Pictorial Prompts Research Articles

Children’s acquisition of new/given markers in English, Hindi, Mandinka and Spanish: Exploring the effect of optionality during grammaticalization

We investigated the effect of optionality on the acquisition of new/given markers, with a special focus on grammaticalization as a stage of optional use of the emerging form. To this end, we conducted a narrative-elicitation task with 5-year-old children and adults across four typologically-distinct languages with different new/given markers: English, Hindi, Mandinka and Spanish. Our starting assumption was that the Hindi numeral ‘ek’ (one) is developing into an indefinite article, which should delay children’s acquisition because of its optional use to introduce discourse referents. Supporting the Optionality Hypothesis, Experiment 1 revealed that obligatory markers are acquired earlier than optional markers. Experiment 2 focused on Hindi and showed that 10-year-old children’s use of ‘ek’ to introduce discourse characters was higher than 5-year-olds’ and comparable to adults’, replicating this pattern of results in two different cities in Northern India. Lastly, a follow-up study showed that Mandinka-speaking children and adults made use of all available discourse markers when tested on a familiar story, rather than with pictorial prompts, highlighting the importance of using culturally-appropriate methods of narrative elicitation in cross-linguistic research. We conclude by discussing the implications of article grammaticalization for common ground management in a speech community.

An evaluation of textual prompts and generalized textual instruction-following.

The benefit of permanent prompts depends on the extent to which their use is generalized. Previous research has demonstrated both control by and efficacy of pictorial prompts (e.g., Phillips & Vollmer, 2012). The present studies similarly evaluated stimulus control by textual prompts. Six school aged children with intellectual disabilities were taught to complete four 5-step instructional sets under the control of textual prompts. All 6 subjects showed some generalization to the final set. The results suggest that training served 1 of 3 purposes: (a) established control by the textual prompts or the ordinal sequence thereof, (b) addressed a reading deficit, or (c) addressed the lack of a motivating operation during baseline. Training a single task sequence may not be sufficient for acquisition of generalized textual instruction-following. However, establishing appropriate stimulus control by the textual prompts may facilitate acquisition of a generalized repertoire.

Effectiveness of Technology Types in Employment-Related Outcomes for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: an Extension Meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to extend a recently published meta-analysis that explored the impact of technology use to support employment-related outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by focusing on the impact of types of technology and work settings. A further analysis of the same single-subject experimental design studies conducted from 2004 to 2016 was undertaken in this study. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) scores measuring the intervention effect was used and compared across types of technology and work settings. The relationships between the types of technology and the presence of universal design features were also examined. Findings revealed significant differences in the effects of the technology use between (a) pictorial prompts and (1) auditory prompting devices, (2) desktop and laptop computers, and (3) palmtops, and (b) real and simulated work setting. Significant relationships between the presence of universal design features and types of technology were also found. Devices using pictorial prompts had a lower frequency of universal design features present while the video-assisted training, palmtops, and desktop and laptop computers group had significantly greater frequency of the use of universal design features. Overall, the effect of the use of technology seemed to differ when viewed by type of technology or by work setting. Further research is required regarding (1) technology use to promote employment-related outcomes in real work settings, (2) the effect of more sophisticated types of technology in real work settings, and (3) the features incorporated into the technology.

Effects of picture prompts on story retelling performance in typically developing children

Telling and retelling stories and facts are behavioral repertoires that are constantly recruited in social situations, no matter if these situations occur at school, with the family, or at leisure times. This study aimed at systematically evaluating if 11 first graders (age range six to seven), would perform better in retelling tasks when pictorial prompts were presented. Dependent variables were (a) number of story categories inserted in the retelling tasks and (b) number of retold words per story. The independent variable was the presentation of visual prompts during story retelling tasks. Results indicated that visual prompts did not result in consistent increase in performance when the number of story categories inserted was analyzed. Additionally, there was no consistent increase in the number of words retold when pictures were presented. Future studies should investigate whether repeated exposure to stories would result in a significant change in performance.

GENERALIZED INSTRUCTION FOLLOWING WITH PICTORIAL PROMPTS

The benefits of permanent pictorial prompts in enhancing maintenance and generalization are likely dependent on their degree of stimulus control and the extent to which their use is generalized. Although several studies on the use of pictorial prompts have demonstrated their efficacy (e.g., Pierce & Schreibman, 1994; Wacker & Berg, 1983; Wacker, Berg, Berrie, & Swatta, 1985), there is still some question regarding what ultimately controlled responding. The present study allowed an explicit examination of stimulus control by pictorial prompts. Three 4-year-old children with developmental disabilities were taught to complete 4 instructional sets (5 steps each) using pictorial prompts such that the prompts would control responding. All 3 participants showed generalization to the final set after training with 3 sets. These results suggest that training a single task sequence may not be sufficient for acquisition of generalized pictorial instruction following. However, establishing stimulus control by the pictorial prompts rather than teaching behavioral chains may facilitate acquisition of a generalized repertoire.

