Four mentally retarded children (ages 4-11), 3 with autism, were successfully taught various adaptive behaviors for self-care skills. Training procedures involved the whole-task method and included modeling, verbal instructions, prompting, and edible and social reinforcement. (Author/JDD)

This commentary on a study that found the use of a system of least prompts produced increases in rates of conversations between preschoolers with and without disabilities discusses the absence of teaching promoting verbal behavior in the baseline condition and emphasizes the need for better teacher preparation and inservice education. (Author/CR)

This commentary on a study that found the use of a system of least prompts produced increases in rates of conversations between preschoolers with and without disabilities discusses the benefits of the hierarchical model of intervention that maximizes the usefulness of research to practitioners. (Author/CR)

Given the frequency with which the "system of least prompts" is used, it is important to identify procedures to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. This study compared effects of a traditional least to most procedure (TLM) and a revised least to most procedure (RLM) on skill acquisition in individuals with moderate and severe…

This study evaluated (1) whether essay placement (either at the beginning or at the end of the test battery) impacts test-takers' performance on the critical reading, mathematics, and writing multiple choice measures; and (2) whether essay prompt type (either a simple one-line prompt or a prompt including a short passage) affects test-takers'…

This literature review is one part of a research project, "The Comparison of Instructional Strategies," designed to investigate issues related to instructional procedures used with students having moderate and severe mental retardation and to develop and field test four modules/manuals using such procedures. The review examined the…

The study sought to determine if there are differences between shifts of workers in Intermediate Care Facilities in their ratings of the daily living skills of mentally retarded residents, and whether these differences reflect actual differences in performance by the residents. Staff were interviewed concerning the level of prompt required to…

A STUDY BY TABER AND GLASER WHICH TAUGHT SIGHT VOCABULARY BY THE VANISHING LITERAL PROMPTS METHOD WAS REPLICATED IN AN EXPERIMENT WITH 14 PRESCHOOL, KINDERGARTEN, AND BEGINNING FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN. MATERIALS USED WERE EIGHT LOWER CASE COLOR WORDS PRINTED ON 3 BY 5 CARDS. AFTER PRETESTS TO IDENTIFY COLOR KNOWLEDGE AND CONFIRM LACK OF WORD…

The desirability of and problems inherent in a core language course designed to teach the speaking and understanding skills of English on a completely automated or self-instructional basis are considered. Such courses could be developed for specific countries to instruct foreign students prior to their arrival for technical instruction here, or…

Social skills training and self-monitoring were used to remediate socially inappropriate behaviors of a man with Down Syndrome in a supported competitive employment setting. Social behaviors of the moderately mentally retarded man were improved and maintained over a 38-week period, as trainer support was systematically faded over time. (Author/JDD)

Four moderately mentally retarded students, aged 8-13, were taught to read food words found in grocery stores, using constant time delay or system of least prompts procedures. Both strategies produced criterion-level performance in training and other settings, but the constant time delay procedure was more efficient. (Author/JDD)

Four moderately to severely mentally retarded adolescents used a cassette player to self-administer auditory prompts in two of three task areas: vocational assembly, use of a washing machine, and food preparation. The procedure included acquisition, faded assistance, and maintenance phases. All four students learned and maintained performance of…

This study examined methods of providing language evaluation and remediation services to students with language impairments in the regular classroom in order to focus on authentic classroom-based language and discourse. Evaluation was through observation of routine social uses of dialogue between students and teachers. Remedial strategies involved…

This report discusses a study that examined the perceived credibility of children with learning disabilities once they received instruction in a procedure to increase recall during narrative testimony. Narrative Elaboration Training (NET) helps children to develop memory skills by teaching strategies for remembering the details that are expected…

Reports long-term effects of intensive instruction in the cue attendance or hypothesis generation on open-exploration behavior of 120 ninth graders. Five dependent measures included: number of observed details; number and quality of hypotheses; and number and diversity of questions. Results suggest long-term benefits. (Author/JN)