Teaching coin summation to the mentally retarded

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Individuals with intellectual disabilities often face challenges in practical financial literacy skills, such as counting money.
• Effective and efficient teaching strategies are crucial for developing essential life skills in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel procedure for teaching individuals with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities to sum the value of coin combinations.
• To assess the efficacy of a systematic training sequence involving modeling and progressive skill acquisition.

Main Methods:

• A multiple-baseline design was employed to assess the impact of the intervention.
• The training involved teaching subjects to count single coins and then sum them in combination with previously learned coins.
• The procedure utilized modeling, guided participation, and independent practice with five American coins.

Main Results:

• Subjects demonstrated a significant improvement in coin summation, increasing from a pretest mean of 29% to a posttest mean of 92% correct.
• A four-week follow-up indicated sustained skill retention, with a mean score of 79% correct.
• The multiple-baseline design confirmed that performance improvements were directly linked to the introduction of specific coin training.

Conclusions:

• The developed procedure is effective in teaching coin summation skills to individuals with intellectual disabilities.
• The intervention shows promise for practical application in educational settings, requiring approximately 5 to 6 hours of instruction.
• This approach offers a viable method for enhancing financial literacy and independence in persons with intellectual disabilities.