An evaluation of factors that influence children's instruction following.

Ellingsen et al. (2014) watched kids with intellectual disability during tabletop tasks.

They moved toys on and off the table to see what made the kids follow adult directions.

Each child got the same instruction, but the objects in sight changed every few trials.

Kids followed directions best when only the needed items were on the table.

When many toys were present, or when one set of toys went with two different instructions, compliance dropped.

The setup of stuff, not the instruction itself, drove most of the yes-or-no answers.

Wilder et al. (2020) later added prizes to the same three-step prompt package and got better results. Their upgrade shows that when objects alone are not enough, pairing the first prompt with a reinforcer can close the gap.

Planer et al. (2018) also boosted compliance by picking high-probability tasks and mixing the order. Both papers echo R et al.: change what happens before the instruction and you change the child’s response.

Harrington et al. (2006) saw the highest preschool compliance when teachers used quick, embedded “do” requests. That natural-room result lines up with R et al.’s lab finding: fewer distractions and clearer cues make kids say “okay” more often.

Clear the table before you give a direction. Leave out only the materials that go with that one task. If the child still hesitates, add a quick reinforcer like Wilder et al. (2020) or a high-p warm-up like Planer et al. (2018). This simple room reset costs nothing and can cut repeated prompts in half.