Four students (ages 10-14) with moderate mental retardation learned chained tasks with constant time delay and with the system of least prompts. Both strategies produced criterion-level performance; however, constant time delay was more efficient than least prompts in terms of number of sessions, percent of errors, and direct instructional time to…

Variations of backward chaining--backward chaining with leap-aheads (BCLA) and reverse chaining with leap-aheads (RCLA)-- were compared with four severely retarded learners (17-32 years) who were trained on two complex vocational tasks. Learning rate for the BCLA procedure was superior to the RCLA procedure. Time to criterion differences were…

A 20-year-old institutionalized nonverbal male with Down's Syndrome was trained via total task chain training, verbal prompts, and self-reinforcements to acquire skills of a busperson at a community restaurant. The S acquired and performed skills at a situationally appropriate rate. (CL)

The study with four adults with moderate and severe mental handicaps found that both backward and concurrent chaining training strategies were equally effective in teaching use of a fast food restaurant and a supermarket. (Author/DB)

The characteristics of the skill clusters involved in community living response chains were studied, focusing on the length of the chain, the response classes contained in the chain, and the implicit variations within the chain. Instruction of response chains can be enhanced through consideration of the stimulus control strategies used.…

Sequence errors may be reduced by allowing students to perform a chained task in any functional order. This study, involving four elementary-aged students with moderate intellectual disabilities, found that tasks taught with functional procedures were acquired in fewer sessions, in less time, and with fewer errors than tasks taught in a specific…

In a study which taught four high school students with severe handicaps to use a commercial washing machine and laundry soap dispenser, a concurrent chaining strategy was found more efficient than forward chaining in facilitating skill acquisition. Concurrent chaining also resulted in better maintenance at four- and eight-week follow-up…

The study with four pairs of developmentally delayed preschoolers found a slight but discernible advantage of using the time delay procedure rather than the increasing assistance procedure to teach complex, chained-response self-help skills. Considerable learning also resulted solely from the observation of instruction. (Author/DB)

The handbook describes a method of teaching communication skills to students with severe disabilities (severely and profoundly retarded, trainable mentally retarded, autistic, deaf blind, and severely multihandicapped). In the interrupted behavior chain procedure, a routinized activity in a natural setting is interrupted and the child is taught to…

Acquisition, discrimination, and review training were used to teach four severely retarded adolescents to tell time to the nearest 5-minute interval. All subjects acquired the target behavior, and three of four maintained appropriate responses after 8 weeks. Discrimination errors and the social relevance of the skill are discussed. (Author/JW)

Three severely retarded adult males were taught to use a side-of-the-foot soccer pass, using a nine-step stimulus-response chain. Intensive physical prompts were provided initially, then systematically faded. The three trainers achieved the no-prompt criterion after 24, 29, and 22 sessions, respectively. (Author/JW)

Three adolescents with moderate mental handicaps were taught bedmaking skills through a technique which involved dividing the entire chain into sections, teaching the first section in a total cycle fashion, and adding instruction on subsequent sections in a forward chaining manner. The technique promoted skill acquisition and substantial…

The effectiveness of simultaneous prompting, an instructional procedure which involves presenting the task direction and immediately providing the controlling prompt, was evaluated with four young adults with severe intellectual disabilities. Daily probe sessions assessed acquisition of the target behavior. Results indicated the procedure was…

This training manual is designed to instruct work supervisors and skills trainers of the hard-to-employ disadvantaged in the effective utilization of behavioral reinforcement principles for overcoming difficult, frequently encountered training problems. One of its primary focuses is how to train for job-required behavioral skills such as…

The effectiveness of a five-second time-delay procedure to teach three chained food preparation behaviors to four moderately retarded adolescents was evaluated within a multiple probe design across behaviors. The skills maintained over a three-month period and generalized from school to home for subjects completing the generalization probe…