TRAINING SUPERVISORS IN A COLLABORATIVE TEAM APPROACH TO PROMOTE PEER INTERACTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN INTEGRATED PRESCHOOLS

Three supervisors of integrated preschools were trained in a collaborative team approach to encourage resource and classroom teachers to develop strategies that promote peer interaction of all children, including children with disabilities. The focus of classroom teachers' behaviors and the interactive play of children with disabilities were measured daily in both a training (indoor play period) and a generalization (outdoor play period) setting. In a multiple baseline design, supervisors were individually trained in a collaborative team approach using a manual, modeling, and role playing; then they implemented the approach with classroom and resource teachers. We found that after supervisor training, classroom teachers increased their behaviors directed towards children with disabilities and decreased their behaviors directed towards nondisabled children. Moreover, we found a doubling of the interactive play of children with disabilities and, for two of the three classes, an increase in the interactive play of comparison children, randomly selected by the classroom teachers. Changes in both teachers' and children's behaviors were also found in the generalization setting. The implications of the results for interventions in community settings are discussed.     

COMPETENCE IN ASPECTS OF BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT AND CONSULTATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR SERVICE DELIVERY AND GRADUATE TRAINING

This study examined the extent to which competence in applying behavioral procedures (timeout from positive reinforcement) was sufficient to establish competence in teaching others to apply the same procedures. During baseline, graduate students attempted to instruct parents with a history of child abuse and neglect in the use of time-out. Students were then instructed in the use of time-out until they achieved proficiency in a role-play context. They then reattempted to instruct the parents. Finally, the students were instructed in certain consultation skills (i.e., teaching others to apply behavioral procedures) and again attempted to instruct parents in the application of time-out. Observations of students' consultation skills, parents' proficiency at administering time-out, and children's compliance to parental instructions revealed that explicit training in behavioral consulting skills was necessary to produce improvements in these behaviors. Students' proficiency at administering time-out was insufficient to enable them to instruct others in its application. These results were corroborated by surveys of both students and staff. The implications for graduate training and service delivery are discussed.     

SOME DIRECT AND GENERALIZED EFFECTS OF REPLACING AN AUTISTIC MAN'S ECHOLALIA WITH CORRECT RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

We extended the use of operant procedures to decrease immediate echolalia and increase the appropriate responding to questions of a 21-year-old autistic man. Three experiments were conducted in which the overall plan was to (a) encourage the subject to remain quiet before, during, and after the presentation of questions and (b) teach him to use environmental cues (i.e., word cards or a model's responses) to increase the likelihood of responding correctly. Multiple baseline designs demonstrated that echolalia was rapidly replaced with correct stimulus-specific responses. In addition, there were a variety of generalized improvements in the subject's verbal responses to questions. The procedures and results are contrasted to previous research in an attempt to explain the encouraging findings.     

PARENT EDUCATION PROJECT III: INCREASING AFFECTION AND RESPONSIVITY IN DEVELOPMENTALLY HANDICAPPED MOTHERS: COMPONENT ANALYSIS,GENERALIZATION, AND EFFECTS ON CHILD LANGUAGE

We evaluated the effects of a parent training program consisting of verbal instruction, modeling, and feedback on the affection and responsivity of 3 developmentally handicapped mothers towards their children. The results indicated the following: First, the training package increased maternal physical affection, praise, and imitation of child vocalizations. These parenting skills increased to levels found in comparison groups of nonhandicapped mothers. Second, the training package was more effective than verbal instruction alone, the latter being the predominant method presently used by social service workers. Third, most maternal gains were maintained over a 3- to 18-month follow-up period, although one mother required a reinforced maintenance procedure. Fourth, instructing mothers to generalize served to increase the generalization of newly acquired skills from play times (the training context) to child-care tasks (e.g., diapering, feeding). Fifth, teaching the parents to imitate child vocalizations was related to gains in both the frequency and quality of verbal behavior of the two language delayed children as measured by standardized developmental tests and in vivo comparisons with age-matched children (who had nonhandicapped parents). These results show that behavioral instruction can improve important child-rearing skills of developmentally handicapped mothers, with corresponding benefits to their children.     

