The Effects of Personal Photographs on Verbal Responses to Figural Stimuli by Students with Moderate Mental Retardation: A Brunerian Approach

This study was designed to determine the effects of using personal photographs of participants as an interim curriculum sequencing step to assist three intermediate level elementary students with moderate mental retardation with the development of verb usage given the presentation of iconic (figural) stimuli (Bruner, 1960, 1966; Bruner et al. 1966). The curriculum materials consisted of four language books. Each of the first three language books contained photographs of the respective participants enacting 10 verb poses in familiar school environments. Instruction with these books constituted the independent variable. The fourth book contained figural line drawings (graphic representations) of the 10 verbs, which served as the dependent variable. A multiple baseline design consisting of three phases was implemented to analyze the intervention's effects. The results indicated that using photographs of the student had a positive effect on the development of expressive verb usage in response to the graphic stimuli.