Time delay: a technique to increase language use and facilitate generalization in retarded children.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Developmental Disabilities Research

Background:

• Assessing environmental influences on behavior is crucial for understanding developmental disabilities.
• Food-serving procedures in institutional settings can impact resident behavior and communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of manipulated breakfast-serving procedures on food requests.
• To evaluate the efficacy of a 15-second delay as a cue for meal requests.

Main Methods:

• Six children with severe intellectual disabilities participated in the study.
• Procedures involved a baseline, a 15-second delay in tray delivery, and modeling of requests.
• Generalization was assessed across different servers and mealtimes.

Main Results:

• A 15-second delay evoked meal requests in some children.
• Modeling combined with the delay was necessary for other children.
• The delay procedure facilitated generalized responding in new contexts.

Conclusions:

• Environmental manipulations, specifically a 15-second delay, can effectively evoke meal requests in children with severe intellectual disabilities.
• The delay procedure shows potential for speech evocation and generalization of requesting behaviors.
• This strategy offers a practical approach for improving communication in institutional settings.