Recent research suggests that the effects of social skills training programmes are often not evident outside the training setting. Correspondence training has been advocated as a means of overcoming this problem, although few studies have demonstrated its effectiveness. Three intellectually handicapped adults were given social skills training. At other times, generalisation was tested during conversations with staff. Subsequent to mastery in the social skills training setting, behaviours that did not occur at criterion in the generalisation setting were selected for correspondence training. After correspondence training was introduced, targetted behaviours increased in frequency in the generalisation setting. These increases were maintained during follow-up sessions, which took place 1 month after the training programme ceased. The effects of correspondence training are examined in the context of previous reinforcement history, accuracy of reporting, and verification of performance in unobserved settings.
This study evaluated methods for empirically identifying environmental determinants of aggressive and disruptive behavior in three developmentally delayed children. A variety of sessions conducted on an inpatient treatment unit were designed to simulate contingencies maintaining aggression and disruption in the subjects' natural environments. The basic analog conditions included: 1) instructional demands, 2) contingent social disapproval, and 3) structured play. In addition, variations of the three basic conditions were developed based on informal observation and parental reports of naturally occurring contingencies. Results showed considerable variability both between and within subjects. However, for each subject a specific analog condition was shown to produce relatively higher rates of aberrant behavior. Subsequently, behavioral treatments based on assessment results were successfully implemented with two of the subjects. Results are discussed in terms of the importance and practical limitations of conducting systematic assessment of aberrant repertoires in developmentally delayed clients.
Direct care staff play critical roles in contributing to the successful community adjustment of individuals with developmental disabilities. The current shortage of qualified personnel for these positions, however, will hinder future community integration efforts, particularly as individuals with more intensive needs attempt to live in the community. Improvements, both in the training of staff and in the pay and other incentives they receive, are needed. One response to this growing need is associate degree training that is being provided by a few community colleges and technical schools throughout the country. This article briefly describes the implementation and major components of such a program now being offered through Wisconsin's Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education System. Developed in response to local needs and representing an ongoing collaborative effort among the academic, advocacy, and service communities, the program also illustrates an important role the University Affiliated Facility can play in promoting exemplary training.
Recently, much interest has centered on the transfer of mentally handicapped people from institutions to other settings. Most studies in this area have focused indirectly on the behavior of the mentally retarded client, usually measured intermittently by global assessments such as the American Association On Mental Deficiency's Adaptive Behavior Scale. In contrast, the present study combined these indirect measures with direct continuous observation of each subject. In doing so, it examined the effects of such a transfer to small community-based homes on the behavioral functioning of severely and profoundly mentally handicapped adults. In addition, staff activity, in terms both of providing opportunities for engagement in activity and of consequating client behavior, was also measured. Two comparisons were made, those being between a group of clients in a small home and a comparable group in institutions and between the latter group when in the institutions and after having moved to a small home. Results show increased client functioning in the small homes, particularly in domestic activity and interaction with staff, and a markedly higher level of staff provision of opportunity to engage in activities. The results are discussed in terms of size, design, staff-client ratio, and staff training in small community-based residential services. The need for more research on the determination of staff performances is highlighted.
Characteristics and competencies for four staff positions in community residences for individuals with mental retardation were identified utilizing multiple empirical and deductive methods with field-based practitioners and field-based experts. The more commonly used competency generation methods of expert opinion and job performance analysis generated a high degree of knowledge and skill-based competencies similar to course curricula. Competencies generated by incumbent practitioners through open-ended methods of personal structured interview and critical incident analysis were ones which related to personal style, interpersonal interaction, and humanistic orientation. Although seldom included in staff, paraprofessional, or professional training curricula, these latter competencies include those identified by Carl Rogers as essential for developing an effective helping relationship in a therapeutic situation (i.e., showing liking, interest, and respect for the clients; being able to communicate positive regard to the client). Of 21 core competency statements selected as prerequisites to employment for all four staff positions, the majority (17 of 21) represented interpersonal skills important to working with others, including responsiveness to resident needs, personal valuation of persons with mental retardation, and normalization principles.
