Behavioral Technology for Teaching Symbolic Relations

描述（由申请人提供）：这个第二阶段项目将完成一个主要用于教学智障儿童的计算机产品的开发和研究。这个名为"SymbolTeacher"的产品解决了一项关键技能--与样本进行符号匹配--这是目前许多教授这一人群的项目的目标。在一个符号匹配任务中，学生被呈现一系列二维或三维刺激，并被要求选择与样本“匹配”的项目，因此被称为“与样本匹配”。"与身份匹配到样本的任务不同，其中匹配是基于物理身份进行的，符号匹配涉及不相同的刺激;匹配是基于指令和反馈进行的。例如，一个学生被教导将狗的图片（指涉）与印刷的单词狗（符号）相匹配;没有物理刺激属性来定义符号-指涉关系，因此，如果他或她以前没有与它们相关的经验，那么刺激中没有任何内在的东西来指导学生。该项目有两个主要目标。首先，我们将采用成熟的，广泛研究的实验室方法和软件，供家长，教师和其他专业人士使用。其次，我们将评估最终产品，以确定它可以有效地用于典型的教学情况。对这种产品有明显的需求。符号匹配为教授各种各样的辨别力、阅读准备和符号沟通技巧提供了基础。然而，许多智障儿童通过传统的教学方法并不容易（或根本）学习符号匹配。在过去的十年中，美国国立卫生研究院的大量研究资金投入导致了可以可靠地在残疾儿童中建立符号匹配的方法的发展。尽管取得了这些进展，但专业人员、家长和儿童并不容易获得相关知识和工具。我们将利用STTR的资助机制，为这种行为技术提供更广泛的使用机会。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Phase II project will complete the development and study of a computer-based product intended primarily for teaching children with intellectual disabilities. The product, "SymbolTeacher," addresses a pivotal skill - symbolic matching to sample - which is a target of many current programs for teaching this population. In a symbolic matching task, students are presented with an array of two- or three-dimensional stimuli and required to select the item that "goes with" a sample; hence the name "matching to sample." Unlike an identity matching-to-sample task, in which a match is made on the basis of physical identity, symbolic matches involve stimuli that are not identical; matches are made on the basis of instruction and feedback. For example, a student is taught to match the picture of a dog (referent) to the printed word DOG (symbol); there are no physical stimulus properties that define the symbol-referent relation, and thus nothing inherent in the stimuli to guide the student if he or she has had no previous experience with them. The project has two major objectives. First, we will adapt well developed, extensively researched laboratory methods and software for use by parents, teachers, and other helping professionals. Second, we will evaluate the resulting product to determine that it can be used effectively in typical teaching situations. There is a manifest need for the product. Symbolic matching provides a foundation for teaching a large variety of discrimination, reading readiness, and symbolic communication skills. However, many children with intellectual disabilities do not learn symbolic matching readily (or at all) via conventional instructional methods. Over the past decade, a substantial investment of NIH research funding has led to the development of methods that can reliably establish symbolic matching in children with disabilities. Despite these advances, the relevant knowledge and tools are not readily accessible to the professionals, parents, and children who would benefit. We will use the STTR funding mechanism to give broader access to this behavioral technology.