Trained, Generalized, and Collateral Behavior Changes of Preschool Children Receiving Gross‐motor Skills Training

Abstract

Three preschool children participated in a behavioral training program to improve their grossmotor skills. Ten target behaviors were measured in the training setting to assess direct effects of the program. Generalization probes for two gross-motor behaviors, one fine-motor skill, and two social behaviors were conducted in other settings. Results indicated that the training program improved the gross-motor skills trained and that improvements sometimes generalized to other settings. Contrary to suggestions in educational literature, the gross-motor training program did not produce changes in fine-motor skills or social behaviors. Implications for educators and for the development of the technology of generalization are outlined.

Gross‐motor Skill Acquisition by Preschool Dance Students Under Self‐instruction Procedures

“…Furthermore, for 4 of 6 participants, it took fewer sessions to reach mastery criterion with the self-instruction procedure than without it. Previous studies have demonstrated that selfinstruction can improve performance of various complex tasks (Duarte & Baer, 1994;Fjellstrom et al, 1988;Grote et al, 1996;Kirby & Holborn, 1986;Risley & Hart, 1968;Rogers-Warren & Baer, 1976). The present study demonstrated that self-instruction could increase the acquisition rate (mean number of sessions to the mastery criterion) of new complex gross-motor chains.…”

“…Previous studies have not routinely presented a direct measure of this response (Duarte & Baer, 1994;Fjellstrom et al, 1988;Freidling & O'Leary, 1979;Grote et al, 1996;Guevremont et al, 1988;Higa et al, 1978;Kirby & Holborn, 1986). Of those studies that measured the self-instruction response, several presented group measures (Higa et al;Risley & Hart, 1968;Rogers-Warren & Baer, 1976), and only one measured individual responding (Grote et al).…”

“…A question raised by these studies was the extent to which verbal behavior served as a discriminative stimulus Kirby & Holborn, 1986) or as a reinforcing stimulus (Meacham). Alternatively, verbal behavior could be an irrelevant response (Miller et al).…”

“…Several studies have experimentally tested the function of speech for nonverbal behavior of children and have produced mixed results (Calkins & Tharp, 1984;Higa et al, 1978;Meacham, 1978;Miller et al, 1970). A question raised by these studies was the extent to which verbal behavior served as a discriminative stimulus Kirby & Holborn, 1986) or as a reinforcing stimulus (Meacham). Alternatively, verbal behavior could be an irrelevant response (Miller et al).…”

“…Although research has addressed effects of self-instruction, most studies have been limited to fine-motor behavior (Calkins & Tharp, 1984;Miller et al, 1970;Risley & Hart, 1968), and only a few have examined gross-motor behavior (Kirby & Holborn, 1986;Meacham, 1978;Merriman, Barnett, & Isenberg, 1995). In addition, researchers in various fields have addressed motor-skills development and training, but previous research has not systematically examined the effects of self-instruction on the acquisition of gross-motor chains in preschool children (Cech & Martin, 1995;Drowatzky, 1981;Fitts, 1964;Schmidt, 1975Schmidt, , 1982Singer, 1968).…”