Evaluating the Replicability of Flexible Prompt Fading for Teaching Tacts

The present study examines the effectiveness of prompt fading in teaching self-questioning strategies to enhance reading comprehension among upper elementary students with learning disabilities. Grounded in the Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983), this technique systematically reduces external support, enabling students to apply cognitive strategies independently. Despite its theoretical promise, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of prompt fading in reading interventions remains limited. To address this gap, a single-case study was conducted with three multilingual students with learning disabilities (aged 8–10) in an inclusive elementary school in Germany. Using an expository text comprehension task, they were guided through a structured prompt fading procedure to develop self-questioning skills. Results demonstrated substantial improvements, as measured by effect sizes, and hierarchical piecewise linear regression. These findings support the assumption that prompt fading is an effective tool for fostering independent questioning skills in upper elementary students with learning disabilities and diverse linguistic backgrounds. Further research should explore its applicability in various educational contexts.

B.F. Skinner’s 1958 paper, Teaching Machines, had a powerful influence on my own and many others’ approach to designing instruction. The key features of teaching machines included: a focus on student recall, instead of simple recognition; promoting progress in small steps to enable student understanding; ensuring continuous interaction with the program; making certain, through shaping and fading of prompts, that the right answer is given; and reinforcing correct responding through immediate feedback.. Skinner also taught us to incorporate a specific set of features while designing our instruction. Although a few practical issues, such as time and cost, required our adjusting a few of those features, we have been able to adhere to the most critical ones. Those applications have accelerated learning and performance among an extraordinarily large cohort of students.

The investigation tested the effectiveness of machine instruction in the teaching of spelling to a sample of fifty-four secondand third-grade students. All subjects were located in the same school, and groups were formed on the basis of spelling achievement matching. The analy sis of variance statistical technique was employed in the treatment of the data. Although no differences were found in main effects (i.e., machine versus teacher), a differ ential (Interaction) effect was found at the .002 level of confidence. Further analysis revealed that: (1) on the third-grade level, the machine had proved more effective (.01 level of confidence) than the traditional method, and (2) on the second-grade level the traditional method had produced significantly more achievement (above the .01 level) than the machine method. The strength of the reversal is strongly suggestive of an age level below which this type of machine instruction loses its effectiveness. EDUCATORS, learning theorists, and laymen have greeted the appearance of the teaching ma chine in the nation's schools with varying degrees of enthusiasm. In some quarters the machines receive almost unqualified support; in others, they are as cordially condemned. One of the more commonly heard objections to the use of machine instruction is that the ma chine forces learning to proceed only in small steps and requires highly uniform performance. As spelling is a school content subject that re quires procession in small steps through memori zation and repetition, it appears that this subject may be uniquely suited for machine instruction. In addition to the fact that teaching machines incorporate attributes believed to be necessary in the teaching of spelling, research findings re lated to spelling in recent years indicate a definite need for improved methodology in this sub ject area. Experimental research involving machine instruction with spelling content would seem to represent a logical and promising line of investigation. The presently reported project was begun with the investigator's development of a detailed se quence of spelling lessons for machine use in grades two through six. The experiment was con ducted as a test of the effectiveness of segments of the machine program appropriate for use by second and third graders. The Spelling Program The spelling program developed for use in the present study was designed to teach the student to spell words on paper after hearing them pro nounced. The 1,998 words included in the pro gram were taken from those listed for grades two through six in Improving Your Spelling Pro gram.1 The words were re-organized into groups that were similar in spelling or pronunciation and were ordered within groups according to complexity. Only noun plurals were omitted in the construction of the program. Part I of the program (1,002 words) includes one-syllable words only; and Part II (996 words) includes two, three, and four syllable words. Each part is divided into four units. Unit I in each part con tains words that are spelled as they sound. Unit II of both parts contains words with double conso nants. Unit III of both parts contains words with double vowels, and Unit IV contains words that are not spelled as they sound. In all of the units the words are in groups of five. Isofar as possible, words of similar sound and spelling are grouped together. In preparing the program, the investigator ob served the fundamentals of programmed instruc tion but made no attempt to adhere to any par ticular programming doctrine. The resulting pro gram is classified as linear in that only one pre determined series of responses is required of the student. Reinforcement is provided with each written response, and the possibilities of error have been minimized insofar as is consistent with the fading of prompts. The program was prepared for use with a mag This content downloaded from 157.55.39.46 on Sat, 11 Jun 2016 07:07:32 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Behavioral Relaxation Training (BRT), a set of 10 overt postural behaviors taught directly by prompting and performance feedback, was used to establish selfcontrol of hyperventilation and seizures in a profoundly retarded epileptic boy. Additional treatment components included positive reinforcement and fading of prompts. The frequency of hyperventilation episodes, and seizures which directly followed hyperventilation, decreased at home and school by more than 50%. Followup data, collected each of 6 months, indicated maintenance of therapeutic gains. Further, social validation at home, school, and with a neurologist indicated satisfaction with the procedures and outcome. Thus, behavioral relaxation training can be effectively employed with profoundly retarded clients. And reduction of preseizure behavior in an epileptic child can result in the subsequent reduction of seizure activity.

