Training Independent Arrival Behaviors to a Severely Mentally Retarded Child

Abstract

The present investigation sought to teach a sequence of arrival behaviors to a severely mentally retarded child living in an institution. The sequence consisted of three behavior clusters: walking to the building from the school bus, locating the bedroom and depositing a schoolbag and coat, and locating and entering a playroom. A multiple baseline design with a reversal component was used. In multiple baseline fashion, pacing prompts were introduced on selected sub-tasks in two of the three behavior clusters, with a resulting increase in independence in arriving home from school. Withdrawal and reintroduction of the pacing prompts, representing the reversal component, unequivocally established that increases in independent arrival behavior were attributed to the pacing prompts.