Treatment with two setting condition manipulations and use of a visual occlusion helmet was found to decelerate intense screaming by a 16-year-old girl with developmental disabilities. Cranial pressure was found to be the critical element in self-control, and replacing the helmet with a headband was found to be effective in maintaining behavior…

This article reviews general classes of variables which help to maintain aberrant behavior including attention seeking, sensory and perceptual consequences, and access to materials or activities. Suggestions for a methodology providing a comprehensive functional analysis are offered which include descriptive analysis, hypothesis forming,…

Results of withdrawing instructional components and trainers after a previous study using picture recipe cards to teach three mentally retarded adults to prepare meals indicated (from self reports and roommate reports) maintenance of trained skills during a 10-month period. (Author/DB)

The 10-year followup study of a severely retarded man treated for self-injurious behavior with a multiphased behavioral and vocational program found the incidence of self injurious behavior remained infrequent and rarely resulted in tissue damage. (Author/DB)

This study examined whether sentence-combining exercises (with reinforcement) would increase the number of descriptive adjectives used in daily writing samples by three adolescents with autism. The sentence-combining exercises increased the number of adjectives used in the students' writing samples, and this increase was maintained in the absence…

The literature on the use of physical restraint with adults and children with mental retardation is reviewed, including person-to-person restraint, mechanical devices, and voluntary self-restraint. Conclusions regarding outcomes of contingent and noncontingent restraint, maintenance, reinforcing effects of restraint, and risk of injury are…

This research review concerning intervention to improve young children's social behavior and strategies for promoting generalization and maintenance of young children's social responding focuses on taking advantage of natural communities of reinforcement, training diversely, and incorporating functional mediators. Implications for interventionists…

This review examined parenting education interventions in 20 published studies, involving 190 parents with intellectual disabilities. The most common instructional approach was behavioral. Initial training, follow-up, and social validity results were encouraging, whereas generalization and child outcomes data were weak. Research needs are noted.…

Evaluation of a program which taught six severely mentally retarded individuals (ages 8-25) to sign interactively with each other found participants showed increased signing skills in a training play situation, generalized use of these skills in a second play situation, and maintained the trained skills over a 2 to 4 month period. (Author/DB)

The study evaluated two simulation methods (either on-self or using a doll) of general case instruction in teaching menstrual care to four severely/profoundly retarded adolescents and women. Results indicated limited generalization after training using a doll, high levels of generalized responding following on-self instruction, but decreased…

Two studies investigated the effects of group socialization procedures (teachers discussed friendship and praised child-child social responding) on the social behavior of preschool children. Results indicated that the procedures were a practical and effective method for improving young children's social interaction during both structured games and…

The effectiveness of a graduated guidance procedure for increasing independence in dressing was examined in a multiple baseline analysis across behaviors with two multihandicapped children (ages nine and five). Results showed both children learned dressing skills with generalization of training to similar garments and maintenance of skills and 18…

In a study which taught four high school students with severe handicaps to use a commercial washing machine and laundry soap dispenser, a concurrent chaining strategy was found more efficient than forward chaining in facilitating skill acquisition. Concurrent chaining also resulted in better maintenance at four- and eight-week follow-up…

This study assessed a microswitch-based program in which three request and one choice microswitches were used for two participants with multiple disabilities. Each request switch was linked to different stimulation opportunities. Both participants learned to use the microswitches very rapidly. Responding levels were high during intervention and…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a reinforcement-based toilet training intervention with three children with autism. Procedures included positive reinforcement, graduated guidance, scheduled practice trials, and forward prompting. All three children reduced urination accidents to zero and learned to request bathroom use spontaneously…