Evaluation of the observer effect on compliance training in adolescents with autism

• We model two hospitals which have regulated prices and compete on quality.
• We examine changes in the level of information about hospital quality.
• Increasing information will increase quality if hospital costs are similar.
• Increasing information will decrease quality if hospital costs are very different.
• Welfare effects depend on ex-ante or ex-post assumptions about quality information.

Three mothers conducted behavioral observations of video clips of a mother conducting compliance training to varying degrees of accuracy. Subsequently, two mothers correctly conducted compliance training and their children emitted compliant behavior. Upon addition of feedback, the third mother correctly implemented compliance training and her child also emitted complaint behavior. Conducting behavioral observations may be a viable and efficient option for training parents to conduct compliance training and, if ineffective, can be supplemented by feedback.