IN VIVO LANGUAGE INTERVENTION: UNANTICIPATED GENERAL EFFECTS

After observing the lack of generalization of language trained in highly structured training sessions using established behavior modification techniques, “incidental teaching” procedures were developed to change the use of specified language behaviors in the natural environment. This paper reports an analysis of the general changes in the language, other than that specifically targeted by the incidental teaching procedures, used by disadvantaged preschool children. The daily language samples of disadvantaged children involved in a previously reported experiment to increase compound sentence usage were reexamined and compared to comparable records of other disadvantaged children and of middle-class children of college parents in order to assess possible general effects of the intervention program. Whereas the language that both groups of comparison children used changed little across the preschool year, the amount of talking by the children in the experimental program increased markedly. Their use of more elaborate vocabulary and more elaborate sentences also increased in direct proportion to the increases in overall language use, such that both language use and language elaboration in the experimental group of children changed from a pattern similar to the comparison group of disadvantaged children to a pattern similar to the comparison group of middle-class children. It is argued that some general features of the incidental teaching procedure—differentially attending to child overtures and responding relative to the child's selected topic (reinforcer)—contributed to the increase in overall language use beyond the specific language behavior targeted, and that this increase in the probability of children's talking itself resulted in the substantial increases in elaboration seen in the children's spontaneous language. Because, at least in children with fairly well-developed language repertoires, language use is contextually controlled, talking more involves talking in more varied and complex contexts, which inevitably produces the use of more elaborate language.     

INCREASING HANDICAPPED PRESCHOOLERS' PEER SOCIAL INTERACTIONS: CROSS-SETTING AND COMPONENT ANALYSIS

The purposes of our study were: (a) to train a set of observationally determined social behaviors via peer initiation; (b) to determine if effects generalized across classroom settings and to directly intervene if generalization did not occur; and (c) to analyze components of the peer-initiation intervention. After baseline, nonhandicapped preschool children (confederates) were taught to direct social initiations to the three handicapped preschool-aged students. Teachers prompted the confederates to engage the students in social interaction when necessary and rewarded the confederates with tokens. Confederates' initiations to the students resulted in increased frequencies of positive social interaction. There was no generalization to other classroom settings, and the intervention was subsequently implemented in a second and third classroom. Next, the confederates' token reinforcement system was withdrawn, with no apparent deleterious effects on the confederates' or students' social interactions. When teachers substantially reduced their prompts to the confederates, students' social interactions decreased. Finally, reinstatement of teacher prompts resulted in increases in the confederates' social initiations and, consequently, the positive social interactions of the students.     

TRAINING PARENTS IN BEHAVIORAL SELF-MANAGEMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF GENERALIZATION AND MAINTENANCE

This study examined the generalization and maintenance effects of three phases of parent training (Instructions plus Feedback and two Self-management Training phases) on levels of disruptive child behavior and the accuracy with which parents implemented programs. Data were collected from five families in three main settings: the initial training setting (the home), a variety of generalization settings in the community, and the family breakfast. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used. Instructions plus Feedback comprised instructing parents to use a range of behavior management procedures and provided home-based differential feedback concerning accuracy of program implementation. Self-management Training phases involved training parents in goal setting, self-monitoring, and planning skills, specific to their performance of appropriate parenting skills in generalization settings. Results indicated that the Instructions plus Feedback phase was sufficient to produce reduced levels of problem behavior at home and high levels of accurate implementation, but generalization effects out of home were equivocal. Self-management maintained reduced levels of problem behavior at home but, in addition, resulted in generalization effects in community settings for both children and parents. Maintenance probes 3 months following the program revealed the effects had been maintained.     

TRAINING TEACHERS IN GENERALIZED WRITING OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR MULTIHANDICAPPED DEAF CHILDREN

In contrast to previous studies where teachers were instructed how to implement behavior modification programs designed by an experimenter, teachers in the present experiment were taught how to write as well as implement behavior modification programs. The generalized effects of two training conditions on teacher and pupil behaviors were assessed by a multiple baseline design where, following baseline, two teachers of multihandicapped deaf children were taught to set objectives and measure pupil performance (measurement training). Later, through a training manual, they learned a general problem-solving approach to writing behavior modification programs (programming training). After both training conditions, experimenter feedback was given for teachers' application of training to a target behavior for one pupil and generalization was measured across target behaviors for the same pupil and across pupils. It was found that measurement training had little general effect on either teacher behavior or pupil behavior. However, after programming training, teachers increased their program writing and correct use of behavior modification procedures and generalized this training across pupils and target behaviors. Along with these effects, there was improvement in pupil behaviors. Possible explanations for generalized effects of teacher training were considered.     

EFFECTS OF PROBLEM-BASED SCHEDULING ON PATIENT WAITING AND STAFF UTILIZATION OF TIME IN A PEDIATRIC CLINIC

The patient scheduling system in a pediatric outpatient clinic was changed from time-based to problem-based in an A-B-A-B reversal design. During baseline, time-based scheduling was in effect with patients being scheduled in 15-min periods regardless of presenting problem. During intervention, a receptionist matched client problems with time slots so that a more extensive treatment was allocated more time. Problem-based scheduling resulted in a substantial decrease in mean number of minutes spent in clinic across all presenting problems. Waiting time increased to baseline levels when problem-based scheduling was removed and decreased again on reintroduction of the program. A follow-up check conducted 1 month after the end of the second intervention phase revealed that the effects were maintained. The problem-based schedule also resulted in an increase in the proportion of extra time that medical staff had available and produced a positive consumer response.     

