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Autism researchers often use mand training paired with direct trial instruction (DTI) as an effective way to increase communication skills for young children with autism. However, these methods often occur in clinical settings. In this case study, we trained a parent to complete a DTI verbal mand intervention with her son with autism. She completed the intervention in her home with high fidelity. The results showed the child increased his use of verbal requests, and maintained a similar rate of response when the intervention was removed. In a follow-up interview, the parent expressed that the intervention was feasible to implement and that the child generalized skills learned by communicating outside of the intervention sessions. This case study demonstrates the effective use of a parent as an interventionist when implementing a highly-structured intervention in the home. The authors provide a descriptive protocol for training parents to be used across multiple disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a procedure to transfer stimulus control from picture exchange requests to receptive identification. Three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and absent receptive identification repertoires participated. An adapted alternating treatment design was used. During intervention, two high-preferred and two low-preferred targets were available during picture exchange requesting sessions. Participants requested primarily for one or both high-preferred targets. During receptive identification instructional sessions, one participant acquired one high-preferred target, one participant acquired all targets, and one participant demonstrated no improvements. Generalization to novel examples of targets was assessed pre- and post-intervention and programmed if necessary. One participant generalized his acquired high-preferred target without programming. Another participant generalized a high-preferred and a low-preferred target without programming, and acquired a high-preferred target with programming. Potential benefits of this intervention and suggestions for future research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a palliative care physician I am constantly receiving wisdom from my interactions with patients and their families. The situation discussed in this article provides an example of a unique experience, with early requests for euthanasia that transitioned to aggressive end of life care later. Reflecting on this journey has enriched my professional life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘Foot-in-the-door’ (FITD) is a well-known compliance technique that increases compliance with a request. Many investigations on this paradigm have generally used prosocial requests to test the effect of the technique. A new evaluation of the effect of the FITD technique was carried out on tobacco deprivation. A two feet-in-the-door technique in which the target request was preceded by two small target requests was used to encourage students to stop smoking for 24 h. The results were compared with two single foot-in-the- door procedures in which the final request was only preceded by one small request, as well as with a control condition using only a 24 h stop-smoking request. Results showed that the single FITD and the two feet-in-the-door procedures were effective to increase verbal compliance (accepting to stop smoking) but only the two feet-in-the-door technique significantly increased behavioural compliance (not smoking for 24 h) with the request. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although a request for help can impose a burden on the provider and has the potential of harming a relationship, the theory ofamaesuggests that in fact it could help promote a stronger relationship. In an experiment, both Japanese and American participants who were asked for help from a confederate increased their liking of the confederate relative to the baseline. Sociable impression of the confederate and perceived closeness of the relationship also increased relative to the baseline. There was, however, no such increase when participants helped the confederate without receiving a direct request. This study suggests that despite the potential risks to relationships, asking favors can provide opportunities for requesters to build and promote relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that individuals comply more readily to a monetary request made by a solicitor if the request disrupts the refusal script or if it is perceived as a legitimate request. We tested the effect of a new technique called the foot-in-the-hand technique (FITH), whereby solicitors requested money while holding a few coins in their hand. Findings show that the presence of money increased compliance with the request (Study 1), particularly when a reason for solicitation was added (Study 2). When the requesters stated that they were close to reaching the sum necessary to buy a particular product, more compliance was obtained (Study 3). A goal-oriented explanation was used to interpret the effect of the FITH technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “but you are free” (BYAF) technique is a verbal compliance procedure which solicits people to comply with a request by telling them that they are free to accept or to refuse the request. This technique is based on the semantic evocation of freedom. In two studies, we explored another operationalization of this paradigm: the word “liberty” or a “Statue of Liberty” picture on the experimenter's clothes. The data showed that the word liberty printed on a t-shirt produced the BYAF effect whereas the Statue of Liberty picture did not. These results provide some evidence consistent with using reactance and commitment theories to explain the paradigm, contrary to other theoretical interpretations proposed in the literature such as politeness and reciprocity theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-balling is a technique designed to gain compliance by making a very attractive initial offer to induce a person to accept the offer and then making the terms less favorable. Studies have shown that this approach is more successful than when the less favorable request is made directly. However, the effect of this technique on more problematic and costly requests remained in question. In two experimental field studies, a request was made to participants and, after agreeing, they were informed that the request referred to deviant behaviors. Results showed that the low-ball technique remained effective with both men and women. The theoretical power of commitment is discussed to explain these results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research has shown that the birthdate influences individual's judgment, but this ‘birthdate effect’ has never been tested on behavior and in a selling context. Previous customers of a musical instruments store were solicited by phone to participate in a survey of their opinion of the store. Customers were solicited 1 day before their birthday, on their birthday, or on the next day. Results showed that more compliance with the request was found when the solicitation occurred on the same day as the customers' birthday. The practical interest of this ‘birthdate effect’ is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For millennia, flowers have been used to convey romance. In this study, 18–25-year-old women (N = 600) walking alone in a shopping mall were approached by an attractive 20-year-old male-confederate who solicited them for their phone number. The women were solicited as they were walking in the area of a flower shop, a cake shop, or a women's shoes shop. It was found that women agreed more favorably to the confederate's courtship solicitation when solicited in the area of the flower shop. Positive mood induced by exposure to flowers was used to explain these results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In August 2010, the M.D. Anderson Library at the University of Houston stopped recalling books. Patron complaints prompted Information and Access Services staff to reexamine the recalls process. In order to provide better customer service, recalls were eliminated in favor of Interlibrary Loans. This new service was called “QuickLoan.” Modifications were made to the OPAC so that the catalog record for a checked-out item would prominently display a button labeled “QuickLoan.” Patrons can press this button, and an ILL request form is prepopulated. In its first year, QuickLoan has seen increasing usage and has been received favorably by library patrons. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research found that mimicry behavior led to increased helping behavior toward the mimicker and is associated with higher positive evaluation of the mimicker. Furthermore, studies on helping behavior focused only on implicit helping behavior, whereas no experimental study on explicit helping request was tested. An experiment was carried out in which a female student-confederate mimicked or not mimicked a participant during a discussion about paintings and, after that, solicited the participant for a written feedback about an essay. It was found that mimicry increased compliance to the confederate's request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development and evaluation of a computer-assisted language learning approach which integrates a finite state dialogue engine with an animated pedagogical agent. The design of the request game is theoretically motivated by interlanguage pragmatics and Long's Interaction Hypothesis. The tutoring system creates a venue in which a student can practice pragmatic routines and particular pragmatic features in simulated academic situations. The system was programmed to recognize students' written messages so that they can receive immediate and relevant feedback on their output. To test the usability of the system, a prototype of the request game has been tested with English learners in an English as a second language program in the US. The article concludes with the preliminary evaluation results of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘evoking freedom’ technique is a verbal compliance procedure which solicits someone to comply with a request by simply telling a person that he/she is free to accept or to refuse the request. However, the effect of this technique has never been tested in a selling context. Previous customers (N = 900) of an extreme sports store were solicited by email to participate in a campaign where they were offered a gift voucher if they persuaded someone to become a new customer of the store. According to the case, the email contained a sentence that stated that they were free to participate or not in the operation. It was found that the ‘evoking freedom’ condition was associated with a higher number of new customers (+8.4%) than the control condition (+4.7%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]