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Biomedical subjects

D E Mithaug

Publications and source records attributed to D E Mithaug.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Effects of picture referencing on PVC chair, love seat, and settee assemblies by students with mental retardation.

This study examined the effects of two indirect corrective feedback procedures on the assembly skills of five secondary students with moderate mental retardation. Picture and video referencing conditions, during which the experimenters pointed to a picture or video screen following a performance error and requested the student do the step again, were more effective than assembly photographs, sequenced pictures, sequenced pictures and modeling, and video modeling conditions. Picture referencing enabled each participant to independently assemble a 13-step, 31-piece chair that required assembly of 45 loose, assembled, or loose and assembled parts. Following the introduction of picture referencing across two more complex tasks, four students independently completed more complex love seat and settee assemblies in fewer trials than required during their initial chair assembly. This article discusses the self-correction and self-management implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

The relation between choosing and working prevocational tasks in two severely retarded young adults.

This study investigated the relation between prevocational preference, as measured by the client's selection of a task object, and the work that followed that choice. After selecting a task object, the clients worked a task previously assessed to be more or less preferred than the one indicated by the object. The results indicated that when the selection represented a task that was less preferred than the one actually worked, choices for that object increased on subsequent trials. Conversely, when the selection represented a task that was more preferred than the task subject actually worked, choices for the object decreased on subsequent trials. The work that followed object choices reinforced or punished subsequent selections. These findings indicated that the clients' object choices were valid indicators of their preference for working different tasks. They were also consistent with Premack's principle that one class of responses may reinforce or punish a different class of responses for the same individual.

Achievement↗
PubMed1978

The validation of procedures to assess prevocational task preferences in retarded adults.

Three severely retarded young adults between the ages of 19 and 21 years participated in a prevocational training program, and worked regularly on six different tasks during the scheduled six-hour day. The study attempted to assess each subject's preferences for the six tasks: collating, stuffing, sorting, pulley assembly, flour-sifter assembly, and circuit-board stuffing. In Phase I, the procedure consisted of randomly pairing each task with all other tasks in a two-choice situation that required the subjects to select one task from each pair combination to work for a seven-minute period. The selection procedure consisted of presenting two representative task objects on a tray and requesting the subject to pick up one object and place it on the work table. The object selected represented the task worked for that period. The 15 possible pair combinations were presented randomly every two days for a period of 34 days to determine the preferences. During the validation phase (Phase II), each subject's least- and most-preferred tasks were paired separately with moderately-preferred tasks. As expected, these manipulations confirmed the baseline data, as choices for the moderately-preferred tasks decreased when consistently paired with the preferred tasks and increased when consistently paired with the least-preferred tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Employing task arrangements and verbal contingencies to promote verbalizations between retarded children.

This study investigated the effects of arranging task events for interdependence, to increase the probability of social responding. During task interdependence, the subjects, participating in dyads and a four-person group, obtained task materials (a puzzle piece) from their partner before completing their task (appropriately placing the puzzle piece). The verbal contingency required a verbal request to precede a subject's receiving a task material from his partner. The verbal contingency yoked with task interdependence made task completion contingent on the appropriate verbalization. The findings from two experiments suggested that task interdependence was sufficient to increase partner-directed verbalizations for three of the four subjects. When the verbal contingency was added, all subjects increased their requests and other verbalizations to partner. Applied to a four-person group, the verbal contingency yoked with varying levels of task interdependence correspondingly affected the pattern and level of group communications. The greater the task interdependence, i.e., the more members each subject depended on to complete his task, the more complex the social network of verbal contacts, and the higher the level of both requests and other verbalizations for the group.

Behavior Therapy↗