Four mentally retarded adolescent females participated in a program for assessment and training of independent menstrual care skills. Three task analyses served as the basis for instruction: (a) menstrual stain on underwear, (b) menstrual stain on a sanitary pad, and (c) menstrual stain on both sanitary pad and underwear. During individual training sessions, subjects were taught to perform correct sequences via simulation training with a small doll, in which a trainer utilized instructions, praise, modeling, and corrective feedback. Three types of assessment probes were conducted prior to training, upon completion of specified mastery criteria, and during post-training follow-up sessions. Doll probes assessed performance with the toy doll, self-probes assessed naturalistic performance but under conditions of stimulated menstruation, and in vivo probes assessed performance during actual menstruation. Results of a multiple baseline analysis indicated that subjects emitted few correct responses during baseline probes, but showed consistent improvements that corresponded to the introduction of training. Generalization to untrained skills was noted with all subjects. Follow-up assessments indicated maintenance of skills for periods up to 30 weeks following termination of training.
Interpersonal problem-solving skills of 17 mildly mentally retarded and two groups of nonretarded subjects (Ns = 30) matched on mental age (MA) and chronological age (CA) were assessed, utilizing a series of hypothetical problem-solving situations. Results indicated similarities between mentally retarded subjects and MA-matched nonretarded subjects both in types and number of strategies produced. Nonretarded CA-matched subjects, on the other hand, exhibited a wider range of problem-solving strategies and increased use of strategies thought to reflect higher levels of social understanding.
Behavioral effects of intrainstitutional relocation of adults with mental retardation were evaluated over a 12-month period using two independent methods of measurement and a multiple baseline across two relocating groups and one matched control group. Clients grouped together on the basis of relatively high levels of aggressive or destructive behavior exhibited an increase in social isolation following relocation. However, as a whole, relocation effects were subtle and individualized in nature. Behavior adjustment following relocation and methods for avoiding “transition shock” following rapid environmental change are discussed.
A naturalistic, observational analysis was conducted of 43 self-contained classrooms serving severely handicapped students. The primary focus of the observations was on levels of on-task student performance and student involvement in functional educational tasks. Results indicated that during designated instructional periods, slightly less than half of all student time was spent on-task. When students were on-task, almost two-thirds of their time involved nonfunctional instructional tasks. Results are discussed in terms of establishing norms for evaluating and improving educational services for the severely handicapped. Additionally, future research directions are noted, with a particular emphasis on investigating means of assisting educators in providing more useful teaching tasks for severely handicapped students.
The Neonatal Network, a model program for interagency service coordination for primarily indigent, minority very-low-birth-weight infants and their families is described. The Neonatal Network has been an effective service delivery coordination system and training mechanism that should be applicable and easily replicable in other communities with the same or different target populations.
Results of a survey of 23 state conducted family support programs are presented. Sixteen programs are legislatively mandated and the majority have a similar purpose: reduction of out-of-home placements. However, great variability exists on eligibility criteria, methods of program administration, amount of support, and types of services provided. Program evaluation data are reviewed indicating that cost-benefits, decreased rates of out-of-home placement, and effects on family enhancement are primary concerns of these programs. Implications for future program development based upon normalization philosophy and stress/coping theories are presented.
In the present study, a behavioral program for training feeding skills was evaluated using a multiple-baseline experimental design. Six hospitalized mentally retarded-behaviorally disordered children served as subjects. Three groups of two subjects each were instructed in three feeding skills: chewing with mouth closed, appropriate utensil use, and appropriate napkin use. Training consisted of praise for appropriate display of target behaviors; on occurrence of inappropriate behavior, the following sequence was carried out: 10-second time-out; instruction in appropriate behavior including modeling and manual guidance; and behavioral rehearsal. Results indicated positive behavior change in training sessions and in immediately succeeding sessions during which training was withheld. Furthermore, behavioral gains were judged to be clinically significant by a group of independent observers. Modest generalization and maintenance of training effects were also evidenced.
