The Effects of Response Repetitions on Sight Word Acquisition for Students with Mild Disabilities

Single response learning trials, defined in terms of the three-term contingency model, were compared with repeated response learning trials. The purpose of Study 1 was to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of single and repeated response learning trials on sight word remediation. In Study 1, one single response learning trial having one response opportunity per word was compared to one repeated response learning trial having five response opportunities. In Study 2, three single response trials were compared to three repeated response trials. In both studies, the training conditions were compared using an alternating treatments design. Measuring the cumulative number of sight words mastered showed the training conditions equally effective. However, measuring (a) the mean duration of training sessions, (b) the cumulative frequency of words mastered per session duration, (c) the mean number of training sessions per word required for mastery, and (d) the training time per mastered word showed that the single response condition was more efficient. Discussion focuses on the need to include training data when determining best practices for teaching.