STIMULUS CONTROL SHAPING AND RELATIONAL LEARNING IN MENTAL RETARDATION

本申请寻求对关系的五年研究的支持 歧视学习过程中的个人与严重到中度 智力残疾。 总体目标是完成 制定一套有效的、综合的程序化方法， 向我们的受试者群体教授关系歧视。 工作 在第一个赠款期内取得了实质性进展 朝着这个目标前进。 此外，它还带来了有前途的新教学方法 广义身份的第一个实例（相同/不同）， 任意（符号）匹配样本的个人谁不学习 标准的教学程序。 我们的研究结果还指出， 到刺激控制过程， 过去的工作。 下一个赠款期拟议的研究将采取后续行动， 进一步分析这些过程。 项目1的具体目标是： (1)确定已经证明的程序的关键特征 有效的教学关系歧视;（2）确定是否 新开发的编程程序，用于教授身份匹配， 样本可以适应于教导任意匹配;（3）评估 样本刺激控制整形的有效性（即，逐步取得 形式刺激特征的变化） 刺激刺激关系的个人谁不学习这样的 （4）制定评估程序， 潜在地最大化样品成形程序的效率， 预先测试，根据经验确定每个程序的有效程序步骤， （5）开始巩固样品成型 评估和教学程序变成一个自动化，计算机管理 教学大纲。

This application seeks support for a five-year study of relational discrimination learning processes in individuals with severe to moderate intellectual disabilities. The overall goal is to complete the development of an effective, integrated set of programmed methods for teaching relational discriminations to our subject population. Work accomplished in the first grant period has made substantial progress toward this goal. Further, it led to promising new methods for teaching the first instances of generalized identity (same/different) and arbitrary (symbolic) matching-to-sample to individuals who do not learn with standard teaching procedures. Results of our studies also pointed to stimulus control processes that had been only poorly appreciated in past work. Studies proposed for the next grant period will follow up and further analyze these processes. The Specific Aims of Project 1 are to: (1) identify the critical features of procedures that have proven effective in teaching relational discrimination; (2) determine whether newly developed programmed procedures for teaching identity matching to sample can be adapted to teach arbitrary matching; (3) evaluate the effectiveness of sample stimulus control shaping (i.e., making gradual changes in formal stimulus characteristics) for teaching arbitrary stimulus-stimulus relations to individuals who do not learn such relations readily; (4) develop assessment procedures that could potentially maximize the efficiency of sample shaping programs by pretests that empirically determine the effective program steps for each subject individually; (5) begin to consolidate the sample shaping assessment and teaching procedures into an automated, computer-managed program of instruction.