This article overviews two different strategies to incorporate in teaching mentally retarded employees to maintain their work behavior. The first strategy, prevalent in the employment literature, incorporates cues produced and managed by change agents (externally-produced cues). The second strategy actively enjoins the subject in an attempt to ultimately rely upon the subject's management of his/her own behavior (externally and self-produced cues). This article reviews the value of each approach with a discussion of future areas of research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaerD. M., WolfM. M., & RisleyT. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91–97.
2.
BaileyJ. S., TimbersG. D., PhillipsE. L., & WolfM. M. (1971). Modification or articulation errors of pre-delinquents by their peers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 4, 265–281.
3.
BellamyG. T. (1976). Habilitation of the severely and profoundly retarded: A review of research on work productivity. In BellamyG. T. (Ed.), Habilitation of severely and profoundly retarded adults (pp. 54–69). Eugene, Oregon: Research & training Center in Mental Retardation, University of Oregon.
4.
BellamyG. T., HornerR. H., & InmanD. P. (1979). Vocational habilitation of severely retarded adults: A direct service technology. Baltimore: University Park Press.
5.
ConnisR. T. (1979). The effects of sequential cues, self-recording, and praise on the job task sequencing of retarded adults. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 12, 355–361.
6.
ConnisR. T., & RuschF. R. (1981). Programming maintenance through sequential withdrawal of social contingencies. Behavior Research of Severe Developmental Disabilities, 1, 249–260.
7.
CrossonJ. E. (1969). A technique for programming sheltered workshop environments for training severely retarded workers. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 73, 814–818.
8.
CuvoA. J., LeafR. B., & BurakoveL. S. (1978). Teaching janitorial skills to the mentally retarded: Acquisition generalization and maintenance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 345–355.
9.
GoldM. (1972). Stimulus factors in skill training of the retarded on a complex assembly task: Acquisition, transfer, and retention. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 76, 517–526.
10.
HellandC. D., PaluckR. J., & KleinM. (1976). A comparison of self- and external reinforcement with the trainable mentally retarded. Mental Retardation, 14(5), 22–23.
11.
IrvinL. K., & BellamyG. T. (1977). Manipulation of stimulus features in vocational skill training of the severely retarded: Relative efficacy. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 81, 486–491.
12.
JonesR. T., NelsonR. E., & KazdinA. E. (1977). The role of external variables in self-reinforcement. Behavior Modification, 1, 147–178.
13.
KazdinA. E. (1973). Role of instructions and reinforcement in behavior change in token reinforcement programs. Journal of Educational Psychology, 64, 63–71.
14.
KazdinA. E. (1973). Toward a client administered token reinforcement program. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 8, 4–11.
15.
KazdinA. E., & BootzinR. R. (1972). The token economy: An evaluation review. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 5, 343–372.
16.
KazdinA. E., & PolsterR. (1973). Intermittent token reinforcement and response maintenance in extinction. Behavior Therapy, 4, 386–391.
17.
KurtzP. D., & NeisworthJ. T. (1976). Self-control possibilities for exceptional children. Exceptional Children, 43, 212–217.
MarholinD., SiegelL. J., & PhillipsD. (1976). Transfer and treatment: A search for empirical procedures. In HersenM., EislerR. M., & MillerP. M. (Eds.). Progress in behavior modification (Vol. 3) (pp. 293–343). New York: Academic Press.
20.
MartinJ. E., RuschF. R., JamesV. L., DeckerP. J., & TrtolK. A. (1982). The use of picture cues to establish self-control in the preparation of complex meals by mentally retarded adults. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 3, 105–119.
21.
MatsonJ., & MartinJ. (1979). A social learning approach to vocational training of the severely retarded. Journal of Mental Deficiency Research, 23, 9–17.
22.
NelsonR. E. (1977). Perceptions of secondary school personnel concerning the teaching of occupational survival skills. Illinois School Research and Development, 13, 57–61.
