A Comparison of In Vivo and Simulation prior to In Vivo Instruction in Teaching Generalized Safety Skills

Abstract

Training conducted in vivo and and in simulation prior to in vivo were compared in two experiments teaching eight students with moderate disabilities to cross streets and to use public pay telephones. In Experiment I, a progressive time delay procedure was used to teach the two skills to four students, with the sequence of treatments and skills counterbalanced across participants. Daily probe sessions were conducted to assess the transfer of generalized responding. Experiment II was a systematic replication of Experiment I implemented with four students from a different classroom. While the results were mixed, they indicate that teaching first in simulation does not appear to either facilitate or inhibit later instruction conducted in vivo. The safety of students, individual patterns of learning, and limitations of time and money are discussed as variables in selecting instructional settings.