Three preschool children participated in a behavioral training program to improve their gross-motor skills. Results indicated that the program improved the 10 targeted gross-motor skills and that improvements sometimes generalized to other settings. The program did not produce changes in fine-motor skills or social behaviors. Implications are…

A forward-chaining, partial-task training method was found effective in teaching bill paying skills via check writing to four adults with developmental disabilities attending a day treatment program. The skills were maintained over a two-month follow-up and generalized across novel types of bills. Bank personnel and teachers validated the improved…

Describes the formal educational requirements and qualifications for employment on the cataloging staff of the Library of Congress for both professional and paraprofessional employees and the on-the-job training provided for both levels of staff. (Author/CLB)

Attempts to bridge the gap between the research literature on supervision and its application to evaluating individual supervisor effectiveness. Presents a conceptual framework for making decisions about evaluation, where the decision maker considers the purpose of evalution, the developmental stage of the counselor, and the focus of evaluation,…

This article presents a five-step, structured format to be used in preparing employers for conducting interviews with disabled applicants. Described in this article is a straightforward, convenient tool that can also be used by rehabilitation personnel when providing awareness training and employer education. (Author)

Describes the dilemma of research training in gerontology: the need for rigor of disciplinary science with intradisciplinary awareness. Relates the problem to organizational features of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education and the Gerontological Society of America, and summarizes a preliminary educational approach to possible…

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 Sequential Prompt Reduction Technique (SPRT) was used with a 5-year-old severely retarded boy to develop his play skills. The SPRT has four components: identification of a desired terminal behavior, establishment of task sequences, delineation of prompts, and establishment of a prompt sequence. (DB)

Proposes a dialogic method of training tutors, based on a learning theory which views the "class" as a conversation, where teacher and learner are indistinguishable. Asserts that where dialogue is lacking, information may be transferred, but little is learned. (MM)

The article provides a review of behavioral staff training (focusing on antecedent, contingency management, and multi-faceted procedures) in special education settings, primarily institutions. Techniques are discussed according to such criteria as evaluation of staff behavior, changes in client behavior, inclusion of follow-up observations, and…

To produce spontaneous and generalized language use by severely disabled individuals, the language training context and content must be examined. Training methods can better approximate the conditions of natural language use when they involve: generation of spontaneous language responses to effect real-world changes, single performance "trials,"…

Presents a situation by response model that enables trainers to organize and simplify the planning, training, and application of making appropriate response choices. The discussion covers the possible uses of the model and the necessary steps involved in the creation of the model. (CLB)

Describes a training program in human relations for camp directors. Intended for groups of 8 to 12 people over 15 to 20 hours of group time. Lists topics for discussions about group process. Addresses participant concerns about feelings generated by workshop activities. Provides 22 references for experiential learning. (CS)

Five experiments with severely retarded noncompliant males made use of behavioral momentum to increase compliance. A series of commands with which the subject was very likely to comply were issued immediately prior to issuing a low-probability command. Results indicated increased compliance and decreased compliance latency and task duration.…

Nine mentally retarded mothers received group training in decision making using vignettes describing child raising situations. Significant changes in identification of decision-making steps and their application were observed and maintained for a month after training for both types of vignettes. (Author/DB)