Increasing simple toy play in profoundly mentally handicapped children. I. Training to play.

The purpose of this study was to increase simple toy play in profoundly mentally handicapped children. Twenty children (mean chronological age, 14 years; mean mental age, less than 1 year) were trained to play with ordinary toys, half by a behavior modification technique and half by a control procedure. The operant training led to some increases in total toy contact but did not appear to be significantly more effective than the control technique in promoting independent constructive play. The possible reasons for the relative lack of success of the behavioral training are discussed.