The effects of multiple-exemplar self-instructional training on high school students' generalized conversational interactions.
Train typical peers to deliver a self-instruction script across many examples and places—students with ID quickly generalize better conversation to new peers and settings.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Four high-school students with intellectual disability got better at talking with peers.
Typical classmates learned a short script. They showed the script many times in many places.
The script taught the students to start chats, ask questions, and keep the talk going.
What they found
After peer training, all four students used the skills with new peers and new spots.
Parents and teachers said the gains were big and useful.
How this fits with other research
Weitz (1982) first showed that typical kids can tutor peers with ID. Lerman et al. (1995) added many examples and self-talk, so skills spread wider.
Meyer et al. (1987) used the same many-example plan for phone calls. Both studies got big generalization with the same design.
Adkins et al. (1997) swapped self-instruction for pivotal-response training with students with autism. Both teams saw peer-led social gains, proving the method works across diagnoses.
Gillberg et al. (1983) moved the idea to older adults in a group home. Conversation rose and lasted four months, showing the trick works at any age.
Why it matters
You do not need extra staff to grow social skills. Train two or three typical peers with a quick script. Have them practice across lunch, gym, and hallways. Students with ID talk more, and the skill sticks. Try it on Monday.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A multiple-baseline-across-students design was used to investigate the effects of multiple-exemplar self-instructional training on the acquisition and generalization of conversational interaction of 4 high school students with mental retardation. The multiple-exemplar component of the model consisted of (a) several peers without disabilities teaching the use of a self-instructional social skills strategy across diverse examples of conversational interactions and across two settings and (b) assessing the generalized effects of training across additional peers and one setting. Findings indicated that peers were effective in teaching the multiple-exemplar strategy and that peer training was associated with systematic increases in generalized conversational interactions with familiar and unfamiliar peers with and without disabilities in an additional setting. Social validation data indicated that following multiple-exemplar training, all participants' performances approximated those of general education students and was judged by others to have improved.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1995 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1995.28-201