23.
O'LearyK. D., & DrabmanR. (1971). Token reinforcement programs in the classroom: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 75, 379–398.
24.
ReddW. H., & BirnbrauerJ. S. (1969). Adults as discriminative stimuli for different reinforcement contingencies with retarded children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 7, 440–447.
25.
RimmD. C., & MastersJ. C. (1979). Behavior therapy: Techniques and empirical findings (2nd ed.). New York: Academic Press.
26.
RuschF. R. (1979). Toward the validation of social/vocational survival skills. Mental Retardation, 17, 143–145.
27.
RuschF. R. (1983). Competitive vocational training. In SnellM. (Ed.), Systematic instruction of the moderately and severely handicapped, 2nd Edition (pp. 503–523). Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill.
28.
RuschF. R., ConnisR. T., & SowersJ. (1978). The modification and maintenance of time spent attending to task using social reinforcement, token reinforcement and response cost in an applied restaurant setting. Journal of Special Education Technology, 2, 18–26.
29.
RuschF. R., & KazdinA. E. (1981). Toward a methodology of withdrawal designs for the assessment of response maintenance. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 14, 131–140.
30.
RuschF. R., & MenchettiB. M. (1981). Increasing compliant work behaviors in a non-sheltered setting. Mental Retardation, 19, 107–112.
31.
RuschF. R., MenchettiB. M., CrouchK., RivaM., MorganT., & AgranM. (1984). Competitive employment: Assessing employee reactivity to naturalistic observation. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 5, 313–325.
32.
RuschF. R., & SchutzR. P. (1981). Vocational and social work behavior: An evaluative review. In MatsonJ. L. and McCartneyJ. R. (Eds.), Handbook of behavior modification with the mentally retarded (pp. 247–280). New York: Plenum Press.
33.
RuschF. R., SchutzR. P., & HealL. W. (1983). Vocational training and placement. In MatsonJ. L. & MulickJ. A. (Eds.), Handbook of mental retardation (pp. 455–466). New York: Pergamon Press.
34.
SchutzR. P., JostesK. F., RuschF. R., & LamsonD. S. (1979). The use of contingent pre-instruction and social validation in the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of sweeping and mopping responses. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 15, 306–311.
35.
SchutzR. P., RuschF. R., & LamsonD. S. (1979). Evaluation of an employer's procedure to eliminate unacceptable behavior on the job. Community Services Forum, 1, 4–5.
36.
SkinnerB. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: MacMillan.
37.
SowersJ., RuschF. R., ConnisR. T., & CummingsL. E. (1980). Teaching mentally retarded adults to time manage in a vocational setting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 13, 119–128.
38.
StokesT. F., & BaerD. M. (1977). An implicit technology of generalization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 349–367.
39.
WackerD., & BergW. (1983). Effects of picture prompts on the acquisition of complex vocational tasks by mentally retarded adolescents. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 16, 417–433.
40.
WehmanP. (1975). Behavioral self-control with the mentally retarded. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 6, 27–34.
41.
WehmanP., & HillJ. W. (1982). Preparing severely handicapped youth for less restrictive environments. Journal of the Association for the Severely Handicapped, 7, 33–39.
42.
WehmanP., SchutzR., BatesP., RenzagliaA., & KaranO. (1978). Self-management programs with mentally retarded workers: Implications for developing independent vocational behavior. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 17, 57–64.
43.
WehmanP., HillM., GoodallP., ClevelandP., BrookeV., & PentecostJ. H. (1982). Job placement and follow-up of moderately and severely handicapped individuals after three years. The Journal of the Association for the Severely Handicapped, 7(2), 5–16.
44.
ZimmermanJ., StuckeyT., GarlickB., & MillerM. (1969). Effects of token reinforcement on productivity in multiply handicapped clients in a sheltered workshop. Rehabilitation Literature, 30, 34–41.