The present study evaluated a systematic instructional package including the system of least prompts (SLP) to teach differentiation and selection of tangible symbols to continue activities for two children with complex support needs and deafblindness (DB). A multiple probe design across three symbols was used to evaluate the intervention package…

Teaching tact and intraverbal responses based on function-feature-class to children with language delays can result in the emergence of untrained relational responses. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of compound stimuli in discriminated operants (i.e., different combinations of hear, see, touch, and taste) on the acquisition…

This paper proposes a synthesis of the science of learning into a "model" teachers can follow and apply right away in their classrooms. Recent studies in neuroscience show that that our brains appear to actively and purposefully forget most of what we learn--continually clearing out old and unneeded memories to allow us to focus on more…

Studies using hierarchical patterns to test global precedence and local-global interference in individuals with ASD have produced mixed results. The current study focused on stimulus variability and locational uncertainty, while using different attentional modes. Two groups of 44 children with and without ASD completed a divided attention task as…

Recently, there has been a transition from traditional paper or computer-based learning environments to smartpad-based learning environments, which are based on touch and involve various cognitive strategies such as touch operation and note taking. Accordingly, the use of smartpads can provide an effective learning environment through…

Stimulus equivalence-based instruction (EBI) was used to teach four, 4-member classes representing functions of behavior to ten graduate students. The classes represented behavior maintained by attention (Class 1), escape (Class 2), access to tangibles (Class 3), and automatic reinforcement (Class 4). Stimuli within each class consisted of a…

Problem Statement: Literacy skills are extremely important for all individuals, especially children with autism, because these skills provide a channel for educational assessment and learning as well as enhance vocational opportunities, promote self-expression, and facilitate independent living. Some individuals with autism cannot acquire academic…

Nosofsky (1983) reported that additional stimulus presentations within a trial increase discriminability in absolute identification, suggesting that each presentation creates an independent stimulus representation, but it remains unclear whether exposure duration or the formation of independent representations improves discrimination in such…

Despite the need for braille literacy, there has been little attempt to systematically evaluate braille-instruction programs. The current study evaluated an instructive procedure for teaching early braille-reading skills with 4 school-aged children with degenerative visual impairments. Following a series of pretests, braille instruction involved…

This exploratory study investigated the techniques used by teachers of the visually impaired when administering math questions with graphics to students with blindness or low vision. The researcher observed and videotaped 10 pairs of students with visual impairments and their teachers while the students were taking a test that consisted of 12…

With an emphasis on procedural fundamentals, the original behavior-analytic equivalence experiments and the equivalence paradigm are described briefly. A few of the subsequent developments and implications are noted, with special reference to the possible significance of the findings with respect to language and cognition. (Contains 9 figures.)

This article describes a lesson plan model that applies principles of universal design for learning (UDL) and multisensory learning centers to the framework of a traditional direct instruction spelling lesson for elementary students with learning, social, and attention problems. It reviews essential components of UDL and demonstrates how to…

Efficiency was compared between three procedures for sequencing examples with minimal stimulus variation between adjacent positive and negative examples: dynamic, static, and static with maximal differences between pairs. For young children, increasing relevant feature saliency and altering a single stimulus to generate examples reduced training…

A follow-up account of a mother's attempts to provide her blind daughter, now aged six, with knowledge of the physical world through the manipulation of three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional tactile representations. The case is made for the value of pictures to the development of children's understanding in general; and for the child who…