Establishing generalized syntactical responding in young children with autism

Many children with autism who speak tend to emit utterances of only 1 or 2 words. A multiple baseline design with changing criterion features was used to evaluate the effectiveness of training with pictorial prompts to increase the syntactical complexity and length of novel utterances by 4 preschoolers with autism. Two target sentence structures were taught; responses during probe trials matched the specific sentence structure being trained. At baseline utterances averaged 1–2 words per photograph. All children averaged 6 words per photograph following training. Variability in the number of training trials to mastery across participants was likely due to differences in entry skills. The training methods were effective for establishing one type of generative language performance in the 4 participants.

The effectiveness of picture-fading techniques in a multimedia learning system for teaching Chinese word recognition to students with multiple disabilities

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of picture-fading techniques in a multimedia learning system for Chinese word-recognition instruction. A single-subject, multiple-probe baseline design across participants was used. Three first-grade students with multiple disabilities participated in this study. The three participants received word-recognition instruction with picture-fading techniques to identify four Chinese printed words. The results of this study demonstrated that all participants could identify the four printed words correctly without the presence of known pictorial prompts. In conclusion, the use of picture-fading techniques in word-recognition instruction can function as a bridge between pictorial prompts and printed words.

Investigating the Presentation and Format of Instructional Prompts in an Electrical Circuit Analysis Computer-Based Learning Environment

Research has shown that providing instructional prompts in computer-based learning environments designed to support example-based learning fosters learning. In computer-based environments, where learners interact only with a computer and do not have access to direct support from a teacher, learners need to be provided with instructional prompts or just-in-time help intended to encourage more active example processing during learning. This study investigated whether it was more beneficial to provide the learners access to on-demand (self-regulated) help after they committed an error in problem solving or for the learning environment to regulate the presentation of instructional help externally. Furthermore, two different presentational formats-textual and pictorial-of instructional prompts were examined. This study was conducted with a computer-based learning environment that introduced high school students without any prior content-specific knowledge to the principles of parallel and series circuit analysis. Textual prompts facilitated practice problem solving notably better than pictorial prompts. Overall, textual-based prompts produced a large effect on near transfer. A significant format of prompts by academic ability interaction was discovered on near transfer. In particular, lower-ability learners scored significantly better when given textual prompts; whereas, their higher-ability counterparts performed equally well with both formats. Moreover, learners provided with externally regulated prompts reported significantly more positive attitudes toward the prompts in general compared to learners in the self-regulated conditions. Finally, continuous motivation was significantly stronger in learners who viewed textual prompts than in their counterparts in the pictorial prompt groups.

Text comprehension and its relation to coherence and cohesion in children's fictional narratives

This study investigated the relation between children's text comprehension, their ability to produce a coherent and cohesive story, and the extent to which external cues aid these aspects of narrative production. Children with reading comprehension difficulties demonstrated deficits in both aspects of story organization, relative to same‐age skilled comprehenders and younger children of equivalent comprehension ability. Their performance was poor when a topic title was used to elicit the narrative, but performance improved when stories were elicited with more informative verbal and pictorial prompts. Stories with poorer structures did not contain proportionately fewer connectives in general, but the type of connective included differed in relation to story event structure. These findings are discussed in relation to the use of coherence and cohesion in narratives and their relation to comprehension skill.

Talking pictures in working school lunches – Investigating food choice with children and adolescents

With influences on aspects of food choice originating from a number of sources and investigation requiring multidisciplinary considerations, more qualitative methods have proved effective in offering some insight into the changing role of food. These methods are particularly useful when considering food encounters and diet of both children and adolescents, as they can provide more personalised accounts of food use and social interactions than more quantitative alternatives. Pictures have previously been used to assist in food related studies, but with limitations. This paper considers the effectiveness of using pictorial prompts to initiate unstructured interviews with two sample groups of children and adolescents, highlighting an increased potential for their use in future research. Other considerations include the restrictions that are often imposed on the independent researcher in terms of time resources and limited access.

The blocking effect of pictorial prompts on sight-word reading.

This study replicates and extends previous work showing that pictorial prompts can interfere with the learning of sight words by students with moderate mental retardation. Effects of training with 6 students were assessed during five conditions using an alternating treatments design. In four conditions, words were presented either alone or with a corresponding picture. In a fifth condition, pictures were used to provide feedback. The results showed that acquisition was achieved fastest during the word-alone conditions with 5 students.

Effective use of pictures as extra stimulus prompts.

