Applying a Dance Pad and Proximity Switch Combined with Positive Reinforcement to Excite Children with Intellectual Disability to Jump in Situ: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This was a preliminary study to apply a dance pad and proximity switch in combination with positive reinforcement to excite three children with intellectual disability to jump in situ. In this study, the dance pad was used to detect whether the participants performed jumping actions, and the proximity switch was used to detect whether the participants’ jumping height met the target height. At the same time, the computer control system would automatically record the number of valid jumps by the participants. During the intervention phase, the positive reinforcement was used to provide the participants’ preferred stimulus if and when the participants performed target jumps. This study adopted a single subject research design with reversal and used A-B-A-B as the research method. The experimental results showed that the three participants performed a greater number of jumps in situ during the intervention phases, compared to the baseline phases. The findings demonstrate that a dance pad and proximity switch combined with positive reinforcement was a feasible method by which to excite participants’ jumping motivation and improve their jumping ability.