Suchergebnisse

The effects of a combined neuromotor/behavioral approach on the acquisition of basic motor skills by young children with severe and multiple disabilities was examined. Two children, 17 and 24 months of age, were provided training via a microcomputer-mediated teaching system. Specific questions addressed were: (a) Do basic motor skills improve as a result of direct training using a neuromotor/behavioral approach? (b) Does generalization occur to other settings? (c) Do students demonstrate maintenance of the target skills once training has been terminated? (d) Can the microcomputer-mediated teaching system accurately reinforce and measure students' performance of the target motor behaviors? A multiple probe across behaviors design was used. Results indicated that the children increased the frequency and duration of the target behaviors in both the training and generalization settings. Maintenance of the effects was also demonstrated. These findings are discussed in light of the efficacy of using a neuromotor/behavioral training approach. Issues related to the implementation of a microcomputer-mediated teaching system in a classroom setting are also discussed.

This study investigated the generalized effects of the Guess, Sailor, and Baer (1976) language training program on the structural aspects of six severely retarded institutionalized adolescents' productive language. The subjects were studied longitudinally for periods ranging from 16 to 31 months, during which time each progressed through part of the training program. In all, a total of 73 two-, three-, and four-word syntactic forms were trained to criterion. Verbatim language samples were concurrently collected in the subjects' classrooms, dining rooms, and living units. Forty-one (56%) of the trained forms were shown to generalize the subjects' actual usage repertoires. There was a strong relationship between the length of the trained forms and generalization. This effect was shown to be related to the subjects' MLUs. Almost no change occurred in the subjects' general language abilities. Strong relationships between number of training sessions and subjects' rate of verbalization, subjects' MLUs and rate of verbalization, and diversity of speech and rate of verbalization were found. Implications of these and other results are discussed.

The effects of the Individualized Curriculum Sequencing (ICS) model on the acquisition and generalization of skills by two preschoolers with severe handicaps were evaluated using a within-subject multiple probe design across different target responses. Target skills were taught across three classroom activities and routines that occurred during the school day. Daily training trials were distributed across and within activities using the skill cluster approach. In addition, concurrent stimulus variation was programmed across multiple stimulus dimensions (i.e., trainers, activities, and materials). The results preliminarily support the efficacy of the ICS model. Criterion performance and generalization across novel classroom activities and materials were evident for four of five skills trained. The study was discontinued before training of a second skill for one subject could be completed. Prior to terminating the study, performance on the second skill was highly variable and the effect of training was negligible. Research implications are addressed.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a microcomputer-mediated motor skills teaching package in a small group training session. Two groups of three young children with cerebral palsy were provided motor skills instruction by a trainer across two conditions. Condition A consisted of a package of adaptive positioning and behavioral teaching procedures. Condition B consisted of the same adaptive positioning and behavioral procedures plus "computer assistance" and response-contingent toys. An A-B-A-B multitreatment design with across-site replication was used to compare the effects of the two training packages. Results indicated a consistent relationship between the introduction of a computer-mediated package (Condition B) and improvement in both the children's behaviors and the trainer's quality of instruction. The computer-mediated package was shown to be successful in increasing the children's general level of engagement as well as their performance of the target motor skills. Simultaneously, improvements in the consistency of immediate performance-based reinforcement and corrective feedback provided to the children by trainers were noted.