Learning - the process by which new skills and behaviours are acquired - is
a central concept in the understanding of mental handicap. Discrimination
learning Is specifically identified as an essential pre-requlslte for the
acquisition of a variety of more complex behaviours and skills. Many studies
have reported that severely mentally handicapped persons show a relative
inability to profit from unstructured learning experiences, and frequently
fail to learn discriminations trained through simple differential
reinforcement (trial-and-error training). Programmed training procedures are
identified as important vehicles to facilitate the discrimination learning
of severely mentally handicapped children.
An initial study is reported that confirms the superiority of programmed
over trial-and-error discrimination training, and demonstrates this
superiority is maintained over a series of similar discrimination tasks. The
results also demonstrate that stimulus fading procedures can be successfully
implemented using micro-computer technology, and that 'errorless' learning
can be effected through the sequencing and fading of trainer prompts.
However, programmed procedures are not invariably effective in teaching
discriminations to developmentally impaired persons, and failures to learn
following programmed training are not infrequently reported. In a series of
studies, some of the basic procedural parameters underlying diverse
programmed techniques were evaluated as determinants of the development (or
lack of development) of appropriate stimulus controL Increasing the
salience of S+, whether through manipulation of S+ or S-, was shown to be
more effective than increasing the salience of S-. Further, congruence
between prompt and training cue dimensions was shown to be a significant
variable affecting the outcome of training. The effectiveness of programmed
procedures was also shown to interact with task difficulty.
Finally, wide individual differences in learning within the population of
severely mentally handicapped persons have frequently been reported, and
were also observed in the present research. In a final study, individual
differences in some basic cognitive abilities and aspects of classroom
behaviour were assessed and shown to be significantly correlated with
discrimination performance.
The results are related to the literature on compound conditioning (e.g.,
Kamin, 1968) and theories of discrimination learning (Terrace, 1966;
Rescorla & Wagner, 1972; Zeaman and House, 1963, 1979), and suggest the
importance of attentlonal processes in discrimination learning. Lastly, some
educational implications of the results are discussed.
Date of Award | 1989 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | |
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LEARNING AND INSTRUCTIONAL SUCCESS IN PEOPLE WITH A MENTAL HANDICAP
Strand, S. C. (Author). 1989
Student thesis: PhD