The study investigated relationships between type of prompt and type of task by teaching 32 mentally retarded adults two tasks (visual discrimination and a motoric assembly task) using two types of prompts (gestural and physical guidance). Results failed to support either the traditional response prompts hierarchy or the existence of a prompt-task…

The study compared the effectiveness of a traditional training procedure (least-to-most restrictive prompt sequence) and a prescriptive training procedure (utilizing ongoing behavioral assessment data to identify discriminative stimuli) with four severely/multiply handicapped students (ages 11-19). Results indicated both procedures were effective…

In an A-B design with replication, the efficacy of a behavioral training program for teaching two mildly retarded six-year-old children intermittent self-catheterization skills was demonstrated. Component skills were task-analyzed and trained via a graduated prompting procedure. (Author/DB)

Four nonverbal autistic boys (ages 11-16) were successfully taught sign language action-object phrases following an intervention composed of prompting, fading, stimulus rotation, and differential reinforcement. The skill generalized to new situations. (Author/DB)

A series of investigations was conducted with three severely retarded nonspeaking subjects to teach use of a pictorial communication device. Although none of the subjects acquired the skill as a result of the 6-week "prompt-free" intervention, one subject acquired the skill after a modified "verbal prompt-free" intervention was used. (Author/DB)

The effects of three interventions (peer initiation, reinforcement, and prompting) delivered by nonhandicapped students (4th graders) on the social initiation behavior of untrained peers toward a student with severe handicaps were examined. Results indicated the prompt procedure produced the highest levels of positive social initiation from…

Results of a "loose training" prompting tactic to teach an autistic 11-year-old boy to initiate interactions with his peers resulted in increased spontaneous interactions (1) with training peers in nontraining, generalization sessions and (2) with nontraining peers in generalization sessions. (Author/DB)

Six retarded young adults were trained to select grocery items using picture cards as cues and to reject either (1) maximally different negative examples or (2) minimally different negative examples. Training with minimally different negative examples was functionally related to improved rejection of nontrained negative items in a nontrained…

Five congenitally blind children (ages 5-8) were trained to simultaneously employ appropriate gaze direction and sitting behavior while conversing with an adult. Training consisted of discussion, modeling, physical prompting, feedback, and positive reinforcement. All children reached criterion in 19 to 25 training sessions. (Author/DB)

Comparison of two strategies--manual guidance only and manual guidance plus verbal prompts--with 6 students (ages 9 to 19) whose multiple disabilities included total blindness and severe mental retardation found that prompting methods that require shifting verbal information to the performance of a manual task may interfere with the learning of…