Education Commons^™

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which behavioral intervention studies conducted with persons with mental retardation operationally defined the independent variables and evaluated and reported measures of treatment integrity. The study expands the previous work in this area reported by Gresham, Gansle, and Noell (1993) and Wheeler, Baggett, Fox, and Blevins (2006) by providing an evaluation of empirical investigations published in multiple journals in the fields of applied behavior analysis and mental retardation from 1996 –2006. Results of the review indicated that relatively few of the studies fully reported data on treatment integrity.

Several methods for evaluating the influence of antecedents on challenging behaviour have been described in the literature, however the portability of these methods within the classroom has been questionable. The purpose of this paper will be to provide a practical understanding of evidence-based practices used in the assessment and management of instructional antecedents. The importance of understanding the relationship between instructional antecedents and desired learner responses will be examined within the context of two adolescent learners with developmental disabilities who experienced challenging behaviour. (Contains 2 figures.)