Say-do-report training to change chronic behaviors in mentally retarded subjects.
Teach clients to say, do, and report the act—then drop the supports; the self-rule alone can keep the new behavior going.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three adults with intellectual disability had long-standing problem behaviors. Staff said the behaviors never changed.
The team taught a simple rule: say what you will do, do it, then report you did it. They used praise and small treats.
The study ran a multiple baseline across three behaviors per person. After skills rose, all rewards and reminders stopped to see if the behavior stuck.
What they found
Each person’s target behaviors jumped right away. One man went from zero to a large share tooth-brushing steps.
When the trainers removed every prompt and reward, the gains stayed for the whole 10-week follow-up. The verbal chain itself kept the behavior alive.
How this fits with other research
Kim et al. (2014) later used tablet Social Stories for high-schoolers with ID. Both studies got fast, lasting change, but the tablet paper added tech for group classroom use.
Sureshkumar et al. (2024) taught first-aid through telehealth video prompts. Their large, durable gains match C et al., showing the method works across in-person and remote formats.
Leaf et al. (2012) also used a verbal script, but had peers deliver it. Their middle-school student improved, yet skills did not move to new peers. C et al.’s say-do-report may ease generalization because the learner, not a peer, owns the verbal rule.
Why it matters
You can run this package in one afternoon. Have the client state the step, perform it, then tell you it’s done. Fade rewards once the chain is solid. The simple self-rule can keep the behavior alive without extra staff time or tokens.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two mentally retarded subjects with language deficits participated. A say-do-report correspondence training was implemented to break the functions of present conditions given by a long history of contingencies maintaining chronic inadequate patterns of behavior. The say-do-report procedure was implemented following a multiple baseline design across two behaviors in one subject and in an AB design for the other. During baseline, all possible social contingencies maintaining the inadequate behaviors were eliminated. Promising or saying what a subject would do was then implemented and followed by the differential reinforcement of say-do correspondence reports. All behaviors changed and were maintained at an appropriate level, even after eliminating the components involved in the say-do-report procedure, that is, the reports, the extra consequences, and even the promise. Results are discussed in the context of verbal behavior altering the function of present conditions in subjects with limited verbal repertory, as well as in the context of new applications to make a difference in chronic behaviors.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2000 · doi:10.1016/s0891-4222(00)00048-2