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Biomedical subjects

D H Reid

Publications and source records attributed to D H Reid.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Teaching persons with profound multiple handicaps: a review of the effects of behavioral research.

The behavioral research on teaching individuals who have profound multiple handicaps is reviewed. The primary focus is on determining the degree to which behavioral research has demonstrated the teaching of meaningful skills to this population. Results of the review indicate that investigations have demonstrated, albeit inconsistently, that behavior change has resulted from contingency management interventions with persons who have profound multiple handicaps. However, there is little evidence that such interventions have resulted in meaningful behavior change according to currently accepted criteria for beneficially affecting the quality of life of persons with serious handicaps. Potential explanations for the lack of such evidence are offered, including the relative lack of research attention given to this issue, the possible ineffectiveness of the components of the technology applied, and possible ineffective application of the potentially effective technology. Suggestions for future research are discussed in terms of developing more effective educational and habilitative services for persons with profound multiple handicaps. In particular, we suggest research on a wider variety of behavioral teaching procedures, providing more comprehensive evaluations of the applications of procedures and developing treatment programs that do not focus solely on traditional skill acquisition.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

Increasing habilitative services for persons with profound handicaps: an application of structural analysis to staff management.

We evaluated a structural analysis methodology for enhancing the utility of a staff management program. In Experiment 1, a structural analysis of direct-care staff behavior in a mental retardation facility revealed differences in work patterns over time. Specific times were identified when few basic care duties were necessary and staff engaged in nonwork activity. In Experiment 2, a management program was implemented to increase staff members' training activities during periods identified through the structural analysis. The program was accompanied by increases in training activities and decreases in nonwork behavior. The improvements were maintained during a 43-week period while the most labor-intensive component of the program was withdrawn. Staff acceptability measures indicated a positive response to the management intervention, although responses varied across components within the multifaceted program. The increased training was accompanied by beneficial changes among clients with profound handicaps. Results are discussed regarding practical considerations for improving staff performance and for adopting innovations resulting from applied research.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

A comprehensive evaluation of reinforcer identification processes for persons with profound multiple handicaps.

We evaluated comprehensively a preference assessment for identifying reinforcers for persons with profound multiple handicaps. Four experiments were conducted involving 18 individuals. Results of Experiment 1 replicated previous findings in that the assessment identified student preferences for respective stimuli, and caregiver opinion of preferences did not coincide with the systematic assessment. Results of Experiment 2 indicated highly preferred stimuli were likely to function as reinforcers in training programs, whereas stimuli not highly preferred did not function as reinforcers. Results of Experiment 3 suggested the 12 stimuli used in the assessment represented a comprehensive stimulus set for identifying preferences, although the utility of the set sometimes could be enhanced by caregiver opinion. Results of Experiment 4 indicated the assessment identified preferences likely to be maintained over time. Overall, results are discussed in terms of identifying limits and alternatives to a behavioral teaching technology when applied to persons with profound multiple handicaps.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Reinforcing staff performance in residential facilities: a survey of common managerial practices.

A national survey was conducted to investigate how managers in public residential facilities for persons with mental retardation attempt to reinforce work performance of direct-care staff. The reinforcement procedure reported most frequently by 460 managers was performance feedback (as opposed to monetary increments and time off). Essentially all managers reported using feedback, and virtually all of them reported that feedback was effective to varying degrees as a means of reinforcing staff performance. In response to an open-ended question regarding other procedures for reinforcing staff performance, they most frequently reported increasing staff involvement in management decision-making. Results were discussed in light of future research needs for improving staff work performance and incorporating results of management research into routine management practices.

Employee Incentive Plans↗
PubMed1990

Assessing food preferences among persons with profound mental retardation: providing opportunities to make choices.

Increased attention has been directed recently to assisting persons with severe handicaps to express preferences concerning events in their lives. We evaluated a program for assessing choice-making skills to provide opportunities for persons with profound mental retardation to express food and drink preferences. In Experiment 1, the assessment procedure involving repeated, paired-item presentations resulted in active choice making and the identification of preferences for all 5 participants. Results also indicated that caregiver opinion was not predictive of participant food and drink preferences. A survey of service providers supported the importance of meal-related choices in this population. In Experiment 2, the practicality of the assessment procedure was supported by demonstrating that (a) routine caregivers could apply the procedure with appropriate supervision to provide choice opportunities, and (b) results of the procedure were predictive of participant choices when a less structured and more normal opportunity to express a preference was provided during regular mealtimes. Results are discussed in terms of extending the developing technology of preference and reinforcer identification to other important areas for persons with severe disabilities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Effects of chosen versus assigned jobs on the work performance of persons with severe handicaps.

