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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
Teaching social skills to adults with intellectual disabilities: a comparison of external control and problem-solving
Mark F O'Reilly1, Giulio E Lancioni, Jeff Sigafoos
1Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. mfmoreilly@hotmail.com
Abstract:
We compared the effectiveness of a problem-solving and an external control intervention to teach social skills to five adults with mild intellectual disabilities. The social skills of "responding to corrective feedback" and "managing conflict" were targeted for intervention. Each participant received the problem-solving intervention with one social skill and the external control intervention with the other social skill. The comparative effectiveness of the social skills training protocol was evaluated using individual participant alternating treatments designs. Little difference between the intervention protocol was observed in terms of acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of the social skills. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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