What technique gradually transfers control from the prompt to naturally occurring events in the learner's environment?

What technique gradually transfers control from the prompt to naturally occurring events in the learner's environment?

• A. Time delay
• B. Prompt fading
• C. Prompt dependency
• D. Graduated guidance

Answer: (B)

Prompt fading is the technique that gradually shifts control from the prompt to naturally occurring events in the learner’s environment. It starts with a prompt that ensures the correct response, then systematically reduces or removes that prompt across opportunities, so the environment’s own cues become enough to elicit the behavior. As prompts are faded, the learner begins to respond to the natural stimulus—like the sight of the item or the spoken request—without needing the teacher’s guidance, and reinforcement from the environment solidifies that independence. For example, when teaching a child to request a cookie, you might start with a full physical prompt or hand-over-hand guidance to imitate a sign. Over time, you fade to gestural prompts, then to a verbal cue, and finally to no prompt at all, so the cookie’s presentation itself becomes the cue that drives the response. Time delay involves waiting before prompting, which helps independence but isn’t specifically about transferring control to natural cues in the environment. Graduated guidance is a form of prompt fading focused on decreasing physical assistance in steps, which also moves control toward the learner, but the overarching concept described here is prompt fading itself.

Prompt fading is the technique that gradually shifts control from the prompt to naturally occurring events in the learner’s environment. It starts with a prompt that ensures the correct response, then systematically reduces or removes that prompt across opportunities, so the environment’s own cues become enough to elicit the behavior. As prompts are faded, the learner begins to respond to the natural stimulus—like the sight of the item or the spoken request—without needing the teacher’s guidance, and reinforcement from the environment solidifies that independence.

For example, when teaching a child to request a cookie, you might start with a full physical prompt or hand-over-hand guidance to imitate a sign. Over time, you fade to gestural prompts, then to a verbal cue, and finally to no prompt at all, so the cookie’s presentation itself becomes the cue that drives the response.

Time delay involves waiting before prompting, which helps independence but isn’t specifically about transferring control to natural cues in the environment. Graduated guidance is a form of prompt fading focused on decreasing physical assistance in steps, which also moves control toward the learner, but the overarching concept described here is prompt fading itself.