Teaching behaviorally handicapped preschool children to share.

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Behavioral Interventions
• Special Education

Background:

• Preschool children with behavioral handicaps and developmental delays often struggle with social skills like sharing.
• Effective interventions are needed to improve social competence in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a specific training package for enhancing sharing behavior in preschool children with behavioral and developmental challenges.
• To analyze individual components of sharing and associated negative interactions.

Main Methods:

• A multiple-baseline design across three pairs of children was employed.
• Training involved instructions, modeling, behavioral rehearsal, prompts, and praise during free play.
• Individual sharing and non-sharing responses were monitored.

Main Results:

• Five out of six children showed substantial increases in sharing behavior.
• Components of sharing (offers, requests, acceptances) all improved with training.
• Negative interactions showed a trend towards decrease, with opposing play being the most prevalent negative behavior.

Conclusions:

• The Barton and Ascione (1979) training package is an effective intervention for improving sharing in preschool children with behavioral and developmental handicaps.
• Individual differences influence responsiveness to training, with implications for tailored interventions.
• Findings support the use of this intervention to foster positive social development.