On the Social Validity of Teaching Children to Give a Polite Response

Author

Nancy V. Ramirez, University of the PacificFollow

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Corey Stocco

First Committee Member

Matthew Normand

Second Committee Member

Carolynn Kohn

Abstract

Some children, including individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may respond rudely when expressing their opinions about nonpreferred gifts or aspects of someone else’s appearance (Bergstrom et al., 2016; Saarni, 1984; Talwar et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2010). One proposed solution discussed in the literature to decrease rude responses in children involves teaching children to tell a socially appropriate lie, often referred to as prosocial lies, as an alternative response. These types of lies are defined as “lies that have some benefit for the lie recipient and are not intended to cause harm to another individual” (Popliger et al., 2011, p. 374). Bergstrom et al. (2016) demonstrated how individuals can be taught to tell socially appropriate lies using vocal instructions and feedback during role-play. Although Bergstrom and colleagues’ findings added to the literature on teaching complex social skills to individuals diagnosed with ASD (Kisamore et al., 2018; Peters & Thompson, 2018), previous research has indicated that some caregivers report that all forms of lying are unacceptable (Heyman et al., 2009; Lavoie et al., 2016). Therefore, the current study aimed to replicate the procedures used in Bergstrom et al. to evaluate if children could be taught to respond politely when asked to express their opinions about nonpreferred gifts or aspects of someone’s appearance. Additionally, the measurement system used in Bergstrom et al. was modified, and a social validity assessment was used to assess the caregiver’s acceptability of the outcomes. Similar to the results of Bergstrom et al., all target responses increased following the training in three of the four participants. Limitations and recommendations for future researchers are discussed.

Pages

50

Recommended Citation

Ramirez, Nancy V.. (2024). On the Social Validity of Teaching Children to Give a Polite Response. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/4307