A practical theory is offered for probing external validity, the generalization of causal relationships. This alternative theory is built around five principles abstracted from research on construct validation. It emphasizes purposive sampling for theoretical ends rather than random sampling to represent a population. (SLD)

Draws on evolutionary biology to provide implications for the case study method, to promote a better understanding of contingency, and to confirm the status of case study. Argues that contingency unites the details that make the case portray part of a greater category and that make it a unique instance. (DSK)

This study, with 30 preschool children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 30 controls, found a dissociation between limited learning of training targets (words, affixed forms) and limited bound-morpheme generalization (BMG) performance. Results suggest limited BMG reflects problems not with storage or access of facts but with the…

Performed a meta-analysis of reliability estimates for Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (A. Beck and others, 1961) scores across studies. Only 7.5% of studies reviewed (n=1,200) reported meaningful reliability estimates. Analysis results suggest that standard errors of measurement should be considered in addition to reliability estimates when…

Presents a conceptualization of social skills with an emphasis on natural contexts within which children are expected to function. Offers a definition of social skills whereby important considerations of social contexts are emphasized. Emphasizes assessment procedures that address both environmentally relevant and child-specific behaviors, and…

Classification of 140 children with developmental reading disabilities found 54 percent demonstrated deficits in both phonological awareness and visual naming speed and these children were more globally impaired than children with a single deficit. Following 35 hours of word identification training, sizable gains and significant generalization of…

A study evaluated effects of providing sampling opportunities on preference development of two adults with severe disabilities. Opportunities for sampling drink items were presented, followed by choice opportunities for selections at the sampling site and a non-sampling site. Participants developed a definite response consistency in selections at…

Three kindergarten children learned to select printed consonant-vowel-consonant words upon hearing the corresponding spoken words. The words were taught in six sets. Within sets, the four words that were taught had overlapping letters. Two children demonstrated recombinative generalization after one training set and the third demonstrated it after…

Three studies examined lexical categorization in 2-year- olds. Findings indicated that even with minimal opportunities to familiarize themselves with novel artifacts, children generalized their names in accordance with the objects' functions, even when they had to discover the functions on their own or when all the test objects had some…

A study investigated categorization strategy training effects on the abilities of five children with autism to accurately complete uni-, bi-, and tri-dimensional sorting. Five children showed strategy acquisition and generalization during training, four showed strategy maintenance 4 months later, and one showed uni- and bi- dimensional strategy…

Analyzes why the transfer of formal learning to outside school situations is problematical in principle and undependable in practice. Recommends an alternative approach for building bridges between practices based on analyzing the discourses involved as a system of signs and looking for appropriate points of inter-relation between them. (Contains…

Tested 3-, 5-, and 8-year-olds on temporal generalization with visual stimuli. Found increasing sharpness of generalization gradient with increasing age, and change from symmetrical to adult-like asymmetrical generalization gradients among 8-year-olds. Theoretical models attributed changes to increasing precision of the reference memory with…

Fifty participants were exposed to a simple discrimination-training procedure during which six S+ functions were established for six arbitrary stimuli, and S- functions were established for a further six stimuli. Following this training, each participant was exposed to one of five conditions. In the S+ condition, participants were exposed to a…

Three teenagers with autism were taught to respond to a vibrating pager to seek assistance in community settings when physically separated from their parents or teachers. A multiple baseline probe design across participants demonstrated that, upon being paged, participants successfully handed a communication card to a community member indicating…

Effects of instructing caregivers to implement teaching strategies within daily routines were investigated using a multiple baseline design across caregiver strategies and participants. Four toddlers with developmental delays participated in intervention conducted by their primary caregiver within the family's preferred play routines. To assess…