Self instruction and external instructional methods were compared with 19 mentally retarded adults. Results indicated that participants receiving verbal self-instructional training in the complex sequencing task achieved and sustained a higher level of performance than participants receiving external instruction. (Author/DB)

Using classroom-based instruction and on-the-job monitoring and feedback, seven teachers were trained to systematically observe the data collection and teaching performances of their assistants as well as to provide contingent feedback. The supervisory training for teachers was accompanied by improvement in data collection among seven of eight…

Twenty individuals with mild retardation and 20 individuals with moderate retardation participated in simulated instruction and/or community training of four functional living tasks. Participants with mild retardation performed better on simulated tasks and in the community settings, however, in many situations, community training was sufficiently…

The study found that simulation instruction on two representative teaching examples for each of two job task sequences resulted in concurrent generalized performance by four severely retarded adults. (Author/DB)

Six severely disabled young adults were taught to self-monitor work rate on job tasks, evaluate daily performance against a criterion, and recruit contingent feedback from supervisors. Performance results indicated a functional relationship between self-recruited feedback and maintenance of improved work rate. (Author/JW)

Three severely mentally retarded, multiply handicapped adolescents were treated in a classroom setting for social skill deficits. Treatment focused on increasing eye contact and strengthening on-task and in-seat behaviors. Results suggested that a combination of visual stimuli, operant, and social learning methods can be used to successfully…

The relationship between preferred objects associated with stereotypy, stereotypic behavior, and accuracy of responding during a counting task by a child with autism was analyzed. Teaching with high-preference objects occasioned more stereotypic behavior and less accurate counting than teaching with medium- and low-preference objects. (Author/DB)

The study evaluated a reinforcement theory of stereotyped behavior with six autistic students (ages 9-16). Three students evidenced decreases in stereotypy and increases in responding in the presence of usual reinforcers, while the other three students required external suppression of stereotypy before increases in responding were shown.…

Two experiments examined the reinforcing value of response contingent sensory events consisting of combinations of visual, auditory, and vibratory stimulation with 10 nonambulatory profoundly mentally retarded individuals. Results indicated that systematically varying a multimodal sensory event is an effective way to identify positive reinforcers…

This review of 20 years of literature on sight word instruction for individuals with handicaps examines effectiveness data for procedures teaching word recognition and comprehension. Covered are "errorless procedures," prompt elimination, stimulus fading, time delay, easy to hard discrimination, and trial and error with feedback. Two tables…

Comparison of two response prompting procedures--progressive time delay and system of least prompts--to teach three severely handicapped students (ages 8-16) identification of functional objects indicated that both procedures were effective but that the time delay procedure required fewer sessions, trials, errors to criterion, and minutes of…

The article describes new methodologies for teaching monetary skills to mentally retarded individuals. Procedures were designed to produce emergent new behavior through stimulus class formation, exclusion, and matching of stimulus components. Three case studies demonstrate the methods. (Author/DB)

This study examined effects of cue control and behavioral relaxation training (BRT) with five subjects having severe mental retardation. BRT produced reductions in rated anxiety and improvements in concentration for all subjects. Cue control words were effective only after they had been linked with BRT. (DB)

Four experiments with six students with multiple profound disabilities examined the function of behavioral stereotypies and sensory modalities maintaining them. Findings are discussed in terms of the sensory and social reinforcers that maintain stereotypy, assessment procedures used to identify reinforcers, and the interpretation of assessment…

In an A-B design with replication, the efficacy of a behavioral training program for teaching two mildly retarded six-year-old children intermittent self-catheterization skills was demonstrated. Component skills were task-analyzed and trained via a graduated prompting procedure. (Author/DB)