An Operant Analysis of Joint Attention Skills

Joint attention, a synchronizing of the attention of two or more persons, has been an increasing focus of research in cognitive developmental psychology. Research in this area has progressed mainly outside of behavior analysis, and behavior-analytic research and theory has tended to ignore the work on joint attention. It is argued here, on the one hand, that behavior-analytic work on verbal behavior with children with autism needs to integrate the research body on joint attention. On the other hand, research on joint attention should integrate behavior-analytic principles to produce more effective analyses of basic processes involved. An operant analysis of phenomena typically considered under the heading of joint attention is followed by examples of training protocols aimed at teaching joint attention skills, such as social referencing, monitoring, gaze following, and such skills interwoven with mands and with tacts. Finally, certain research questions are pointed out.