Including Manual Signing as Nontargeted Information When Using a Constant Time Delay Procedure to Teach Receptive Identification of Packaged Food Items

This investigation extends the constant time delay research base by embedding nontargeted information in the task direction when teaching communication skills. Specifically, instructors taught receptive identification of packaged food items to 4 secondary students with moderate to severe disabilities and evaluated generalization to the community. In addition, instructors included the manual sign for each food item. The instructional strategy was a constant time delay procedure using a 5-s delay interval. The intervention, conducted within a multiple probe design across behaviors replicated across students, resulted in the acquisition and generalization of receptive identification of packaged food items by 3 out of 4 of the students. In addition, the students acquired the nontargeted manual signs with an average of 60% percent in the final probe session.