Three adult male sex offenders with developmental disabilities participated in phallometric assessments that involved repeated measures of arousal when exposed to various stimuli. Arousal assessment outcomes were similar to those obtained by Reyes et al. (2006). Additional data-analysis methods provided further information about sexual…

Although the literature clearly demonstrates that repeated readings result in immediate effects on students' performance on the intervention materials as well as long-term benefits, data are less promising regarding its immediate generalization effects to similar materials. Using an alternating treatments design, the current study evaluated the…

The study evaluated a participative management approach for increasing the frequency of interactions between institutional staff and 15 severely/profoundly retarded residents. Results indicated that during the participative management program there was an increase in staff interactions that were contingent on appropriate resident behavior.…

A program to involve institutional staff in developing manual sign language skills with six profoundly retarded persons was evaluated. Results indicated that all participating residents learned to communicate with signing during structured interactions on their living unit and the skills maintained during follow-up assessments ranging from 39 to…

Three adults with severe/profound mental retardation consumed regular portions of food that varied between phases from normal to high caloric levels. The data showed a clear but modest inverse relationship between the caloric value of the diet and the rates of postmeal ruminating. (Author/JDD)

Child care workers in an institution for severely/profoundly retarded children were trained to use prompts and increased toy availability. On the average purposeful activity level of the children increased from 10 percent to a mean of 70 percent during treatment while stereotyped or harmful behaviors decreased from an average of 20 percent to 70…

The study evaluated a program for teaching family-style mealtime skills to four profoundly retarded institutionalized adolescents. The program used forward chaining with a less-to-more intrusive prompting sequence and contingent reinforcement to teach the skills. (Author/DB)

The study was designed to increase the amount of time 37 severely handicapped students living in a residential facility engaged in age-approprite and functional activities. Results showed that after a supervision program was implemented, the students' participation in activities increases and that these increases maintained for a 5-month period.…

This study of the choice behavior of 14 adults with severe disabilities in residential programs found that 24 staff members correctly predicted the individuals' choices 78% of the time, when compared to choices made by the individuals themselves. (Author/DB)

The effects of long and short durations of positive practice overcorrection were studied with one moderately retarded and four severely retarded children (10 to 13 years old). The short and long practice durations (30 seconds and three minutes) produced equally rapid reduction of off-task behavior and acquisition of correct object placement…

Procedures were evaluated for teaching four institutionalized adult males with profound retardation necessary skills to increase their individual freedom of movement. Following baseline, a travel training program with a backward chaining format was implemented to teach each person to walk independently from his living area to school. (Author)

A multiple-component strategy was investigated for aiding staff responsible for supervising production of 16 lower-functioning retarded clients (ages 20 to 53) on contract tasks in an institution-based sheltered workshop. Production performance increased during the production supervisory strategy with all 16 clients, with the range of increase…

Behaviors exhibited by five institutionalized severely retarded adults were formally observed while they were on and off medication. (Author/SBH)

Four studies found serious problems with components of the federal Medicaid program's survey process for evaluating intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded--surveys did not discriminate between certified and noncertified units, direct-care staff behavior was very reactive to the survey's presence, and service providers had divergent…

A program was implemented to increase the manual signing of five profoundly retarded (mean age, 19 years) and four autistic (mean age, 9 years) youth within their daily environment. (Author)