A comparison of the Task Demonstration Model and the Standard Prompting Hierarchy in teaching word identification to persons with moderate retardation.

Six persons with moderate mental retardation were taught to identify three words by each of two different procedures. One, the Task Demonstration Model, was a fading procedure which relied on presenting many examples of both the correct and incorrect words while systematically increasing their similarity. The other, the Standard Prompting Hierarchy, is one of the most common procedures for teaching persons with mental retardation, and relied on a least-to-most intrusive prompting hierarchy. Data were presented in three phases and show that the Task Demonstration Model produced fewer errors in (a) acquisition (4% to 14%), (b) generalization (9% to 14%), and (c) maintenance (8% to 14%). Results were discussed in terms of the fading procedure and how the Task Demonstration Model provides a simple means for teachers to improve their students' responding in acquisition, generalization, and maintenance.