Increasing On-Task performance of Students with Severe Handicaps on Cooperative Games

Abstract

Frequency of on-task behavior during cooperative leisure activities was increased under two treatment conditions for two adolescents who functioned in the severe range of mental retardation. During Treatment Condition A, the adolescents were paired with each other. During Treatment Condition B, the adolescents were paired with untrained peers who demonstrated higher levels of on-task behavior. Results were evaluated within an alternating treatments with withdrawal design. During baseline, the two target adolescents demonstrated low and/or descending levels of on-task behavior. Both treatment conditions were effective in increasing the on-task behavior of the adolescents, with Treatment Condition A being slightly more effective with one of the adolescents. A withdrawal to baseline conditions resulted in a decline of on-task behavior for both adolescents, but a return to Treatment Condition A quickly reinstated the treatment effects. These results indicate that restructuring environmental conditions (i.e., pairing students together) can facilitate the on-task behavior of adolescents with severe disabilities on cooperative leisure activities.