To decrease student off-task behavior during instruction, the training environment is typically altered to limit the degree of sensory stimulation present in the ordinary classroom environment. For students with multiple disabilities (i.e., mental retardation and visual or hearing impairment), this restricted training environment may exacerbate problem behaviors and reduce learning acquisition. This study compared the effects of background music versus no background music on problem behaviors displayed by a female adolescent with multiple disabilities, including mental retardation and blindness. The studentís competing standing up and stereotypic behaviors were measured during music and no music research conditions, utilizing a reinforcement test format. Analysis of data showed less stereotypic behaviors and no standing up during the music condition compared to the no music condition.
|Presenter:||Angela Kennelly (Undergraduate Student)|
|Time:||1:55 pm (Session III)|