The Effects of Self-Operated Auditory Prompting Tapes on the Performance Fluency of Persons with Severe Mental Retardation

Previous research designed to reduce dependence of persons with moderate and severe handicaps on adult trainers have used various types of permanent prompting systems including picture cards, printed instructional sequences, and auditory prompting systems. Of these, recent interest has been shown in the use of self-operated auditory prompting tapes. While this application has shown promise as a tool for acquiring new skills, only minimal attention has been paid to its use for increasing performance fluency. This investigation was designed to investigate whether auditory prompting tapes could influence performance fluency. The auditory prompts successfully increased the vocational task fluency of the participants when they were exposed to musical tapes with embedded, interspersed performance cues. In addition, substantial increases in fluency occurred when the schedule of prompts was systematically altered. Decreases in stereotypic behavior of one participant also was observed. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of targeting task fluency and the need to examine other types of permanent prompting systems.