The effects of training using tactile (physical guidance), visual (modeling), auditory (verbal instructions) prompting, and a combination of all three methods were compared by teaching vocational rehabilitation clients the construction of four assembly tasks. Clients learned to assemble a movie projector, a carburetor, a bicycle brake, and a lawn mower engine on four successive days by the four prompting methods in a counterbalanced design. Using auditory prompts alone resulted in significantly more time to criterion and total errors than the other three methods. Tactile, visual, and combination prompting methods were not significantly different. Retention data indicated no difference among the four methods, but in a relearning phase, the auditory prompting method again produced more errors to acquisition.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
MosherP. M., & ReeseE. P. (1976, April). Task difficulty as a variable in teaching word recognition by fading and non-fading procedures. Paper presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, New York.
2.
AndersonR. C., & FaustG. W. (1974). Educational psychology: The science of instruction and learning. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Company.
3.
AzrinN. H., SchaefferR. M., & WesolowskiM. D. (1976). A rapid method of teaching profoundly retarded persons to dress by a reinforcement-guidance method. Mental Retardation, 14(6), 29–33.
4.
BaerD. M., PetersonR. F., & ShermanJ. A. (1967). The development of imitation by reinforcing behavioral similarity to a model. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 10, 405–416.
5.
BanduraA., & KupersC. J. (1964). Transmission of patterns of self-reinforcement through modeling. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 69, 1–9.
6.
BanduraA., & WhalenC. K. (1966). The influence of antecedent reinforcement and divergent modeling cues on patterns of self-reward. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 373–382.
7.
CoreyJ. R., & ShamowJ. (1972). The effects of fading on the acquisition and retention of oral reading. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 5, 311–315.
8.
DixonL. S., SpradlinJ. E., GirardeauF. L., & EtzelB. C. (1974). Facilitating the acquisition of an “in-front” spatial discrimination. Acta Symbolica, 5, 1–21.
9.
DorryG. W. (1976). Attentional model for the effectiveness of fading in training reading-vocabulary with retarded persons. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 81, 271–279.
10.
DorryG. W., & ZeamanD. (1973). The use of a fading technique in paired-associate teaching of a reading vocabulary with retardates. Mental Retardation, 11(6), 3–6.
11.
EgelandB. (1975). Effects of errorless training on teaching children to discriminate letters of the alphabet. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 533–536.
12.
FoxxR. M., & AzrinN. H. (1973). Toilet training the retarded. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
13.
GoldM. W. (1972). Stimulus factors in skill training of the retarded on a complex assembly task: Acquisition, transfer, and retention. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 76, 517–526.
14.
GoldM. W. (1973). Factors affecting production by the retarded: Base rate. Mental Retardation, 11(6), 41–45.
15.
GoldM. W., & BarclayC. R. (1973). The effects of verbal labels on the acquisition and retention of a complex assembly task. The Training School Bulletin, 70, 38–42.
16.
GollinE. S., & SavoyP. (1968). Fading procedures and conditional discrimination in children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 11, 443–451.
17.
HollandJ. G., SolomonC., DoranJ., & FrezzaD. (1976). The analysis of behavior in planning instruction. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley.
18.
KarrakerR. J., & DokeL. A. (1970). Errorless discrimination of alphabet letters: Effects of time and method of introducing competing stimuli. The Journal of Experimental Education, 38, 29–35.
19.
KazdinA. E., & EricksonL. M. (1975). Developing responsiveness to instructions in severely and profoundly retarded residents. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 6, 17–21.
20.
LevyS. M., PomerantzD. J., & GoldM. W. (1977). Work skill development. In HaringN. G., & BrownL. J. (Eds.), Teaching the severely handicapped (Vol. II). New York, N. Y.: Grune & Stratton.
21.
ReeseE. P. (1977). Human behavior: Analysis and application. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Publishers.
22.
SidmanM., & StoddardL. T. (1966). Programming perception and learning for retarded children. In EllisN. R. (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation (Vol. 2). New York, N. Y.: Academic Press.
23.
SidmanM., & StoddardL. T. (1967). The effectiveness of fading in programming a simultaneous form discrimination for retarded children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 10, 3–15.
24.
StriefelS., & WetherbyB. (1973). Instruction-following behavior of a retarded child and its controlling stimuli. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 6, 663–670.
25.
Sulzer-AzaroffB., & MayerG. R. (1977). Applying behavior analysis procedures with children and youth. New York, N. Y.: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
26.
TateB. G., & BaroffG. S. (1967). Training the mentally retarded in the production of a complex product: A demonstration of work potential. Exceptional Children, 33, 405–408.
27.
TerraceH. S. (1963). Discrimination learning with and without “errors”. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 6, 1–27.
28.
TouchetteP. E. (1968). The effects of graduated stimulus change on the acquisition of a simple discrimination in severely retarded boys. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 11, 39–48.
29.
WallsR. T., ZaneT., & EllisW. D. (in press). Forward chaining, backward chaining, and whole task methods for training assembly tasks. Behavior Modification.
30.
WhitmanT. L., ZakarasM., & ChardosS. (1971). Effects of reinforcement and guidance procedures on instruction-following behavior of severely retarded children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 4, 283–290.