Whenever a fixed series of steps must be learned, the question arises as to the order in which they should be brought to mastery and any prompts used in the lesson withdrawn. Reinforcement theorists argue that responses in a chain should be mastered in retrogressive order, but experiments have not supported this argument. Furthermore the argument ignores the differential practice of responses which retrogressive chaining entails. It is proposed that the differing extent to which responses should be practised is indicated by the classical serial position effect. Fading of prompts should proceed from the middle to the ends of the chain. For retention of series of complex instructions, this fading sequence is superior (in terms of re‐learning errors) to retrogressive fading.

Chapter 9 - Effective Use of Computers in Instruction

Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by social deficits. These social deficits are pronounced and include responding abnormally to social stimuli, such as smiles, eyes and faces. This study sought to examine responsiveness to social stimuli during free choice between social interaction and solitary play. Two persons diagnosed with ASD who displayed social deficits participated in this study. During the free choice assessment, two sets of identical play materials were available, one set on each side of the room. On the social side, an adult who interacted with the participant was present. On the non-social side, an adult was present but she did not interact with the participant. Preference for social interaction was obtained as was the quality of social behavior emitted by the participant. Then a free-operant social preference assessment was used to identify social reinforcers. Prompt fading and a script was used to train social interactions with an adult. The preferred social stimuli were used as reinforcers during this training. Pre assessment sessions indicated that the participants did not engage in complex social interactions and there was a variety of preference for social interactions. Post-assessment sessions indicated the emergence of social skills that were not previously present and the emergence of a preference for social interactions in one of the participants.

Students with LD who struggle with reading comprehension can benefit from instruction on how to read strategically. One strategy that has been demonstrated to increase reading comprehension is self‐questioning. In this study, two fifth graders with LD were taught to self‐generate questions using a prompt fading procedure. The participants were provided with expository reading passages with embedded questions. As each participant demonstrated proficiency with answering the embedded questions correctly, the embedded questions were systematically faded and replaced with a prompt for the students to generate their own questions. A multiple baseline across participants design demonstrated that the self‐questioning intervention resulted in improvements in reading comprehension for both students. Additionally, the students demonstrated evidence of maintenance and generalization of reading comprehension outcomes.

Prompt fading methods are widely used to teach conditional discriminations to learners with developmental disabilities. To date, very little research has investigated the relative effectiveness of the various prompt fading methods described in the literature. Furthermore, learner preference for these instructional tactics has rarely been evaluated. The present study compared the relative effectiveness of three prompt fading methods (most-to-least with an embedded constant time delay, least-to-most, and progressive time-delay) to a control condition. Three boys with autism participated in the study. Two met mastery during the prompt fading assessment (one in progressive time-delay, and one in least-to-most prompting). In a subsequent concurrent chains preference assessment, both participants indicated a preference for the fading method that had been most effective. Considerations for practitioners when selecting prompt fading methods as well as procedural parameters warranting further investigation are discussed.

Errorless Learning (EL) is an effective learning method that can be applied for the rehabilitation of IADL in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Prompt fading is one of the key concepts in order to successfully apply the EL. However, issue of the prompt dependence has not been satisfactorily solved. The aim of the study is to propose an adaptive prompt system using a shadowing approach (Ghost shadowing) based on the model of "sense of agency" to deal with this problem. In this paper, we present a prototype system as well as the result of the assessment test for the quality of the sense of agency in order to validate the subjective aspect of the proposed approach as a preliminary study.

Selective mutism is the term used to describe a disorder in which a person speaks only in restricted stimulus situations. Examination of single-subject research concerning selective mutism reveals the most popular and successful interventions to instate speech involve a combination of behavior modification procedures. The present research utilized exclusively positive reinforcement with fading of prompts to increase the verbal communication of a selectively mute 12-year-old, sixth-grade boy. The treatment increased the student's verbal communication with three adults in three different settings.

The present study proposed implementing an intervention plan aimed at fostering social skills and functional independence in two siblings diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) within the school context. Participants were assessed using standardized instruments (BDI-2, Vineland-3, and PAC), along with systematic observation during daily school routines. The intervention integrated strategies based on the TEACCH and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approaches, incorporating visual supports, modeling, positive reinforcement, and the gradual fading of prompts. A mixed-methods explanatory approach was applied through a multiple case study with an AB design, in which Phase A corresponded to the baseline assessment and Phase B to the implementation of the intervention program. The results demonstrated significant improvements in autonomy, appropriate participation in activities of daily living, comprehension of instructions, and increased attention spans during task performance. Additionally, a progressive reduction in the need for support from the shadow teacher was observed, along with greater emotional stability in response to changes in routine. Active family involvement facilitated the generalization of skills and reinforced the observed gains. It is concluded that structured, context-based interventions developed in collaboration with the school and family environments constitute an effective strategy for strengthening independence and adaptive skills in children with ASD.

The Effects of Prompt Fading and Self-Checklist on the Independent Transition for Student with Severe Disabilities in Inclusive Middle School

A comparison of two prompting procedures for teaching basic skills to children with autism

This study compared flexible prompt fading to an error correction procedure involving feedback and remedial trials for teaching four children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Using a parallel treatment design nested into a multiple probe design, researchers taught each participant how to expressively label six pictures of Muppet characters with the flexible prompt fading procedure and six pictures of Muppet characters with the error correction procedure. The researchers evaluated the effectiveness, maintenance, efficiency, and acquisition during teaching for each participant across the two teaching conditions. Results indicated that both teaching procedures were effective, resulted in high rates of maintenance, and that participants responded correctly during the majority of teaching trials. However, flexible prompt fading was more efficient in terms of total number of trials and sessions, as well as total amount of time for participants to learn all targeted skills.