Research findings were reviewed on the Auditory Visual Combined Discrimination Test, which can be used with severely and profoundly mentally retarded persons to assess basic position, visual, and auditory discriminations. The test was found to be reliable and predictive of client performance in classroom learning, language, and vocational tasks.…

The problem of teaching relational discriminations to people with mental retardation is examined. The limitations of several commonly used teaching procedures are discussed and alternative approaches to simple-discrimination learning are described. Results of two preliminary single-subject studies demonstrating the feasibility of these approaches…

The study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of concurrent and isolation-intermix instruction in teaching four preschool children to read common words in their environment. Concurrent instruction resulted in students learning conditional discriminations in fewer trials and minutes of instructional time suggesting the value of teaching…

A stimulus equivalence procedure for the acquisition of English and Spanish words was evaluated with two adolescents having head injuries. Following training on one task, subjects attained and maintained high scores on all matching-to-sample tasks. Results suggest the procedure is effective for teaching foreign language skills to head-injured…

A correction procedure, including interruption, physical guidance, verbal instruction, and repetition, was used to train five students with severe/profound mental retardation to reject unmatching referents to their gesture mands. Trainers are urged to assess student response when items not matching the referent of a prior request are offered.…

The study compared the task demonstration model and the standard prompting hierarchy in training 8 persons (ages 16-21) with moderate or severe mental retardation on a discrimination task. The task demonstration model was found to be superior during both training and generalization phases. (DB)

Children with mental retardation are particularly prone to failure on relational tasks such as oddity and match-to-sample, suggesting a differential sensitivity to relational information. This paper reports on several studies in which characteristics of stimulus arrays were enhanced. Results demonstrated the theoretical and practical significance…

Examines the relationship of grade level to children's ability to make musical discriminations when elements are presented simultaneously. Utilized a brief instructional period, listening tests, and singing tasks. Results indicated significant differences between grade level, types of discrimination, and musical interactions. Includes statistical…

Examines the relationship between vocal pitch accuracy and gender, grade level, and the presence or absence of an accompanying unison voice. Reveals no significant differences between unison or individual singing or for gender. Fourth and fifth graders exhibited significant differences. (MJP)