The effect of syntax training on the sentence production of four adults with Broca's aphasia was examined. Generalization and maintenance were measured, and naive judges rated "adequacy" of responses. Findings indicated that effects are limited to the grammatical constructions taught, and that effects on response adequacy may be limited.…

This article discusses social skills training for students with emotional or behavioral disorders who have difficulty building social relationships. It addresses problems with current social skills instruction program, the lack of generalization data, and strategies to program systematically for generalization and maintenance of trained skills.…

A script fading procedure was effectively used to teach 4 children (ages 9 and 12) with autism to initiate interactions with peers. Increased initiations (to within normal levels) generalized to a different setting, and for three of the children were maintained at two-month follow-up. (Author/DB)

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…

Three autistic boys, aged 6-7, observed videotaped conversations consisting of 2 people discussing toys. Subsequent assessment of the boys using untrained topics of conversation, new stimuli, new persons, and other settings indicated that the children learned through video modeling, generalized their conversational skills, and maintained…

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…

The effects of social interaction skill interventions on the social behavior of four preschool children with behavioral handicaps were evaluated. Findings indicated unique effects for social skills training and contingency management intervention. Results are discussed in relation to the role of reciprocal interaction and behavioral trapping for…

This study found that categorization strategy training resulted in increased performance on unidimensional, bidimensional, and tridimensional sorting tasks by 4 males (ages 12-16) with autism. Three subjects also showed improvements on generalization probes and maintenance of performance. (Author/JDD)

Comparison of two strategies for reducing drooling in two adults with moderate mental retardation found both the use of brief cues and the use of flexible cues equally effective for Subject 1 but the use of flexible cues more reliably effective with Subject 2. Neither subject achieved independent skill without the use of cues. (DB)

Treatment of a woman with severe mental retardation with the Self-Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System (SIBIS) resulted in significant reductions in SIB behavior which generalized to the natural environment and the brief follow-up sessions. (Author/DB)

The effectiveness of a training program in conversational skills was evaluated with seven community-dwelling mildly and moderately mentally retarded adults. Training sessions consisted of instructions, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal. Substantial improvements in targeted behaviors in generalization settings was found after treatment and…

This study evaluated a treatment package to improve on-task academic skills by three children with autism. Program components included delayed reinforcement for on-task and on-schedule responding, fading of instructional prompts and instructor's presence, unpredictable supervision, and response cost for off-task responding. On-task and on-schedule…

Evaluated were the effects of a parent training program consisting of verbal instruction, modeling, and feedback on the affection and responsivity of three developmentally handicapped mothers towards their children. Results indicated substantially improved parenting skills which generalized to nontraining settings and were maintained over a 3-18…

A process social skills training approach was implemented and evaluated with two high school students having mild intellectual disabilities and social skills deficits. The intervention package was successful in promoting generalization of targeted social skills from the training setting to the classroom for both students. Participants had…