It is argued that self-injury should be conceptualized within accepted diagnostic schemes prevalent in the United States and abroad. This approach is viewed as having several benefits including better and more clearly emphasizing to practitioners the nature of the problem by inclusion in DSM III and related diagnostic systems that are readily available in applied settings. It is believed that encorporating self-injury more clearly as a diagnostic entity would also have the result of further legitimizing it for reimbursement by third party payers who routinely use DSM III categories. Additional issues pertaining to the relationship of self-injury to diagnosis a are discussed.
The efficiency of three discrimination training procedures was compared for mentally handicapped children trained on a shape discrimination presented via a micro-computer. Each of three groups received one of the following training procedures; (1) graded stimulus fading; (2) graded prompt fading, a procedure approximating behavior modifications prompting techniques; (3) trial-and-error training. The stimulus fading and graded prompting procedures were equivalent in terms of the number of steps and criteria for fading. Results showed the two programmed techniques did not differ significantly, but both were significantly superior to trial-and-error learning in terms of number of children reaching criterion, number of trials to criterion, and numbers of errors. The training procedures were continued for subjects from each of the three groups for an aditional two problems, followed by a trial-and-error test problems. Over the additional training problem the pattern of differences between the groups in number of errors remained significant, however differences between the groups in number of trials to criterion decreased. There were no significant differences in any of the measures on the trial-and-error test problem. Results are discussed in relation to the literature on errorless learning techniques, and the implications for applied training procedures are elucidated.
The role of reinforcement in reactive self-monitoring was investigated. Subjects for this study were three mentally retarded adults employed in a sheltered workshop. Changes in productivity rates in a party hat assembly task across experimental conditions (reinforcements, self-monitoring, and self-monitoring plus reinforcement) were evaluated. Findings showed that while reinforcement alone increased productivity, it was to a lesser degree and with less consistency than when combined with self-monitoring. In addition, self-monitoring alone did not increase productivity. These results support the Rachlin and Nelson and Hayes hypotheses that reactive effects of self-monitoring are dependent upon environmental contingencies. The results also showed that self-monitoring increases the salience of reinforcement.
One-hundred and twenty-four mentally retarded persons with behaviors suggestive of epilepsy were monitored with an 8-channel radiotelemetered electroencephalograph-video recording system (TEEG-VR). Target behaviors were identified by the clinical description of the primary care providers before the TEEG-VR sessions. Whenever possible, the known antecedents of those behaviors were replicated. The target behaviors were considered epileptic when they were observed simultaneously with epileptiform EEG patterns, and pseudoepileptic when nonepileptiform patterns were observed. Twenty persons were classified as epileptic, 50 as pseudoepileptic, 11 as both epileptic and pseudoepileptic, and 43 as inconclusive. Among the pseudoepileptics there were 15 with abnormal EEGs and 4 with epileptiform EEGs. The most frequent topographies of behavior were not significantly related to diagnosis. These included myoclonus, eye blink, head drop, cessation of ongoing activity, and hand and arm automatisms. The diagnosis of epilepsy in mentally retarded persons, on the basis of clinical description, interictal EEG, and medical history, may be inaccurate. TEEG-VR is extremely useful for obtaining a definitive diagnosis of each target behavior.
The acquisition of productive intraverbal behavior involving the emission of thematically related responses was evaluated. Three mentally retarded children participated in this study and a multiple-probe design was used in training productive intraverbal behavior (three stimulus classes). Training was conducted using an errorless discrimination procedure (prompt delay) and a variation of this to transfer vocal responses from control of visual stimuli (tact behavior) to verbal stimuli (intraverbal behavior). Reinforcement probability was equal for correct responses prior to and following a prompt and incorrect responses were ignored. Acquisition criteria were reached when subjects emitted 80–100% correct responses and more than four different responses per session during three consecutive sessions. These criteria were achieved in all three subjects. Prompt delay procedure (a) produced no incorrect responses, (b) decreased acquisition criteria slightly over time. (c) produced responses generalization during training, and (d) increased comprehensive intraverbal behavior after training productive intraverbals. Variations in prompt delay procedure produced the same results except (a) a low rate of errors and (b) chaining of different responses per trial appeared when an additional prompt was implemented.
