This bridge study evaluated the effects of contingency-specifying instructions (CSIs) and incomplete instructions (IIs) in terms of establishing instructional control of appropriate behavior. Results suggested that instructional control and maintenance were achieved with CSIs but not with IIs. Results are discussed in terms of the potential use of…

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,…

Four nine year olds with mild mental retardation received training on the meaning of idiomatic phrases. All children demonstrated learning and an ability to understand the learned idioms when presented in unfamiliar contexts. Children were able to generalize their receptive learning to an expressive task with varying levels of success. (Author/JDD)

This study tested whether conditioning to one member of a compound stimulus can be blocked by presence of a second member to which the response was previously conditioned. Eight mentally retarded students (ages 7-9) were presented with words, sometimes accompanied by pictures. Six students performed best when words were presented without pictures.…

A training program was conducted to improve the generalized mnemonic performance (memory) of a Down's Syndrome child (six years old). (Author)

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…

A study involving four boys (ages 8-9) with developmental disabilities and autism found that a four-step procedure (functional analysis, descriptive assessment, establishing operations analysis, and follow-up evaluation), was effective in identifying methods of instruction that decreased the likelihood of destructive behaviors without disrupting…

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)

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…

This study compared active student response (ASR) error correction and no-response (NR) error correction while teaching science terms to five elementary students. When a student erred, the teacher modeled the definition and the student either repeated it (ASR) or not (NR). ASR error correction was superior on each of seven dependent variables.…

The performance of five students (ages 6 to 10) in an adjustment class for deaf children was compared under fixed and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement. During the VR condition, students visually attended more and engaged in disruptive behavior less often than during the FR condition. (Author)

Peers with mild intellectual disabilities taught first aid skills to 4 students (ages 7-11) with moderate intellectual disabilities. Results suggested that the peer teaching program resulted in acquisition of first aid skills, and the participants' skills generalized to the home, to novel simulated-injury locations, and to new trainers.…