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Abstract

Grant Number:	4R44HD042371-02
PI Name:	MACKAY, HARRY A.
PI Email:	praxis2@aol.com
PI Title:
Project Title:	Sequence Teacher: Behavioral Teaching Technology

Abstract: The SBIR application seeks support to develop and study a computer- based product attended primary for teaching children with mental retardation, autism, and other intellectual disabilities. The product addresses a critical skill repertoire involving the production of stimulus sequences. Sequence production is a pre-academic skill relevant to the development of reading, spelling, numeric skills, and concepts, as well as everyday tasks like making a telephone call or operating a vending machine. Research supported by NIH has resulted in the development of techniques that can establish sequencing skills in our target population. These techniques, however, are not readily accessible to parents, professionals and the children who might benefit. This proposal aims to fill that gap by the development of a user-friendly software product for computer-assisted instruction. The basic task involves a form of constructed matching to sample: A sample stimulus is presented to the student, who then must select two or more individual stimuli (e.g., letters, numbers) from a pool to construct a multi-element stimulus complex (e.g., letter-by-letter, number-by-number) that is related to computer screen, and the student would then select the individual letters (S, H, etc.) from an array of letters displayed at the bottom of the screen. As each letter is selected, it moves by computer animation to a position below the picture, so that the student "constructs" the world "SHIRT." The project has two major objectives First, we will adapt well-developed methods from laboratory and applied research for use by teachers, other child care professionals, and parents. Second, we will evaluate the product to determine that it can be used effectively in typical educational situations. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The product being developed and evaluated may have a significant impact on special education practice. As such, the product is potentially marketable to speech/language pathologists, special educators, psychologists, other professionals, and parents.

Thesaurus Terms:
association learning, computer assisted instruction, computer program /software, educational resource design /development, mental retardation education /training
DVD /CD ROM, autism, child with disability, computer graphics /printing, computer human interaction, computer system design /evaluation, computer system hardware, cue, curriculum, developmental disease /disorder, intelligence, interactive multimedia, learning disorder, stimulus /response, teaching
behavior test, behavioral /social science research tag, clinical research, human subject

Institution:	PRAXIS, INC.
	13 WEST ST
	BELMONT, MA 02478
Fiscal Year:	2003
Department:
Project Start:	01-JUN-2002
Project End:	31-DEC-2004
ICD:	NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
IRG:	ZRG1

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