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PubMed2007

Conjunctive visual search in individuals with and without mental retardation.

A comprehensive understanding of the basic visual and cognitive abilities of individuals with mental retardation is critical for understanding the basis of mental retardation and for the design of remediation programs. We assessed visual search abilities in individuals with mild mental retardation and in MA- and CA-matched comparison groups. Our goal was to determine the effect of decreasing target-distracter disparities on visual search efficiency. Results showed that search rates for the group with mental retardation and the MA-matched comparisons were more negatively affected by decreasing disparities than were those of the CA-matched group. The group with mental retardation and the MA-matched group performed similarly on all tasks. Implications for theory and application are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Independent travel for developmentally disabled persons: a comprehensive model of instruction.

Independence and self-determination are long established goals for developmentally disabled persons. Some aspects of independence depend upon the ability to to gain access to resources in the local community. As a result, the acquisition of independent travel skills has received much attention over the years. However, most attempts to teach travel skills to this population have been limited in scope. This paper advocates a more comprehensive approach based upon the principles used to teach orientation and mobility to blind and visually impaired people.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1990

Long-term stability of equivalence relations in the absence of training or practice.

An adult male with mild mental retardation, whose laboratory history included training in a match-to-sample task on 16 arbitrary relations among 16 visual stimuli and 2 auditory stimuli, had performances that showed the development of 112 additional arbitrary relations that had never been reinforced. In the presented study on 2-year and 3-year follow-up tests for these derived relations, his performances remained stable despite the absence of opportunities to practice these relations between the tests and the absence of explicit feedback during the tests. The similarity to the long-term stability of language was discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

A comparative, descriptive study of reading and writing skills among non-speaking children: a preliminary study.

For many non-speaking. Bliss-using persons with cerebral palsy (CP), literacy skills seem hard to achieve, although their cognitive functioning and verbal reception skills would predict good reading and writing. The aim of this study was to describe literacy skills in relation to intellectual level and to level of phonological awareness, which are both considered important predictors of literacy in the speaking population. Seven disabled adolescents participated in the study. In a comparison group there were seven children matched for results on a non-verbal intelligence test and a test of phonological awareness. The subjects in the disability group performed on a lower level on reading and spelling variables than the subjects in the comparison group. The results also indicated that the spelling skills of the subjects in the disability group were more developed than their reading skills, and that spelling of words represented by photographs of well-known objects, presented visually only, seemed more difficult than spelling of words presented orally. A tentative explanation of these latter two results was proposed, namely that the phonological awareness of the subjects facilitated spelling, but that access to phonological and orthographic representation of visually presented material might be more difficult than orally presented material for non-speaking persons. The differences between the two groups also suggested that the subjects in the disabled group seemed to have difficulty in benefiting from formal literacy skills training at school.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

[Influence of actual epileptic seizures on performance and personality in epileptic children (author's transl)].

A test battery was administered to 108 brain-damaged epileptic backward children. The purpose of the investigation was to examine the influence of actual seizures (free of seizures or not) on intelligence, visuomotoric gestalt function, sensoric motoric function and personality characteristics. The two-failed t-test, discriminant analyses, regression analyses and factor analyses were computed. Most differences in performance (intelligence, visual perception, motoric function) between the diagnostic groups (free of seizures vs. not free of seizures) were statistically significant (P less than 1%); the differences in personality characteristics, however, were not statistically significant (P greater than 1%). The administered tests differentiated the two groups: 90% of the 108 subjects were correctly classified due to a clinical criterion. Motoric and perseverance variables were the most important variables of the discriminant function. Subjects without seizures scored higher than subjects with epileptic seizures. As a result of factor analyses personality variables and performance variables constituted different factors in most cases. An important exception concerning the group "free of seizures" was the variable "Pathognomic verbalization": this variable and performance variables were part of one factor. In subjects "not free of seizures", however, this variable and other personality variables clustered together in one factor.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Teaching moderately mentally retarded children basic reading skills.

The present study assessed the efficacy of a program for teaching moderately mentally retarded children basic reading skills. Central to the program were the use of a phonemic alphabet as well as the application of pictorial cueing and stimulus manipulation techniques. The program consisted of six phases. It started with the training of graphemes for vowels (Phase 1) and ended with the training of two-syllable words (Phase 6). Four moderately mentally retarded students participated. Given time constraints, not all subjects completed all phases of the program. The training ended with the reading of one-syllable three letter words for one subject, one-syllable four letter words for two subjects, and two-syllable words for one subject. Subsequent generalization tests revealed that all subjects were capable of reading untrained words of the same complexity as those previously trained; and to read and, to a lesser extent, understand simple sentences. The execution of the program required an average training time of 35 hours per subject. Aspects pertaining to the validity of the program, the efficacy of the procedures, and the relevance of the learned skills are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between functional and neuropsychological performance in early Alzheimer disease.

Twenty-four subjects with Alzheimer disease underwent cognitive and functional assessment. Functional assessment by caregivers consisted of a 25-item bipolar analog scale measuring activities of daily living and social behaviors divided into four functional domains: memory, attention/executive abilities, everyday skills, and self-care. Cognitive assessment consisted of standardized neuropsychological tests designed to evaluate five cognitive domains: episodic memory, attention/executive function, semantic memory, visuospatial function, and auditory-verbal short-term (working) memory. Functional assessment correlated well with overall severity as measured by Mini Mental State Examination (r = -0.733). Analysis of individual cognitive and functional domains revealed no significant correlation between episodic memory and functional performance. By contrast, functional ability correlated strongly with the cognitive domains of visuospatial function and semantic memory, being significantly greater than the correlation of functional ability with any other cognitive domain. These results were supported by multiple regression analyses that showed visuospatial function to be the sole cognitive predictor of functional abilities. These findings have implications for the evaluation of drug therapies in Alzheimer disease, in particular the effect of current cholinergic therapies on activities of daily living.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2005

The effectiveness of picture-fading techniques in a multimedia learning system for teaching Chinese word recognition to students with multiple disabilities.

