The self-management of skills by persons with mental retardation.
Self-management locks in skills after external teaching, but you must still program and test generalization every time.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Castelloe et al. (1993) looked at every self-management paper they could find on people with intellectual disability. They did not run new experiments. They told the story of what was known so far.
The team asked two questions. Can people with ID keep a skill going after teachers stop prompting? Do the skills move to new places or people without extra help?
What they found
Self-management training works well as a lock. Once staff stop giving cues, the person can still do the skill by using their own checklist, timer, or counter.
Generalization is the weak spot. Most studies also kept some outside help running, so we cannot tell if the skill truly traveled on its own.
How this fits with other research
Todorov et al. (1984) showed wide generalization in kids without ID. Their self-control package moved math gains across teachers, rooms, and time. The review says we cannot count on that same travel for people with ID.
Constantino et al. (2003) later got zero aggression for one adult with mild ID using a mindfulness self-control plan. The review’s warning still holds: that success came with daily staff practice and a highly structured ward.
Simó-Pinatella et al. (2013) pulled 31 studies on motivating operations. Many used self-management with people with ID. The review’s point fits: most kept some external cues, matching the MO idea that motivation often needs ongoing support.
Why it matters
Use self-management to keep a skill alive after teaching ends, but do not drop external checks too soon. Write a generalization plan: test the skill with new staff, new rooms, and new materials. Start small, add cues back if the skill fades, and make sure the learner can read or match the self-monitoring tool. Treat generalization as a separate lesson, not a lucky bonus.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The transition of persons with mental retardation to less restrictive environments is often hindered by difficulties in managing their own behavior in the absence of external controls. This observation has led to an upsurge of interest in the advantages of teaching self-management skills to persons with mental retardation. This article reviews evidence about the effects of self-management training on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of skills. The analyses show that self-management training has been useful in promoting the maintenance of behavior change first effected by external control procedures, but that a dearth of evidence and a number of methodological problems preclude convincing conclusions about its value in promoting generalization. The empirical evidence also suggests that the effectiveness of these procedures may depend upon the cognitive and linguistic abilities of the persons receiving self-management training. Finally, the design of much of the empirical research does not enable the disentanglement of the specific effects of self-management training from those arising from the concurrent application of external control procedures. Carefully controlled componential studies of the effects of self-management training and external control procedures are sorely needed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1993 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(93)90030-n