Training Behavior Change Agents and Parents to Implement Discrete Trial Teaching: a Literature Review

Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is a commonly implemented and evaluated teaching procedure for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As such, DTT is often a procedure that behavior analytic practitioners are required to learn how to impliment. Additionally, parents are often encouraged to learn how to implement DTT to supplement intervention for their child(ren) diagnosed with ASD. This review of the literature included 51 studies (57 experiments) that involved training behavior change agents and/or parents on the implementation of DTT. Each of the studies was evaluated and quantified along several dimensions including participant demographics, experimental design, outcome, DTT task analysis, training procedures, training time, and the mastery conditions for the implementation of DTT. The results of the review indicated that there is a robust literature on training individuals to implement DTT. However, results also revealed there are several areas that should be addressed by future studies as well as implications for practitioners and certification standards.