The study investigated the influence of intertrial interval duration on the performance of three autistic children (ages 2 to 12) during teaching situations. The results showed that the short intertrial intervals always produced higher levels of correct responding than the long intervals. (Author/PHR)

The effects of instructional strategies on the academic performance of four children with learning disabilities were examined using brief multielement designs. Instructional strategies included follow along/sound out, verbal rehearsal, verbal outline, and rhyming words/sample spelling. Manipulation of the instructional strategies was useful in…

Four experiments evaluated flash card use for teaching number facts to elementary-school students with learning difficulties. Effective treatments involved: re-presenting a missed problem after the next item; using error-contingent reprimands; seating the tutor and student knee-to-knee, rather than with a desk between them; and a combination of…

Three language-delayed autistic children (6-11 years old) were taught expressive use of prepositions to describe the location of preferred edibles and toys. Traditional highly structured training and incidental teaching procedures were used in a classroom setting, and generalization was assessed during free-play sessions. Results clearly indicated…

A time delay procedure was examined to increase the spontaneous speech of seven autistic children (5-11 years old). All Ss learned to request items spontaneously and generalized this behavior across settings, people, situations, and to objects which had not been taught. (CL)

Generalization of four retarded children's (five to eight years old) object naming responses to stimuli in the natural environment was assessed after training with either objects or pictures. Generalization was typically greater after training with objects. In a second experiment, an alternating procedure resulted in substantial increases in…

Two autistic children (5 and 13 years old) acquired functional sight-word reading skills in a play activity. Ss gained access to preferred toys by selecting toy labels in tasks requiring increasingly complex visual discriminations. Ss showed comprehension on probes requiring reading skills to locate toys stored in labeled boxes. (Author/CL)

Results indicated that socially unskilled, learning disabled children (8 to 10 years old) can be taught to respond appropriately to role-play situations. However, improved performance did not generalize to the natural school setting and treatment did not affect ratings of peer acceptance. (Author)

Four multiply handicapped students (aged 5-11) received skill instruction under four experimental conditions, involving differing teacher wait-times and intertrial interval durations. Student performance was superior under the long wait-time conditions irrespective of the length of the intertrial interval. (Author/JDD)

The effects of assisted reading (in which students listen to the passage and then read it along with the teacher prior to reading the material independently) on three elementary students with learning disabilities were evaluated using a multiple baseline design. Assisted reading resulted in more words read correctly, fewer words read incorrectly,…

The study examined effects of task-sequencing variables on the academic performance of an 8-year-old severe stroke victim. Previously acquired (maintenance) task trials were systematically interspersed among new (acquisition) task trials. Results showed improvements in both academic responding and subjective ratings of motivation in spelling,…

Group contingencies with different criteria resulted in high performance averages for 12 elementary-aged learning disabled students. Two of the group contingencies produced significantly more frequent positive social interaction among subjects than that observed during baseline. (CL)

Reading comprehension, indicated by motor behavior and multiple-choice picture selection called for in written instructions, was taught to an autistic child (12 years old). (Author/PT)

A study of two elementary students (age 12) with reading difficulties compared the effects of rapid oral presentation and slow oral presentation on rates of accurate oral rereading during listening previewing. Rates of accurate oral rereading were higher when adults reduced their oral reading rates as students read silently. (Author/CR)

A classwide peer tutoring procedure was implemented in an urban elementary school classroom of 23 students, to improve students' spelling performance. Results indicated the untrained or collateral tutoring behaviors increased the academic response frequencies of three tutees and the weekly spelling achievement of one target tutee. (Author/DB)