A SUPERVISION PROGRAM FOR INCREASING FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR SEVERELY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS IN A RESIDENTIAL SETTING

This study was designed to increase the amount of time severely handicapped students living in a residential facility engaged in age-appropriate and functional activities. After a brief in-service training, a program involving instructions to supervisors and staff feedback was implemented in a multiple-baseline design across settings. Results showed that after the supervision program was implemented, the students' participation in activities increased. Further, these increases maintained when feedback was reduced from an average of 3 days a week during treatment, to once a month for a 5-month period.     

PROVIDING A MORE APPROPRIATE EDUCATION FOR SEVERELY HANDICAPPED PERSONS: INCREASING AND VALIDATING FUNCTIONAL CLASSROOM TASKS

We evaluated a teacher training and supervision program for increasing the involvement of severely handicapped adolescents and adults in functional educational tasks. The program, consisting of a brief in-service followed by supervisory prompts and feedback, was accompanied by large increases in functional tasks in three classrooms. In addition, generalized increases occurred during nontargeted times in the classroom and the changes during both the targeted and nontargeted times were maintained over a 44–45 week period. In two subsequent experiments, surveys provided social validation for the criteria for functional versus nonfunctional tasks in that: (a) relevant individuals reliably categorized functional tasks as representing typical living, work, social, and leisure situations and (b) experienced clinicians consistently rated tasks previously categorized as functional as being more useful for severely handicapped persons than tasks categorized as nonfunctional. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship of functional classroom tasks in the overall provision of appropriate educational services for severely handicapped students.     

PREPARATION FOR EFFECTIVE SELF-REGULATION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF GENERALIZED VERBAL CONTROL

A correspondence training procedure was used to develop consistency between children's verbalizations and their subsequent behavior across increasingly remote settings and time. The interval of time between the verbalizations and the opportunity to engage in several target behaviors was systematically increased across four preschool settings. Probes of generalized verbal control of home behaviors were conducted throughout training and showed that generalization was obtained in the absence of any salient externally imposed contingencies after the children had reliably come under the control of verbalizations about preschool behaviors.     

EFFECTS OF DIRECT,INTERMITTENT, AND VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT PROCEDURES ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF INSTRUCTION-FOLLOWING BEHAVIORS IN A GROUP OF YOUNG CHILDREN1

A group of young children (mean age: 2.5 yr) were instructed to follow different requests by a teacher in a day-care setting. Experiment I verified that mean group instruction following was low (10%) despite the opportunity for “observational learning”, i.e., the group of 12 children could watch a nonreinforced adult comply with the teacher's request. In Experiment II, when positive consequences were provided contingent on the adult model's behavior, mean group instruction following was relatively unaffected (14%). When direct reinforcement was given to four peer models, each for several sessions, the individual performances of three of the four peer models was elevated (from 50% to 80%); however, the mean performance of the remaining nonreinforced children (N = 7) was only moderately affected (21%). When reinforcement contingencies were again changed, so that each group member was provided direct, but intermittent reinforcement, mean group performance increased substantially to levels of over 70%. Once instruction following was high, presentation of reinforcement only to one peer model sufficed to maintain performance whereas earlier, this same vicarious reinforcement procedure had failed to establish group compliance. The maintenance of instruction-following behavior when reinforcement was applied solely to one child was interpreted mainly in terms of a high resistance to extinction following a history of intermittent reinforcement rather than a “vicarious”- or “self”-reinforcement mechanism. Finally, removal and re-introduction of group intermittent reinforcement, respectively, lowered performance (to levels of 40%) and elevated (to levels of 65%) the group's performance.     

THE ROLE OF SUBJECT VERBALIZATION IN GENERALIZED CORRESPONDENCE

We examined the role of subject verbalization in the generalization of verbal-nonverbal correspondence. Twelve kindergarten children underwent correspondence training (subject verbalization) or received reinforcement for performing an experimenter-selected behavior (experimenter verbalization). A reversal design, along with the introduction of a multiple baseline design across behaviors, was used to assess functional relations. Pupils who received correspondence training demonstrated greater generalization. Our findings suggest that subject verbalization may be necessary to accomplish generalized correspondence.     

