Prompting

Description of the Strategy

A prompt is a hint, a cue, or a direction that provides information to a learner about which response is correct in a particular situation. A prompt reliably occasions a desired behavior; that is, a prompt points the way to the correct or desired behavior option for the learner. For example, if students had difficulty remembering whether to add or subtract a group of mixed problems, then a teacher might make all addition problems red and all subtraction problems green. The color is a prompt that would help children distinguish between the two types of problems.

From a technical perspective, the term prompt comes from the field of behavior analysis and has a very specific meaning. In a three-term contingency of antecedent stimulus, behavior, consequence stimulus (often referred to as ABC), behaviors are established when reinforcement is likely if the response occurs in the presence of a particular antecedent stimulus and if the behavior is not as likely to be reinforced when that stimulus is absent. The antecedent stimulus then effectively occasions the occurrence of the response, a process that is referred to as stimulus control. Stimulus discrimination is required for the antecedent stimulus to acquire controlling properties over the response. Once stimulus discrimination occurs, stimulus control is achieved, and the antecedent variable is now referred to as a discriminative stimulus (SD).

When new behaviors are shaped, prompts or cues can be embedded to facilitate discrimination or reliable occurrence of the behavior in the presence of particular stimuli. These prompts or cues have been referred to as stimulus or response prompts. A prompt can occur as part of the antecedent (e.g., within-stimulus prompt) or in addition to the naturally occurring antecedent variable for which discriminative properties are ultimately desired (e.g., verbal prompt to emit a response). For example, if a child points to items arranged on a snack table, the teacher can use a prompt to shape a higher level communicative response (e.g., verbal request of desired snack item). In this scenario, the teacher would cue the child to verbally request a particular snack item and then deliver the snack item when the child emits the desired response (and not deliver the item when the child does not verbally request the item). Over time, the child would see the snack items at the snack table and then independently (i.e., without prompting) verbally request the desired snack item. Prompts facilitate the development of correct responding by providing information, occasioning reinforcement, and decreasing errors that are commonly associated with disruptive behaviors.

Instructionally, the level of the prompt must be matched to the level of skill of the child. Referring to the example, if the child points to snack items that are out of reach during snack time, the teacher may prompt the child with, “Would you like a cookie or a cracker?” or “Cookie or cracker?” Alternatively, the teacher may prompt the child, “Say cookie” and then deliver the desired item based on the child's communicative response. The idea is that the teacher wants to provide the minimum amount of assistance to produce the desired response from the child. The response and the consequence are inextricable links in this process. Hence, the teacher also will want to require the best performance possible from the child at each response opportunity. If the child can produce verbal utterances, the teacher will require the child to emit a verbal utterance (as opposed to pointing) to obtain the desired item. Further, if the child can approximate the word “cookie” with “cook,” then the teacher will require that the child say “cook” prior to delivering the cookie to the child.

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