Comparison of sight word training procedures with validation of the most practical procedure in teaching reading for daily living.

The effectiveness and efficiency (training trials and training errors through criterion) of stimulus fading, stimulus shaping, time delay, and a feedback only procedure were compared in teaching three adults with moderate developmental delays sight words encountered in activities of daily living. In Experiment 1, the four procedures were assessed during training in a controlled environment to identify the most effective and efficient procedure for each participant. All three adults acquired the target words, and the four procedures were found to be of comparable efficiency in total training sessions, whereas individual differences were found in training errors to criterion. In Experiment 2, the feedback only procedure was used to teach the three participants sight words in community settings. Participants learned new words in the community settings and used the previously trained words in daily living activities. The benefit of conducting a preliminary evaluation of instructional procedures during controlled training is discussed.