COMMUNITY INTERVENTION TO DETER ILLEGAL PARKING IN SPACES RESERVED FOR THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED

Illegal use of reserved parking spaces represents a major obstacle to the independence and mobility of people with physical disabilities. Using an ABACACA reversal design, the daily rates of illegal parking in four reserved spaces were examined across three types of sign displays: (a) a vertical sign alone or in combination with (b) a message sign that announced the possibility of public surveillance or (c) a message dispenser device that announced community involvement and dispensed politely worded reminder notes. The average rate of illegal parking dropped from 51.3% during the initial vertical sign phase to 37.3% under the message sign condition, followed by an increase to 50.4% when the message was removed. Illegal parking decreased to 24.5% when the message dispensers were first used (followed by an increase to 57.0% when they were removed) and to 23.7% when the message dispenser condition was repeated. Illegal parking in the final vertical sign condition failed to return to previous levels (M = 37.3%).     

PARENT REINFORCEMENT FOR CHILD ACHIEVEMENT: THE USE OF A LOTTERY TO MAXIMIZE PARENT TRAINING EFFECTS

This study describes and evaluates a reinforcement program in which parents earned lottery tickets and won prizes for the progress made by their handicapped children during home-based intervention. An ABAB reversal design replicated across three families was used to assess the effects of the lottery on the children's mastery of language skills. Results showed that the reinforcement of the parents for training accomplishments, as indexed by their children's achievements, produced clinically significant increases in the children's progress when compared with the children's progress under the routine supportive practices of the baseline condition. The implications of the findings for parent training programs in general are discussed.     

谈谈个人对智力落后儿童早期干预的看法

本文作者根据从事智力落后儿童的早期干预教学研究的实践经验对当今在我国开展早期干预的必要性以及早期干预的目的、设置的理由、内容、方式、对象、教师的条件、效果的评价以及开展的步骤等9个问题,提出了自己的看法。     

残障儿童家庭教育环境研究

对上海市２８６名残障儿童家长进行问卷调查,了解残障儿童家庭教育环境。结果发现：核心家庭占绝大多数;残障儿童家长学历层次和经济收入较低;家长普遍认为家庭教育很有必要,但对自己在家庭教育中的作用认识不充分;大多数家长除了与教师有较好的交流合作外,在与家庭其他成员、其他残障儿童家长以及邻居的交流合作均不理想。     

THE USE OF BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT TO PRESCRIBE AND EVALUATE TREATMENTS FOR SEVERELY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Behavioral assessment procedures were used to prescribe and evaluate treatments of maladaptive behavior for 2 children with severe multiple handicaps. In Experiment 1, the results of an assessment of reinforcer preference were used in conjunction with a functional analysis of the conditions maintaining self-injurious behavior to prescribe a treatment for a child with severe disabilities. The treatment procedure involved the use of a pressure-sensitive microswitch to activate reinforcing stimuli during two solitary conditions, during which self-injurious behavior had occurred at high rates. The results were evaluated with a multiple baseline across settings design and indicated that self-injury decreased with concomitant increases in microswitch activation. Results were maintained at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6 months. In Experiment 2, the results of behavioral assessments of reinforcer preference and self-injurious behavior were combined to develop a treatment for a second severely handicapped child, who exhibited high rates of self-injury in demand situations. This treatment was evaluated with a multiple baseline across tasks design and resulted in the elimination of self-injury for up to 15 months.     

A DIRECT PROMPTING STRATEGY FOR INCREASING RECIPROCAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HANDICAPPED AND NONHANDICAPPED SIBLINGS

We investigated the effects of a sibling training procedure, consisting of direct prompting and modeling, on the occurrence of reciprocal interactions between nonhandicapped and handicapped siblings. Data were obtained for training, generalization, and follow-up. Results of a multiple-baseline design across three pairs of siblings showed that: (a) direct prompting of interactions was an effective strategy for increasing reciprocal interactions between handicapped and nonhandicapped siblings; (b) the training procedure resulted in increased levels of initiations and responsiveness to initiations; (c) reciprocal interactions between siblings generalized to larger play groups or across settings; (d) reciprocal interactions between handicapped subjects and untrained, nonhandicapped peers increased without direct training; (e) the siblings' levels of interactions were maintained at 6 mo follow-up; and (f) these findings were judged socially valid by the siblings' parents.     

Prompt-aided instruction of mirror-image discriminations: Abrupt prompt removal,time delay,and self-evaluation

This study compared three types of prompt-elimination procedures for helping children respond to left-right mirror-image stimuli. Three populations participated: normally developing preschoolers, students with mild mental retardation, and students with moderate mental retardation. All subjects were first trained to discriminate the stimuli in the presence of multiple pictorial prompts. These prompts required the subjects to discriminate the compounds on the basis of orientation. Then the prompts were eliminated, abruptly, with a time-delay procedure, or with a procedure requiring subjects to use the prompts to self-evaluate the accuracy of their responses. The results showed the following. First, most subjects rapidly discriminated the compound stimuli. Second, about 50% of the subjects of each population discriminated the task stimuli even when the prompts were abruptly removed. Time delay was highly effective with the normally developing preschoolers and students with mild mental retardation, but not with students with moderate mental retardation. The self-evaluation procedure was effective with all three populations.     

学习困难学生语义分类编码策略的研究

通过对３８名学习困难学生与４８名学习优秀学生使用语义编码策略的比较研究,发现学习困难学生不能像学习优秀学生那样自觉地在学习的信息加工过程中使用学习策略;学习困难学生不使用学习策略的机械学习成绩与学习优秀学生无显著差异;教育训练有助于学习困难学生将语义编码之类的活动运用于信息加工过程而促进学习。     

EXPANDING THE IMPACT OF BEHAVIORAL STAFF MANAGEMENT: A LARGE-SCALE,LONG-TERM APPLICATION IN SCHOOLS SERVING SEVERELY HANDICAPPED STUDENTS

Experimental evaluations of behavioral staff management procedures usually have been limited to relatively small-scale demonstration studies. We evaluated a large-scale, long-term application of a staff management program designed to improve the functional utility of educational services for severely handicapped persons. The intervention, involving a brief in-service program followed by supervisory prompts and feedback, was implemented by three principals in four schools involving 21 classrooms. Implementation of the management procedures was consistently accompanied by increases in student involvement in functional educational tasks in each classroom. Further, the improved services continued throughout a 2-year follow-up period. Staff responses to a questionnaire indicated a high degree of staff acceptance of the management program. Results are discussed in terms of expanding the use of behavioral supervisory procedures from experimental demonstrations to actual adoption by existing human service agencies.