Article Descriptorsdistributed practice; severely handicapped; conditions of practice; massed practice; refusals to respond; domicile; motor skills; cognitive skills During training of cognitive and motor skills, the ef fects of massed, distributed, and spaced trial sequen cing were evaluated relative to performance. Eleven severely handicapped students in four isolated special education classrooms were involved. Correct, error, and refusal responses were monitored during three con ditions of training: massed, distributed, and spaced trial sequencing. An overall comparison of the three conditions of trial scheduling showed no difference in the mean level or the slope of the three types of responses. A comparison of distributed and massed trial sequencing showed only the superior effect of distributed trial sequencing for the mean level of responding. These findings were significant 1) for both correct and refusal responses for an overall comparison and 2) for students living in the home rather than in an institution. The results of this study support the ad dition of distributed trial sequencing to the technology of instruction for severely handicapped learners.
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