Statistical learning allows us to discover myriad structures in our environment, which is saturated with information at many different levels--from items to categories. How do children learn different levels of information--about regularities that pertain to items and the categories they come from--and how does this differ from adults? Studies on…

We can incidentally learn regularities in a visual scene, and this kind of learning facilitates subsequent processing of similar scenes. One example of incidental learning is referred to as "contextual cueing," a phenomenon in which repetitive exposure to a particular spatial configuration facilitates visual search performance in the…

This study evaluated the effects of a training package on the implementation of incidental teaching by instructors and on targeted initiations of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Four instructors were introduced to incidental teaching through a 1-hr individualized training session. Specific feedback was provided for each incidental…

Training can improve perceptual sensitivities. We examined whether the temporal dynamics and the incidental versus intentional nature of training are important. Within the context of a birdsong rate discrimination task, we examined whether the sequencing of pretesting exposure to the stimuli mattered. Easy-to-hard (progressive) sequencing of…

Research from the adaptive memory framework shows that thinking about words in terms of their survival value in an incidental learning task enhances their free recall relative to other semantic encoding strategies and intentional learning (Nairne, Pandeirada, & Thompson, 2008). We found similar results. When participants used incidental…

This paper compares explicit instruction in second-language Spanish with a control treatment on a written picture description task and a timed auditory grammaticality judgment task. Participants came from two intact, third-year US high school classes, with one experiencing a week of communicative lessons on the Spanish clitic "se"…

This study evaluated the acquisition of incidental and observational information presented to 6 children with autism in a small group instructional arrangement using a constant time delay (CTD) procedure. A multiple probe design across behaviors, replicated across 6 participants, was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the CTD procedure and to…

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…

Children with autism often have difficulty successfully applying newly acquired skills to novel situations. Naturalistic teaching procedures have been developed to help address this problem with generalization. These naturalistic procedures promote generalization through the use of natural consequences, diverse training, and the incorporation of…

A review of research on language handicapped, disadvantaged, and other children, indicates that incidental language teaching (natural unstructured interactions between adults and children and which allow adults to transmit new information and give children practice in developing communication skills) is a promising language intervention technique…

A multiple probe design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an articulation training program that included incidental information to teach basic sight word reading. Results indicated that the three subjects (ages 5-6) with sound production errors learned to read sight words during articulation training and that this learning…

Incidental teaching and traditional discrete-trial procedures were used to teach two children (ages 10 and 12) with autism the expressive use of two color adjectives. Results demonstrated that traditional discrete-trial teaching was more efficient and produced faster acquisition but incidental teaching resulted in greater generalization and equal…

This study, involving two three-year-olds with mild mental retardation, found that milieu language intervention can directly enhance the acquisition and generative use of lexical and semantic forms used for varied pragmatic functions and that adult systematic commenting and child spontaneous imitation may interact to facilitate the teaching…

Incidental teaching procedures were used to train a 16-year-old mildly handicapped student to use social amenities in a resource classroom. Generalization to another resource room and an art classroom was assessed. Results indicated increased use of social amenities in the training setting and generalization settings. (Author/PB)

This study assessed effects of a procedure to train two therapists and a college intern in the techniques of incidental teaching. Training took place in a community-based group home serving five autistic children. The training procedure promoted generalization of skills across materials, settings, children, and group size. (Author/PB)