Background: Recently, symbols have been used to increase understanding of written information for people with intellectual disabilities, yet the effectiveness of this remains largely untested. This study was undertaken around the time of an election and it aimed to test whether a symbol-based manifesto increased the understanding of this material…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of errorless discrimination training in teaching young retarded children to pair a given letter symbol with a specific sound. A secondary objective was to determine the extent to which the letter-sound discrimination would generalize to the skill areas of omitting the desired sound when…

Two studies investigated the presence of precursors of symbol formation in eight autistic children (nine years old) compared to matched retarded children. Results indicated that autistic Ss could form internal images but appeared to be unable to manipulate them in a purposeful and meaningful manner. (Author/CL)

Project Zero, an interdisciplinary research group founded in 1967 and dedicated to effective arts education, has always viewed as central to its work the ability of persons to use and understand various kinds of symbols. The focus here is on the breakdown of symbolic capacities as well as their earliest origins. (Author/RK)

Twenty-eight moderately and profoundly retarded children (9 to 17 years old) on one unit of a center for the developmentally disabled were taught a nonvocal symbol system based on that developed by D. Premack. Children varied in speech level from totally nonverbal to some who had simple language skills. The symbol system used a behavioral approach…

Findings from relevant research applying Piaget's theory to mental retardation, psychosis, and autism are reviewed. Many autistic individuals show an arrest in operative functions at the sensorimotor functions. The early arrest interferes with subsequent development of higher-level conceptual, symbolic, and social skills. (Author)