The use of prompts in teaching people with a learning disability.

The thesis reviews existing research on the use of prompts in teaching people with a learning disability. The review suggests a wide range of inadequacies and omissions. Many traditional prompt types and procedures lack any adequate theoretical rationale or empirical validation. There is also a lack of empirical and theoretical work concerning the formal and circumstantial factors which may determine their effect; and concerning their combined and comparative effects. An attempt is made to remedy some of these deficits. The issues are discussed in theoretical terms from both a behavioural and a cognitive perspective. These theoretical accounts (particularly the cognitive one) are then used to suggest ways in which existing prompting practices may be refined, and to suggest some relatively novel practices. The empirical investigations tested the effectiveness of some of these practices. Evidence is provided for the effectiveness of fading response prompts; of using stimulus prompts in teaching the motor and perceptual components of tasks; and of using mnemonic devices in teaching chained perceptuo-motor skills. In the circumstances of the studies reported, delaying the prompt and instructions to recall the required information failed to have an effect. The empirical work also provided evidence that, in some circumstances, full physical guidance can be less effective than alternatives, and delaying the prompt can be less effective than fading it.