We evaluated the effects of several choice-related variables on the work performance of adults with severe handicaps. After assessing client work preferences, three choice-related situations were presented: (a) providing clients with the opportunity to choose a work task, (b) assigning a preferred task, and (c) assigning a nonpreferred task. Results indicated that clients attended to work tasks almost twice as much when they chose their tasks and when assigned to work on preferred tasks versus when assigned to work on nonpreferred tasks. Results are discussed regarding the need to assess systematically the effects of choice-related variables.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Improving residential treatment services: implementation and norm-referenced evaluation of a comprehensive management system.

Ensuring effective service delivery by direct-care personnel in institutional living units for persons with developmental disabilities historically has been a difficult process, despite considerable attention from researchers, service providers, and governmental regulatory agencies. In this investigation, we conducted a normative evaluation of the extent and quality of treatment services currently provided in residential living units and evaluated a comprehensive management system designed to improve such services. Results of the first experiment, encompassing 22 living units in three states, indicated that on the average two thirds of observed resident behavior did not involve any therapeutic activity. The results also provided social validity for the criteria used to evaluate the quality of treatment provision based on opinions of mental retardation professionals. Results of the second experiment indicated that a behavioral management program implemented during 23 separate time periods across five living units was accompanied by consistent and durable decreases in resident nontherapeutic activity as well as increases in specifically designated habilitative activity. The results provide support for the successful incorporation of behavioral management technology into human service settings on a large-scale, long-term basis.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1988

Community-based instruction with profoundly mentally retarded persons: client and public responsiveness.

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of a training program implemented in a community setting for teaching receptive language skills to profoundly mentally retarded persons. In Experiment 1, the program was implemented in a local department store and consisted of a least-to-most intrusive prompting paradigm and contingent consequences. The community-based training strategy was effective in teaching receptive identification of three objects to a profoundly mentally retarded adolescent. Additionally, generalized improvements occurred in other store locations, although cross-modal generalization in terms of changes in expressive skills did not occur. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 with two other clients in the same store, and in Experiment 3 with another client in an outdoor recreational area. Also, a questionnaire survey indicated that store employees in the first two experiments had very favorable reactions to the program. Results are discussed in regard to continued research with community-based training as a means of expanding educational opportunities for individuals who are profoundly mentally retarded.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Identifying reinforcers for persons with profound handicaps: staff opinion versus systematic assessment of preferences.

We evaluated a systematic means of determining stimulus preferences among seven profoundly handicapped persons. Preferences were determined by observing student approach responses to individual stimuli. Results indicated that there were differential stimulus preferences across the multiply handicapped participants. However, results of the systematic assessment did not coincide with the results of a more traditional, caregiver-opinion method of assessing student preferences. A second experiment was then conducted with five participants to evaluate whether stimuli that were assessed to consistently represent preferences would function as reinforcers in skill training programs. Results indicated that stimuli that were systematically assessed to represent student preferences typically functioned as reinforcers when applied contingently. However, preferred stimuli as reflected by caregiver opinion did not function as reinforcers unless those stimuli were also preferred on the systematic assessment. Results are discussed in terms of assisting profoundly handicapped persons by (a) improving the effectiveness of training programs by increasing the likelihood of using stimuli that have reinforcing value and (b) increasing the overall quality of life by providing preferred stimuli in the routine living environment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Expanding the impact of behavioral staff management: a large-scale, long-term application in schools serving severely handicapped students.

Experimental evaluations of behavioral staff management procedures usually have been limited to relatively small-scale demonstration studies. We evaluated a large-scale, long-term application of a staff management program designed to improve the functional utility of educational services for severely handicapped persons. The intervention, involving a brief in-service program followed by supervisory prompts and feedback, was implemented by three principals in four schools involving 21 classrooms. Implementation of the management procedures was consistently accompanied by increases in student involvement in functional educational tasks in each classroom. Further, the improved services continued throughout a 2-year follow-up period. Staff responses to a questionnaire indicated a high degree of staff acceptance of the management program. Results are discussed in terms of expanding the use of behavioral supervisory procedures from experimental demonstrations to actual adoption by existing human service agencies.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1987

Group instruction with profoundly retarded persons: acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of a remunerative work skill.

