G. Thomas Bellamy

Responding in the Presence of Nontrained Stimuli: Implications of Generalization Error Patterns

The technology of applied behavior analysis has documented impressive advances in procedures for changing behavior. Behavior change is often functional, however, only if it endures over time and is performed in nontrained situations. One approach to building a technology that meets these standards has been systematic analysis of generalization “successes.” The present paper extends this approach through an analysis of generalization failures (i.e., the patterns of generalization errors). A format is provided for categorizing the errors made in generalization situations, and linking these errors back to stimulus characteristics present during training. Stimulus control serves as the pivotal concept that directs this error analysis, and provides the bridge between infrahuman research on generalization and the broader applied issue of obtaining performance across nontrained situations. Implications of the error analysis are defined for building a technology of generalization, and for developing an effective research methodology for studying generalized responding in applied settings.

Cable Harness Construction for Severely Retarded Adults: A Demonstration of Training Technique

Three severely retarded adults were taught to construct an eleven-wire cable harness similar to those available in many sheltered workshops. Individual training was used with two trainees who required totals of 18 and 35 hours of instruction respectively before learning the task. Both the successful acquisition of this apparently difficult work task and the subsequent rates at which it was performed argue for inclusion of more severely and profoundly retarded adults in existing sheltered work programs.

Quality and Equality in Employment Services for Adults with Severe Disabilities.

This paper responds to Brown et al. (1984), who propose an extended training program involving work without pay in integrated settings for adults with severe intellectual handicaps. While agreeing about the capability of persons with disabilities, the importance of integration, and the failings of typical services, we believe that their extended training proposal represents an unnecessary retreat from values that have guided development of exemplary school and community services for persons with severe handicaps. As an extended outcome of services, the proposed program needlessly sacrifices wages and other employment benefits, distorts the benefits of integration by looking only at the workplace, and tolerates unequal treatment of citizens with severe handicaps. Relying on unpaid work as a strategy for time-limited employment preparation creates the risk of overuse and of perpetual readiness programming, suggesting that professional effort could be better spent in development of supported employment opportunities. Current federally supported employment initiatives provide a framework for combining wages and integration and offer support for local program development.

Transition Issues Facing Youth with Severe Disabilities: Parents' Perspective

At a time when the transition from school to work and community life for students with handicaps has become a major national concern, the need for information to help guide transition planning is acute. Parents of youth with handicaps are an important and frequently overlooked data source in transition planning. The present study surveyed parents of high school students with severe handicaps throughout Oregon. Parents were asked to project the service needs of their son/daughter at graduation, 5 years after graduation, and 10 years after graduation. They were also asked to rank the features of adult service programs that they desire for their children, and to describe the source of their own information about post-school opportunities and services for their sons and daughters. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for planning and developing appropriate post-school services for students with severe handicaps.

From Innovation to Standard Practice: Developing and Disseminating Behavioral Procedures

This paper proposes a three-stage continuum for discussing the development and dissemination of behavioral technology. At the level of behavioral techniques, researchers need only establish a functional relationship between technologically defined intervention procedures and socially significant target behaviors. Dissemination is conducted for informational purposes only, and the purposes and details surrounding subsequent use of the technique are left to the discretion of the user. At the level of behavioral demonstration, a collection of socially acceptable intervention procedures is refined and standardized and must be shown to produce behavior changes across a number of subjects. Here dissemination is conducted, in large part, to generate support for provision of services. At the level of behavioral models, procedural descriptions must be user-oriented. Additionally, model effects must be obtainable by agents not associated with their development and must compare favorably with other treatment or service alternatives. The purpose of dissemination at this level is to obtain adoptions and replications of the model. Details of development and dissemination of behavioral technology at each of these three levels are discussed.

The Trainee Performance Sample: Toward the Prediction of Habilitation Costs for Severely Handicapped Adults

Severely handicapped adults have often been excluded from vocational rehabilitation programs because they were not seen as feasible for ultimate occupational success. Recent training and management research has demonstrated that these adults can be quite successful with appropriate training, and a practical basis for selecting and placing them in training programs is needed. For this reason the Trainee Performance Sample (TPS) was developed to predict time required for vocational training. Preliminary data on the TPS indicate high internal consistency, reliability, and stability of scores over time and trainers. Further, correlations between TPS scores and training time and trials were above .75 in four of seven samples. Although considerably more research is needed, the TPS does appear to be a potentially useful instrument in making client acceptance and placement decisions for severely handicapped adults.

The pygmalion effect: What teacher behaviors mediate it

Current literature suggests that a teachers expectancies for a pupil may in part determine the pupils subsequent behavior. This review asks how such expectancies affect the teachers own behavior, with the goal of determining what teacher behaviors mediate the observed effect on the pupil. A model of this process is proposed, using Skinners analysis of rule-dependent behavior as an organizational framework for recent research from several fields. The model identifies these sets of independent variables which warrant further investigation: (a) variables affecting the process through which a teacher deduces contingency rules from information about a pupil; (b) variables affecting the content of these rules; and (c) variables affecting the teachers performance of the rule-specified actions.