Contextual control over derived relational responding in a teenager with autism

The derived relational repertoire of a teenager with autism spectrum disorder was tested in two slightly different contexts using a multiple treatments reversal design. Both contexts involved match-to-sample training and testing with abstract stimuli, but one involved referring to the stimuli as the names and sounds of “animals.” In the latter context, training of baseline relations was more efficient and derivation was shown to be more likely. This demonstrates the importance of contextual control over derived relational responding and suggests that the animal context may be a useful one for assessing and training derived relations for individuals in which the derived relational repertoire is not as robustly established across contexts.