Systematic observation of classroom behavior of retarded and autistic preschool children.

Two groups of 6 children, previously diagnosed as autistic and mentally retarded, were observed for seven 20-minute sessions. The following environmental parameters were manipulated: teacher-to-child ratio, presence of food reinforcement, and skill area being presented. Behavior under observation fell into 3 classes: (a) adaptive performance (percentage response and percentage correct), (b) attention, and (c) maladaptive behavior. Results suggested that (a) food reinforcement and the 1:1 teacher-to-child ratio may not generally enhance adaptive performance but may have an effect upon attention and tantrum behavior; (b) attention to task is more predictive of adaptive behavior than attention to teacher; and (c) interactions were generally lacking between the above parameters and diagnostic group, while level of functioning did show such interactions. The present results support the practice of individual behavioral assessment of autistic and retarded children. The present procedure, coupled with statistical analysis for individual subjects, may provide educational prescriptions for individual children.