Past research on learning single words in the presence of pictures has suggested that the pictures can function as a blocking element which inhibits the development of an association between the written word and its spoken response. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the extra stimulus pictorial prompts can be arranged in a different manner which does not inhibit the learning of the words. Three presentation techniques were investigated using samples (N = 12) of kindergarten children: matching, matching with the fading of the pictorial stimulus prompts, and feedback cueing. The results showed that, in general, the best learning occurred in the absence of the pictorial prompts, that is, when the words were presented alone. In the case of the feedback cueing condition, however, this technique neutralised the blocking effect of the pictures and the performance was as good as the word-alone condition.

Prompt-aided instruction of mirror-image discriminations: Abrupt prompt removal, time delay, and self-evaluation

This study compared three types of prompt-elimination procedures for helping children respond to left-right mirror-image stimuli. Three populations participated: normally developing preschoolers, students with mild mental retardation, and students with moderate mental retardation. All subjects were first trained to discriminate the stimuli in the presence of multiple pictorial prompts. These prompts required the subjects to discriminate the compounds on the basis of orientation. Then the prompts were eliminated, abruptly, with a time-delay procedure, or with a procedure requiring subjects to use the prompts to self-evaluate the accuracy of their responses. The results showed the following. First, most subjects rapidly discriminated the compound stimuli. Second, about 50% of the subjects of each population discriminated the task stimuli even when the prompts were abruptly removed. Time delay was highly effective with the normally developing preschoolers and students with mild mental retardation, but not with students with moderate mental retardation. The self-evaluation procedure was effective with all three populations.

Establishing sound blending in moderately mentally retarded children: Implications of verbal instruction and pictorial prompting

The present study evaluated a program for establishing blending of consonants (C) and vowel-consonant (VC) syllables in moderately mentally retarded children. The study consisted of two experiments. Experiment 1 assessed whether the subjects' failure to blend was due to the task requirements per se, or to the inadequacy of the instructional terminology (“Say together”). Experiment 2 evaluated the implications of using pictorial prompts in the acquisition and generalization of C-VC blending. The data revealed that (a) adequate verbal instruction had a modest but significant effect on the subjects' blending performance (Experiment 1), and (b) training without pictorial prompts resulted in better blending of trained and untrained C-VC items than training with pictorial prompts (Experiment 2).

A computer‐aided program to supervise occupational engagement of severely mentally retarded persons

AbstractThe present study assessed a computer‐aided program devised to supervise (e.g., to prompt with the display of slides and reinforce with tokens) the occupational engagement of severely mentally retarded individuals. The program was assessed with two subjects who engaged in few constructive activities without supervision. The subjects were capable of responding to pictorial prompts. The results showed that both subjects learned to perform scheduled activities independent of staff supervision. Their performance was maintained over time and could be made progressively more meaningful with minimal staff involvement. Generalization across settings and across settings and conditions was observed. The findings are discussed in terms of program components as well as in terms of cost and benefits.

Increasing recreational behavior in mentally retarded children.

Mentally retarded children are frequently observed either to be inactive or to engage in stereotypic behaviors and isolate play. In this study, sign posting, pictorial prompts, and feedback were used to increase the recreational behaviors of 45 moderately and severely mentally retarded children. Treatment was introduced sequentially in a multiple-baseline fashion for ballplay and jungle gym activities across two school recess periods. Results showed large increases in the percentage of children participating in these activities that corresponded with the introduction of treatment. Similarly, the average amount of time the children played was roughly tripled. These gains were maintained over a 12-week follow-up period during which the pictorial prompts and feedback were gradually faded. The results demonstrate the efficacy of a simple, inexpensive, and practical way of generating higher levels of recreational play in large numbers of mentally retarded children.

Specific Aspects of Prompting and Fading Procedures in Teaching Beginning Reading

Three groups of kindergarten children received 4 training trials and a word-recognition test with 15 words in a beginning-reading task. There was a prompting-and-fading group with pictorial prompts which were gradually faded. There was a prompting-only group who received the same pictorial prompts but no fading. There was a no-prompting group, also, who were exposed to the printed words but no pictorial prompts. The prompting-and-fading and the prompting-only groups maintained few errors during training, while the no-prompting group showed high initial errors which gradually declined. The prompting-and-fading and the no-prompting groups performed similarly on word recognition after training and scored significantly higher than the prompting-only group. Lack of advantage in word-recognition skills for the prompting-and-fading group over the no-prompting group was discussed.

Paired-associate learning and formal thinking in adolescence

The development of paired-associate (PA) learning and formal thinking during adolescence was investigated with 78 sixth and tenth grade students. Group-administered tests of formal and divergent thinking were given in the tracked, classroom setting. The augmented PA treatment provided, and the minimal PA treatment did not provide, verbal and pictorial prompts. The percentages of children showing formal thinking increased and converged to the 40% mark for both high and average achievers. While the augmented treatment scores were significantly better than the minimal treatment ones, the evidence was ambiguous concerning whether there was a developmental improvement in spontaneous elaboration skills for high achievers. The hypothesis predicting PA learning to be positively related to divergent thinking, and negatively related to formal thinking, was not supported.