Teaching computation/shopping skills to mentally retarded adults.

Three moderately/mildly retarded adults, ranging in age from 32 to 53 years, were trained in adaptive community skills. Behaviors identified for intervention (computational and shopping skills) were the same for all three clients. Assessment followed a multiple-baseline design across skills for each subject. The subjects were assessed in a classroom and in grocery stores in the community. Following baseline, treatment was provided that involved instructions, performance feedback, social reinforcement, in-vivo modeling, self-evaluation, and social and tangible reinforcement. Gains on both computational and shopping skills were stable or decreased during baseline, but rapid and dramatic improvements occurred soon after treatment began. Skills generalized to other stores, and these gains were maintained at a 2-month follow-up. Implications of the findings were discussed.