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Teaching mentally handicapped adults how to use a cafeteria
F J Baty1, A M Michie, W R Lindsay
1Tayside Area Clinical Psychology Department, Strathmartine Hospital, Dundee, Scotland.
Journal of Mental Deficiency Research
|April 1, 1989
Summary
This study successfully taught women with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities cafeteria skills. The learned skills transferred to real-world settings and generalized to new environments.
Area of Science:
- Applied Behavior Analysis
- Intellectual Disability Research
- Rehabilitation Psychology
Background:
- Limited research exists on teaching cafeteria skills to individuals with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities, particularly those in hospital settings.
- Previous studies have not definitively established the efficacy of such training for this population with no prior experience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of teaching cafeteria use skills to three women with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.
- To determine if these skills could be generalized to real-life situations and novel environments.
Main Methods:
- A role-playing procedure was employed for training.
- In vivo assessments were conducted pre- and post-training.
- A generalization assessment was performed in a different cafeteria setting.
Main Results:
- Training proved successful in teaching the targeted cafeteria skills.
- The acquired skills demonstrated transfer to real-life cafeteria use.
- Improved performance generalized to a new cafeteria with a different operational system.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities can be effectively trained to use cafeterias.
- Skills acquisition and generalization are achievable outcomes for this population.
- This training approach holds promise for enhancing independent living skills.