The relationship between acknowledgment and compliance in the work performance of two moderately retarded adults was examined. Specifically, observations and interventions were undertaken to determine whether increasing acknowledgment of the receipt of instructions produced concurrent increases in compliance with the instructions. Following baseline assessment, verbal prompts and token points were introduced in multiple-baseline fashion. Verbal prompts appeared to affect acknowledgment negatively but compliance positively. Token points resulted in increases in the acknowledgment of instructions for both subjects and increased compliance in only one subject substantially and only slightly for the other subject.
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