Programs to teach sexual abuse prevention skills to persons with mental retardation have rarely been evaluated empirically, and typical evaluations are limited to assessment of the participants' knowledge rather than their performance of specific skills. In the present study, 6 adult women with mental retardation were trained in sexual abuse prevention, and performance was assessed using four separate measures: pretests and posttests of knowledge, verbal report, role play, and naturalistic probes. All women learned the skills but failed to exhibit them to criterion during the probes. We discuss the implications for further training and assessment of sexual abuse prevention skills.
Resurgence may be defined generally as the extinctioninduced recurrence of previously learned response patterns. Understanding the conditions under which this phenomenon occurs has theoretical, clinical, and applied implications, particularly with respect to a related area of research on responseclass hierarchies. In the current study, we examined resurgence with 2 participants who exhibited response-class hierarchies consisting of various topographies of severe problem behavior maintained by positive reinforcement. Baseline levels of responding were maintained by brief access to tangible items. In a second condition, reinforcement was produced by an alternative topography of severe problem behavior, and the initial topography was extinguished concurrently. When the reinforcement contingency for alternative behavior was removed, previously reinforced topographies recovered. This resurgence was specific to behavior that recently produced the reinforcer, which suggests that the recovery was not simply extinction-induced variation or emotional responding. The clinical implications of the results are discussed and related to results that have been produced in the laboratory by a variety of methods.
Significant advancements have been made in the development of procedures to systematically identify preferred stimuli that may function as reinforcers for persons with developmental disabilities. Indirect assessment procedures include care provider and client interviews, whereas direct assessment procedures involve systematically exposing participants to stimuli while recording their responses. These types of direct assessment procedures can be categorized as either approach-based or engagement-based. Approach-based procedures involve recording the individuals' approach responses to stimuli presented singly or concurrently with other stimuli, whereas engagement-based procedures involve recording duration of engagement with stimuli. Although the predictive validity of indirect preference assessment procedures has yet to be established, using them in combination with direct measures of preference may be most efficacious for identifying potential reinforcers. Recent research on preference assessment procedures used with persons with developmental disabilities is reviewed and the variables that one might consider prior to selecting which procedure to use in a given situation are discussed.
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