The Use of Errorless Learning Procedures in Teaching People With a Learning Disability: A Critical Review

Abstract

The use of procedures which minimise the making of errors is a popular method of teaching skills to people with learning disability. The origin of this approach can be traced to two distinct sources: the work of B.F. Skinner on programmed learning, and the work of H.S. Terrace on discrimination learning. This early work is reviewed and research findings which highlight the negative side affects of an ‘errorless’ approach are discussed. The role of prompting, attention, reinforcement and generalisation is outlined. Recommendations for the development of teaching programmes are made.

Errorless Learning in the Rehabilitation of Memory Impairment: A Critical Review

“…Those trained with errorless procedures, however, will not necessarily even be aware of the existence of the S-and therefore will probably take longer to "reverse" the contingencies. Theoretically, this suggests that EL will not show advantages over trial-and-error learning when tasks requiring contextual awareness are trained (Jones and Eayrs 1992). There is some limited support for such a suggestion, but the available literature is generally unable to provide sufficient variation to test these predictions.…”

“…Here the emphasis was on introducing skills such as letter recognition which can act as potential building-blocks for the development of more complex skills such as reading, spelling, and multiplication (Duffy and Wishart 1987;Lancioni et al 1989;Luciano 1986). It has been proposed that while EL could be valuable in teaching discriminations and unvarying associations, the EL method would be less beneficial for teaching other kinds of tasks that would require exposure to both S+ and S-in order to be successfully established (e.g., Jones and Eayrs 1992).…”

Application of Cognitive Rehabilitation Theory to the Development of Smart Prompting Technologies

“…Studies have shown errorless learning techniques to be successful in teaching information (e.g., face-name associations and how to use external memory aids) to individuals with early AD [34] and TBI [36]. Research suggests that errorless learning might be most beneficial for simple, straightforward tasks [34] and might not be as effective as trial and error for the learning of more complex information or skills, such as routines or routes [38], [39]. In addition, research on individuals with TBI [40] suggests that errorless learning might be most beneficial to people with more severe memory impairment.…”

Scaffolding feedback to maximize long-term error correction

“…There are advantages to errorless learning in individuals with memory impairments or learning disabilities (N. D. Anderson & Craik, 2006;Baddeley & Wilson, 1994;Hayman, Macdonald, & Tulving, 1993;Jones & Eayrs, 1992;Sidman & Stoddard, 1967; and see Clare &Jones, 2008, andKessels &de Haan, 2003, for reviews). But it is not clear that such errorful learning conditions have a detrimental effect in healthy young participants (Kornell, Hays, & Bjork, 2009;Metcalfe & Kornell, 2007;Pashler, Zarow, & Triplett, 2003).…”