BEHAVIORAL TECHNOLOGY FOR INSTRUCTIONAL READINESS

This application seeks support for an STTR Phase I project to develop and study a computer software product for computer-managed evaluation and instruction with children who have severe mental retardation, autism, and other intellectual disabilities. The product is primarily targeted to those students who lack the behavioral prerequisites to participate in computer-assisted instruction or other forms of instruction with similar behavioral prerequisites (e.g., "discrete-trial" instruction). Well-developed and extensively researched laboratory methods and software will be adapted for use by parents, teachers, and other helping professionals. These methods include procedures for evaluating potential positive reinforcers, establishing consequences that provide feedback during instruction, verifying that those consequences are in fact effective as positive reinforcers, shaping appropriate responses (e.g., pointing to indicate a selection), and teaching the student to make discriminations among simultaneously presented visual stimuli. The result will be a commercially viable CD-ROM prototype with an interactive Teacher's Guide (documentation) to support implementation. The resulting prototype will be evaluated to determine that it can be used effectively in a variety of teaching situations and to compare its effectiveness to typical teaching methods used in special education classrooms and other therapeutic settings. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The product being developed and evaluated may have a significant impact on special education practice for a variety of student populations. As such, the product is potentially marketable to educators, psychologists, other professionals, and parents.