate children, including a variety of positive reinforcement rewards. Errorless learning strategies were combined with DTT and proved to improve results.
Overview
Errorless learning uses positive reinforcement and speeds up learning of skills. The teacher presents a lesson, such as a word or an action to be repeated. The teacher immediately prompts the student to repeat the word or complete the action. The student receives praise for correctly responding. Teachers gradually delay prompts to give students a short time to answer correctly on their own first. One delay strategy is time-delay prompting, which gradually increases the time between giving the student the information and asking for a response (eventually leading to no prompt). Another is most-to-least (MTL) prompting. For example, the teacher may first prompt a child to raise a hand by gently touching or lifting the child's arm. Eventually, the teacher may prompt the student simply by moving his or her hand a little, without touching the child, to remind the child to raise a hand. Studies have found that MTL prompt fading, or prompt reduction, is often most effective.
The level of positive reinforcement the teacher uses should not remain the same throughout the learning process. When the student needs many prompts throughout a task or lesson, the rewards should be moderate. As the student completes the task, correctly, with little intervention (fewer prompts), the rewards should increase.
The use of DTT and errorless learning with individuals with autism has led therapists to encourage parents and others to use the methods in everyday life. This reinforces the gains individuals make in therapy. Researchers also have used the methods for individuals with other types of learning difficulties, such as people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), dementia, and schizophrenia.
While the method is useful in teaching a variety of types of information, errorless learning is most useful in teaching or changing behavior. To be successful, the teacher must target a specific task or behavior. The student must be motivated to accomplish the skill or learn the information. The teacher must be sensitive to the student to determine the type and degree of prompting the individual needs. Prompts or cues may be tactile (a touch on the elbow), verbal, visual (a gesture), or written, depending on the situation and client.
Despite its name, errorless learning may not always be free of errors. If a student responds incorrectly, the teacher may withhold reinforcement, such as praise, and either repeat the instruction or offer new instruction. Correct responses are always reinforced with positive reinforcement, while errors are never rewarded or followed by negative reinforcement. Errors can be disheartening, and individuals who are sad or depressed are more likely to make more errors. They often generate an emotional response, which sticks in the memory. Mistakes also create anxiety, which hinders the learning process and can lead to further discouragement. Positive reinforcement, on the other hand, boosts mood and aids in learning.
Bibliography
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Ferster, C. B., and Jeanne Simons. "Behavior Therapy with Children." Psychological Record, vol.16, no.1, 1966, pp. 65–71.
Jerome, Jared, et al. "The Effects of Errorless Learning and Backward Chaining on the Acquisition of Internet Skills in Adults with Developmental Disabilities." Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, vol. 40, no. 1, p. 185. doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2007.41-06. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.
McLeod, Saul. "Skinner—Operant Conditioning." Simply Psychology, 2 Feb. 2024, www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Severtson, Jamie M., and James E. Carr. "Training Novice Instructors to Implement Errorless Discrete-Trial Teaching: A Sequential Analysis." Behavior Analysis in Practice, vol.5, no. 2, 2012, pp. 13–23.
Siri, Ken, and Tony Lyons. Cutting-Edge Therapies for Autism, 2010–2011. Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2010, pp. 205–8.
Wynn, Rachel. "Errorless Learning: Motivating Strategy for Patients with Memory Impairment." MedBridge, 3 Feb. 2016, www.medbridgeeducation.com/blog/2016/02/errorless-learning-motivating-strategy-for-patients-with-memory-impairment/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
Ylvisaker, Mark, et al. "Tutorial: Errorless Learning." LEARNet/Brain Injury Association of New York State, www.projectlearnet.org/tutorials/errorless‗learning.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.