Assessing the acquisition and generalization of two mand forms with adults with severe developmental disabilities

The purpose of this study was to determine whether manual sign or the Picture Exchange Communication System (P.E.C.S.) (Frost and Bondy, 1994) would be more effective in teaching mand skills to adults with mental retardation in the severe and profound range. Four participants were taught to mand for four reinforcing items using both communication modalities, in an alternating treatments design. Three of four participants demonstrated criterion performance across all four mands using P.E.C.S. first. Two of those three participants later demonstrated criterion performance for the mands using manual sign. The fourth participant was removed from the study during training due to illness, but her progress indicated greater acquisition with P.E.C.S. Generalization probes conducted at participants' respective residences showed that three participants demonstrated generalization across settings using P.E.C.S., and two participants demonstrated generalization across settings using manual sign. Participants were also more likely to mand for reinforcing items not present using P.E.C.S. than using manual sign.