TEACHING BETWEEN-CLASS generalization OF TOY PLAY BEHAVIOR TO HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

In this study, young children with severe and moderate handicaps were taught to generalize play responses. A multiple baseline across responses design, replicated with four children, was used to assessthe effects of generalization training within four sets of toys on generalization to untrained toys from four other sets. The responses taught were unique for each set of toys. Acrossthe four participants, training to generalize within-toy sets resulted in complete between-class generalization in 11 sets, partial generalization in 3 sets, and no generalization in 2 sets. No generalization occurred to another class of toys that differed fromthe previous sets in that they produced a reaction tothe play movement (e.g., pianos). Implications for conducting research using strategies based on class interrelationships in training contexts are discussed.     

THE USE OF PEER MONITORS TO REDUCE NEGATIVE INTERACTION DURING RECESS

The negative interactions of a mildly retarded child, Dennis, were reduced in three daily recess periods, withthe use of a point system. Adult monitors initiatedthe intervention inthe morning recess; reductions achieved during adult monitoring were maintained in that recess during two subsequent conditions: peer monitoring and self-monitoring. Dennis' negative interactions were reduced next inthe afternoon recess by peer monitors. Again, reductions were maintained during a subsequent self-monitoring condition. Finally, duringthe noon recess, Dennis was trained to serve as a peer monitor for Ed, a moderately retarded classmate. Dennis' rate of negative interactions quickly decreased following his appointment as a peer monitor. The results show that a point system, originally designed for adult monitoring, can be adapted without loss of program effectiveness for peer monitoring or self-monitoring. The results also suggest that classmates who serve as peer monitors may benefit significantly from their role. The conditions under which these therapeutic effects occur andthe role that treatment order effects may play in this process require further investigation.     

A parametric analysis of the relationship between food quantity and rumination

Rumination is the chronic regurgitation, chewing, and reswallowing of previously ingested food. The study reported here, using a parametric design, examined the control of rumination by the quantity of food eaten at meals. The subjects were three profoundly retarded individuals who chronically emitted this behavior. The quantity of food by weight ingested daily was varied in 10-oz steps in both ascending and descending series (data were collected only after breakfasts and lunches). Ruminating decreased when food quantity increased and increased when food quantity decreased. In addition, there was a similar inverse interaction between breakfast food quantity and post-lunch ruminating. The data showed relatively rapid transitions in both frequency and duration at each meal size for all subjects. The data establish a clear functional relation between the quantity of food ingested and ruminating.     

BUILDING RESPONSE CLASSES: A COMPARISON OF TWO PROCEDURES FOR TEACHING GENERALIZED POURING TO LEARNERS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

Five individuals with profound mental retardation received instruction on liquid pouring. The effects of two training strategies on performance with nontrained pitchers and receptacles were compared within a split multiple baseline design across subjects. One training approach followed general case instruction guidelines in which both difficult and easy teaching examples were selected that sampled the range of relevant stimulus and response variation. The second training approach approximated the early steps in an easy-to-hard sequencing strategy and involved using only a set of easy teaching examples that did not sample the full range of relevant stimulus and response variation required for successful pouring in natural settings. Results indicated that only after training with the full set of general case examples did the learners become competent with the nontrained generalization probe tasks. In addition, the set of easy examples resulted in learners performing topographically predictable errors with the generalization probe tasks.     

Conditional discrimination in mentally retarded adults: the effect of training the component simple discriminations.

Two subjects with retardation who exhibited generalized identity matching, but who had extensive histories of failure to acquire arbitrary matching, were exposed to a series of conditions designed to train separately the components of a two-choice conditional discrimination. First, the successive discrimination between the sample stimuli was established by programming a different schedule of reinforcement in the presence of each sample stimulus. Schedule performance was acquired and maintained by both subjects, but neither acquired arbitrary matching. To train the simultaneous discrimination between the comparison stimuli, 1 subject was then exposed to a series of simple discrimination reversals and subsequently failed to acquire arbitrary matching. Both subjects acquired arbitrary matching under a procedure that maintained both the sample and the comparison discrimination by first presenting entire sessions composed of one sample-comparison relation and then gradually reducing the number of consecutive trials with the same sample until sample presentation was randomized (schedule performance was maintained). Removal of the schedule requirement had no effect on arbitrary matching accuracy. Both subjects subsequently demonstrated control by relations symmetric to the trained relations.     

A PEER-MEDIATED SOCIAL NETWORK INTERVENTION TO ENHANCE THE SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF PERSONS WITH MODERATE AND SEVERE DISABILITIES

Increasingly, parents, teachers, and students with disabilities are advocating for interventions that go beyond skill training to provide support for participation in integrated environments and support for friendships. The present research demonstrated a social network intervention for youths with moderate and severe disabilities. Two groups of nondisabled peers were recruited to participate in weekly discussions with an adult integration facilitator to increase opportunities for social interaction for 2 students (1 with autism and 1 who was moderately mentally retarded). The groups met to discuss social interactions that had occurred with the students with disabilities and to talk about strategies to promote greater inclusion of the students into ongoing social interaction. The nondisabled students participated in the design and implementation of social skills interventions during transition times and lunch. The nondisabled students used self-monitoring data sheets to record the quantity and quality of interactions. The frequency of interaction, number of opportunities for interaction, and appropriateness of social interactions were analyzed with a multiple baseline design. Results indicated that the social network intervention was successful in increasing the quantity and quality of interactions and that the network strategy promoted the development of friendships. The results are discussed in terms of the need for additional research showing the relationships between increases in social competence, peer-mediated intervention, and the development and support of friendship.     

INCREASING GENERALIZED SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN PSYCHOTIC AND MENTALLY RETARDED RESIDENTS THROUGH PEER-MEDIATED THERAPY

This study investigated whether withdrawn adults living in a residential center for psychotic and mentally handicapped persons could serve as peer therapists to increase the social interaction of other withdrawn residents. Two pairs of residents served as participants. Treatments were introduced and evaluated within a multiple baseline with reversal design. After baseline, the peer therapist was instructed to increase the social interactions of a target peer through engagement in social interactions. The results demonstrated that the peer therapist increased the social interactions of target peers. However, these increases did not generalize to other residents until the introduction of a multiple peer therapist condition. The percentage of time the peer therapists interacted with other nontarget residents also increased throughout the study. These results were maintained during a 4-month follow-up condition.     

A COMPARISON OF TWO APPROACHES FOR IDENTIFYING REINFORCERS FOR PERSONS WITH SEVERE AND PROFOUND DISABILITIES

The development of effective training programs for persons with profound mental retardation remains one of the greatest challenges for behavior analysts working in the field of developmental disabilities. One significant advancement for this population has been the reinforcer assessment procedure developed by Pace, Ivancic, Edwards, Iwata, and Page (1985), which involves repeatedly presenting a variety of stimuli to the client and then measuring approach behaviors to differentiate preferred from nonpreferred stimuli. One potential limitation of this procedure is that some clients consistently approach most or all of the stimuli on each presentation, making it difficult to differentiate among these stimuli. In this study, we used a concurrent operants paradigm to compare the Pace et al. (1985) procedure with a modified procedure wherein clients were presented with two stimuli simultaneously and were given access only to the first stimulus approached. The results revealed that this forced-choice stimulus preference assessment resulted in greater differentiation among stimuli and better predicted which stimuli would result in higher levels of responding when presented contingently in a concurrent operants paradigm.