We evaluated a group instruction program for teaching a vocational skill to profoundly retarded adults. The program involved designated trainer roles and both individual student-directed and total group-directed procedures. Results indicated that, following the program, participants acquired the skill of stamping addresses on envelopes, the skill generalized across an untrained type of envelope, and the skill maintained over time. The group activity was incorporated into the regular classroom without increased disruption and the participants earned a wage for their productivity. Implications for the development of a group instruction technology for severely handicapped persons are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Naturalistic observations of classrooms serving severely handicapped persons: establishing evaluative norms.

A naturalistic, observational analysis was conducted of 43 self-contained classrooms serving severely handicapped students. The primary focus of the observations was on levels of on-task student performance and student involvement in functional educational tasks. Results indicated that during designated instructional periods, slightly less than half of all student time was spent on-task. When students were on-task, almost two-thirds of their time involved nonfunctional instructional tasks. Results are discussed in terms of establishing norms for evaluating and improving educational services for the severely handicapped. Additionally, future research directions are noted, with a particular emphasis on investigating means of assisting educators in providing more useful teaching tasks for severely handicapped students.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1985

Providing a more appropriate education for severely handicapped persons: increasing and validating functional classroom tasks.

We evaluated a teacher training and supervision program for increasing the involvement of severely handicapped adolescents and adults in functional educational tasks. The program, consisting of a brief in-service followed by supervisory prompts and feedback, was accompanied by large increases in functional tasks in three classrooms. In addition, generalized increases occurred during nontargeted times in the classroom and the changes during both the targeted and nontargeted times were maintained over a 44-45 week period. In two subsequent experiments, surveys provided social validation for the criteria for functional versus nonfunctional tasks in that: (a) relevant individuals reliably categorized functional tasks as representing typical living, work, social, and leisure situations and (b) experienced clinicians consistently rated tasks previously categorized as functional as being more useful for severely handicapped persons than tasks categorized as nonfunctional. Results are discussed in terms of the relationship of functional classroom tasks in the overall provision of appropriate educational services for severely handicapped students.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1984

A rapid training procedure for teaching manual sign language skills to multidisciplinary institutional staff.

The benefits of teaching manual sign language skills to severely and profoundly mentally retarded persons are becoming well documented. However, if these individuals are to use manual signing for functional communication, then their daily caregivers must also be skilled in the use of signs. In this study, a program for teaching signing skills to institutional personnel was evaluated. The generality of the program's effectiveness was investigated in three studies involving different groups of staff: paraprofessional direct care staff, specialty habilitation persons, and nurses. Results showed that the training program, consisting of written and verbal instructions, modeling, practice, and verbal feedback, was effective in rapidly teaching signs to all participating staff members. Also, the acquired signing skills maintained over time, the program was well received by staff, and staff used the signs in their routine interactions with institutionalized residents. Results are discussed with respect to the need to insure that handicapped individuals have a manual signing community with which to use their signing skills and to important components of effective staff training programs.

Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilitie↗
PubMed1984

Normalization of institutional mealtimes for profoundly retarded persons: effects and noneffects of teaching family-style dining.

Benefits have been reported for certain institutionalized populations when mealtimes are arranged under normal, family-style conditions. In this study, we evaluated a program for teaching family-style mealtime skills to institutionalized persons with skill deficits greater than those targeted in previous research--the profoundly retarded. Results showed that the program, involving forward chaining with a less-to-more intrusive prompting sequence and contingent reinforcement, successfully taught four profoundly retarded persons several family-style skills. Also, systematic measures supported the durability of the skills, social validity of the behavior changes, acceptance of the program by staff trainers, and no detrimental changes in health-related variables associated with food consumption. However, results also indicated that beneficial corollary changes (e.g., increased peer communication) previously reported with higher skilled populations did not occur. These results suggest that with more seriously handicapped populations, multiple changes should not be assumed when normalizing institutional conditions; rather, specific skill training will probably be necessary.

Adolescent↗