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Children learn skills and behaviors in different “levels”. First, a
child must acquire a skill or behavior. To acquire a skill or
behavior means to be able to perform a newly learned response. For
example, if a child learns to brush their teeth, with some degree of
accuracy, they have acquired the skill of brushing teeth. Now, if the child is expected to demonstrate the skill or behavior with some degree of fluency, that means the child is expected to perform the skill at a certain rate, or speed. For example, once the child has acquired the ability to brush their teeth, they are expected to perform it within a reasonable amount of time. That is, if a child can brush their teeth, but it takes ten minutes to do so, they have only acquired the skill. However, if the child can brush their teeth in two minutes, then they have shown that they have not only acquired the skill but can perform the skill with fluency as well. The third level of learning is called maintenance. At this level, the child is expected to be able to maintain a skill, over time, in the absence of teaching and ongoing reinforcement. That is, the child can continue to brush their teeth weeks after the actual teaching of the skill has ended. For example, an adult works with a child teaching them to locate the toothbrush, turn on the water, take the cap off the toothpaste, squeeze toothpaste onto the brush, brush teeth, and so on. The adult teaches the skill until it has been learned, or acquired with the appropriate rate, or fluency. Once the child has acquired the skill, and can perform it with fluency (within a reasonable amount of time), they should then be expected to maintain the skill, even when the adult is no longer teaching and reinforcing it. Finally, the fourth level of learning is called generalization. To generalize a skill means to be able to perform the skill in untrained situations. That is, the child is able to brush their teeth in other settings (e.g., school, various bathrooms in the house), with various people present (e.g., mother, father, teacher, sibling), and even with various materials (e.g., different toothbrushes, different kinds of toothpaste). Once the child has acquired a skill, can perform it with some degree of fluency, and has maintained the skill over time in the absence of teaching, the child should then be expected to be able to generalize the skill, across settings, people, materials, and instruction. |
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