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of picture-fading techniques in a multimedia learning system for Chinese word-recognition instruction. A single-subject, multiple-probe baseline design across participants was used. Three first-grade students with multiple disabilities participated in this study. The three participants received word-recognition instruction with picture-fading techniques to identify four Chinese printed words. The results of this study demonstrated that all participants could identify the four printed words correctly without the presence of known pictorial prompts. In conclusion, the use of picture-fading techniques in word-recognition instruction can function as a bridge between pictorial prompts and printed words.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Verbalization of appropriate and inappropriate cues in discrimination reversal learning by moderately mentally retarded children.

Effects of verbalization on discrimination reversal learning for moderately mentally retarded children were examined under three training conditions. Predicted results indicated that verbalization of both appropriate and inappropriate cues within relevant dimension significantly facilitated reversal shift performance, as compared to verbalization of only appropriate cues or non-verbalization. Results were interpreted to be due to the fact that verbalization of both appropriate and inappropriate cues actually served to utilize attentional or verbal mediators in terms of combining appropriate with inappropriate cues within relevant stimulus dimension.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Effects of modified orthography on the identification of printed words.

Research has shown that instructional methods involving pairing pictures with print interfere with identification of written words. Preliminary evidence, however, indicates that use of modified orthography (where a line drawing is superimposed upon the printed word) may be effective for reading instruction with individuals who have mental retardation. In the present study, we used a single-subject parallel treatments design with 4 adults who had moderate to severe mental retardation. They received reading instruction under two conditions--traditional and modified orthography. Results showed that traditional orthography was a more effective method for word identification. The relative advantage of modified orthography over traditional orthography for individuals with mental retardation was not supported.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Reinforcer frequency and restricted stimulus control.

Stimulus control was evaluated in 3 individuals with moderate to severe mental retardation by delayed identity matching-to-sample procedures that presented either one or two discrete forms as sample stimuli on each trial. On pretests, accuracy scores on one-sample trials were uniformly high. On two-sample trials, the correct stimulus (i.e., the one that subsequently appeared in the comparison array) varied unpredictably, and accuracy scores were substantially lower, suggesting that both sample stimuli did not exert stimulus control on every trial. Subjects were then given training sessions with the one-sample task and with a new set of four stimuli. For two of the stimuli, correct matching responses were followed by reinforcers on a variable-ratio schedule that led to a high reinforcer rate. For the other two stimuli, correct responses were followed by reinforcers on a variable-ratio schedule that led to a substantially lower reinforcer rate. Results on two-sample tests that followed showed that (a) on trials in which comparison arrays consisted of one high reinforcer-rate and one low reinforcer-rate stimulus, subjects most often selected the high-rate stimulus; and (b) on trials in which the comparison arrays were either two high reinforcer-rate stimuli or two low reinforcer-rate stimuli and the samples were one high reinforcer- and one low reinforcer-rate stimulus, accuracy was higher on trials with the high-rate comparisons. These results indicate that the frequency of stimulus control by high reinforcer-rate samples was greater than that by low reinforcer-rate samples. Following more training with the one-sample task and reversed reinforcement schedules for all stimuli, the differences in stimulus control frequencies on two-sample tests also reversed. These results demonstrate experimental control by reinforcement contingencies of which of two sample stimuli controlled selections in the two-sample task. The procedures and results may prove to be relevant for understanding restricted stimulus control and stimulus overselectivity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

High-probability stimulus control topographies with delayed S+ onset in a simultaneous discrimination procedure.

Experimenters and teachers use discrimination learning procedures to encourage reliable attending to stimulus differences defined as relevant for their purposes. Put another way, the goal of discrimination training is to establish high-probability stimulus control topographies that are coherent with experimenter or teacher specifications. The present research was conducted to investigate a novel procedure for encouraging stimulus control topography coherence. Participants were 13 adolescents with severe intellectual handicaps. During an initial Condition A, all were exposed to a simultaneous discrimination procedure. Participants could select a form alternating with a black field (S+) or an identical form that did not alternate (S-). Accuracy scores were typically low, and there was little evidence of coherent stimulus control topographies. Subsequently, the procedure was changed. During Condition B, every trial initially presented two identical nonalternating S- forms (Trial State 1). If the participant made no selection for 5 s, one of the forms began to alternate with the black field, and he or she could make the S+/S- discrimination (Trial State 2). Selections during Trial State I prolonged the delay to Trial State 2 until there had been no response for 5 s. During Condition B, S+/S- discrimination accuracy scores improved rapidly and markedly for most participants. Reinstating Condition A often resulted in diminished accuracy scores. This study thus (a) demonstrated a novel procedure for encouraging stimulus control topography coherence and (b) provided support for the interpretation that intermediate accuracy scores may be due to different topographies of stimulus control that co-occur in the same discriminative baseline.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Specificity and differences in three methods of assessing trainable mental retardates' reaction time.

The purposes of this study were to determine the specificity and differences in reaction time that exist among three manual methods of measurement. This dependent variable was measured from onset of a light stimulus until activation of a microswitch by one of the following methods: depressing or releasing a panel-mounted button or depressing a hand-held button. A rotational order of testing was implemented with 35 trainable mentally retarded subjects. Data indicated marked specificity among the three methods; reaction times were significantly faster with the depressed and hand-held methods than with the released method.

Adolescent↗