THE EFFECTS OF VIDEO MODELING ON STAFF IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROBLEM‐SOLVING INTERVENTION WITH ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

We investigated the effects of video modeling on the percentage of correctly implemented problem‐solving steps by staff in a group home for adults with developmental disabilities, using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants. The treatment consisted of staff watching a video model demonstrating the correct implementation of a problem‐solving intervention (i.e., teaching clients to identify problems, possible solutions, and consequences to each solution, and to choose the best solution). The percentage of correctly implemented problem‐solving steps increased for all participants, and the effect was maintained over time, generalized to novel problems, and generalized from role play with a researcher to actual clients.     

ACQUISITION OF EXPRESSIVE SIGNING BY AUTISTIC CHILDREN: AN EVALUATION OF THE RELATIVE EFFECTS OF SIMULTANEOUS COMMUNICATION AND SIGN-ALONE TRAINING

Two methods of training autistic children to use manual signs were compared. Two children, one mute and one capable of some verbal imitation, were taught to use signs as expressive labels for pictures of objects. Using an alternating treatments design, speed of sign acquisition was compared across two training conditions in which signs were presented either accompanied by, or without, the corresponding verbal label. In both conditions, the training procedure incorporated reinforcement, modeling, prompting, fading, and stimulus rotation. The efficacy of training in both treatment conditions was demonstrated by the use of a multiple baseline control across signs, but no clear differences in acquisition speed across conditions were apparent. Posttests conducted to assess stimulus control of signing, and learning of verbal labels when these were present in training, showed that the behavior of the imitative, but not the mute, child was controlled by the verbal stimuli. The implications of the results both for understanding deficits characteristic of autistic children and for developing appropriate language training procedures are discussed.     

OBSERVER TRAINING REVISITED: A COMPARISON OF IN VIVO AND VIDEO INSTRUCTION

We compared the effects of 2 observer‐training procedures. In vivo training involved practice during actual treatment sessions. Video training involved practice while watching progressively more complex simulations. Fifty‐nine undergraduate students entered 1 of the 2 training conditions sequentially according to an ABABAB design. Results showed that the 2 training methods produced almost identical scores on a posttraining observational test; however, the video method required fewer training sessions to complete.     

EFFECTS OF CAFFEINE ON CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR,SUSTAINED ATTENTION,AND A MEMORY TASK IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The effects of caffeine on the behavior of young children is an important issue, as children in our society consume considerable amounts of caffeine, primarily in soft drinks. This study investigated the effects of normative amounts of caffeine on the behavior of 6 normal children in a kindergarten setting. Using a reversal design, counterbalanced for order of conditions, children's behavior was examined during a baseline condition, a caffeinated beverage condition, and a noncaffeinated beverage condition. Measures included direct observation of off-task and gross motor activity, actometer readings of movement, a Continuous Performance Test, a Paired Associates Learning Test, and teacher ratings of classroom behavior. Results suggest that caffeine exerts only small and inconsistent effects on the classroom behavior of kindergarten children. These results cast doubt on the importance of caffeine as a variable controlling the classroom behavior of normal kindergartners.     

IMPROVING RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT SERVICES: IMPLEMENTATION AND NORM-REFERENCED EVALUATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Ensuring effective service delivery by direct-care personnel in institutional living units for persons with developmental disabilities historically has been a difficult process, despite considerable attention from researchers, service providers, and governmental regulatory agencies. In this investigation, we conducted a normative evaluation of the extent and quality of treatment services currently provided in residential living units (Experiment 1) and evaluated a comprehensive management system designed to improve such services (Experiment 2). Results of the first experiment, encompassing 22 living units in three states, indicated that on the average two thirds of observed resident behavior did not involve any therapeutic activity. The results also provided social validity for the criteria used to evaluate the quality of treatment provision based on opinions of mental retardation professionals. Results of the second experiment indicated that a behavioral management program implemented during 23 separate time periods across five living units was accompanied by consistent and durable decreases in resident nontherapeutic activity as well as increases in specifically designated habilitative activity. The results provide support for the successful incorporation of behavioral management technology into human service settings on a large-scale, long-term basis.     

ASSESSING AND TRAINING TEACHERS IN THE GENERAUZED USE OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION WITH AUTISTIC CHILDREN1

This study investigated the feasibility of developing reliable, valid criteria for measuring and training the skills necessary to teach autistic children. The behaviors of 11 teachers and 12 autistic children were recorded in a series of different teaching situations. Teacher-training was initiated at different times for different teachers. The results showed: (1) it was possible to assess empirically whether a teacher was correctly using defined behavior-modification techniques; (2) generally, for any given session, systematic improvement in the child's behavior did not occur unless the teacher working in that session had been trained to use the techniques to a high criterion; (3) all 11 teachers were rapidly trained to use these techniques; and (4) the teachers learned generalized skills effective with a variety of children and target behaviors.