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TEACHING COMPUTER‐BASED SPELLING TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL AND HEARING DISABILITIES: TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL TO WRITING TASKS
Author(s) -
Stromer Robert,
Mackay Harry A.,
Howell Sarah R.,
McVay Alison A.,
Flusser Debbie
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1996.29-25
Subject(s) - spelling , spell , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , stimulus control , cognitive psychology , audiology , speech recognition , computer science , natural language processing , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience , sociology , anthropology , nicotine , medicine
Computer‐based instruction may yield widely useful handwritten spelling. Illustrative cases involved individuals with mental retardation and hearing impairments. The participant in Study 1 matched computer pictures and printed words to one another but did not spell the words to pictures. Spelling was then taught using a computerized procedure. In general, increases in the accuracy of computer spelling were accompanied by improvements in written spelling to pictures. Study 2 extended these results with a 2nd participant. After initial training, spelling improved in the context of a retrieval task in which the participant (a) wrote a list of the names of objects displayed on a table, (b) selected the objects from a shelf, and (c) returned the objects to the table. Nearly perfect accuracy scores declined on some retrieval trials conducted without a list, suggesting that the list may have served a mediating function during retrieval. Transfer of stimulus control of computer‐based teaching to the retrieval task may have been attributable to the existence of stimulus classes involving pictures, objects, and printed words.