Two adults with severe mental retardation were assessed for correct pointing responses to line drawings of required eating utensils. Following tact intervention, mands for two of three utensils emerged. Results suggest transfer from tact variables to the conditioned establishing operation may be facilitated by cultivating a minimal mand…

Shows that pretraining affects cue selection and produces integration of the stimulus without affecting paired associate learning. Suggests that these findings might help to improve selection strategies of younger children in paired associate learning. (RL)

When 112 fifth- and sixth-graders were observed for their use of one of two possible rehearsal strategies in verbal discrimination learning tasks, the strategy in which the children generated a functional explanation of the word showed a positive influence on simple frequency discriminations. Data analyses also indicate that under this strategy…

Investigates the differential generalization of components within and across functional skills in teaching routines to eight severely retarded students. Finds large individual differences and significant main effects due to type of activity, with a tendency for the same components to generalize across routines. (FMW)

We examined some conditions under which a response acquired as a tact might facilitate the establishment of a mand. We taught 3 participants with developmental disabilities to tact the items ranked highest and lowest in a preference assessment and subsequently tested to see if the responses occurred as mands. All participants manded for the highly…

This paper characterizes appropriate content for drill activity, gives various cognitive levels of drill exercises, and provides ways in which to measure and report students' progress on drill activities. Drill is a method of teaching that utilizes repetition to assist students in acquiring new skills and refining existing skills. The success of…