Abstract

One principle of applied research is to design intervention programs targeted to teach useful skills to the participants (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968), while structuring the program to promote generalization of the skills to the natural environment (Stokes & Baer, 1977). Proficiency in community skills (e.g., community navigation and shopping skills) allows a person more opportunity to interact independently in his/her environment. For students with significant disabilities, community-based instruction has become a curricular focal point. The use of technology may be the answer to providing an effective and efficient strategy to teach students with disabilities functional skills, such as grocery shopping, when extensive community-based instruction is not available. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a CAI program to increase the percentage of correctly selected grocery store items by the four participants with moderate to severe disabilities to assess their ability to generalize to the natural setting. The dependent variables measured included the percent of correctly selected items, the duration to select each item, and generalization from the CAI to the natural environment.

Citation

Hutcherson, K., Langone, J., Ayres, K. & Clees, T. (2004). Computer Assisted Instruction to Teach Item Selection in Grocery Stores: An Assessment of Acquisition and Generalization. Journal of Special Education Technology, 19(4), 33-42. Retrieved August 12, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/99222/.

Keywords

• Community Based Instruction (Disabilities)
• Computer Assisted Instruction
• Computer Simulation
• Daily Living Skills
• Food
• Generalization
• Intervention
• Program Effectiveness
• Retailing
• Stimuli
• teaching methods