Two experiments were conducted to investigate generalized imitation of manual gestures in 1- to 2-year-old infants. In Experiment 1, 6 infants were first trained four baseline matching relations (e.g., when instructed "Do this," to raise their arms after they saw the experimenter do so). Next, four novel gestures that the infants did not match in…

Mothers of two severely handicapped infants were instructed via task analysis to teach their children three tasks. Results suggested that mothers learned quickly and children acquired, maintained, and generalized the desired responses. (CL)

Behavior analysts have spent relatively little time in designing interventions to enhance motor development in typically developing infants and children. This study examines the effect of a motor training package consisting of opportunity to respond and practice (standing the infant and letting her hold the fingers of the experimenter),…

Two experiments with young children with mental retardation found that a milieu teaching approach was effective in facilitating subjects' use of such prelinguistic communication skills as requesting, commenting, and vocal imitation, in both the training and generalized settings. Evidence of reciprocal effects on teacher-student interaction was…

This paper on facilitating skill development of infants and toddlers with disabilities within family-child routines focuses on: (1) developing a routine analysis by incorporating multiple Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) objectives into family-selected routines; (2) utilizing systematic family training procedures to integrate targeted skills…