Psychology
in
the
Schools
Volume
20.
April,
1983
A
PROCEDURE FOR TEACHING SELF-RECORDING
TO MODERATELY RETARDED STUDENTS
KENNETH
W. HOWELL,
ROBERT
RUEDA,
AND ROBERT B. RUTHERFORD, JR.
Arizona
Sfare
University
After briefly reviewing the topic of self-control instruction
for
retarded students, this
article describes a self-recording training procedure. Five moderately retarded
adolescents
were
taught
to
self-record a training behavior. They were then expected
to
generalize the self-recording behavior to idiosyncratic behaviors. Subject-observer
agreement is reported, along with monitoring effect on the idiosyncratic behaviors.
It is commonly recognized that a major defining characteristic of mental retardation
is a depressed level of adaptive behavior (Grossman, 1977). Therefore, a large body of
research on mental retardation has focused on increasing the social competence of men-
tally retarded individuals (Greenspan, 1979; Simeonsson, 1979).
Applied behavioral analysis procedures have been used extensively to successfully
remediate academic as well as social behaviors in mentally retarded individuals (Bates
&
Wehman, 1977; Thompson
&
Grabowski, 1977; Whitman
&
Sciback, 1979). These ap-
proaches have traditionally relied upon external control agents such as teachers,
custodial staff, parents, etc. More recently, however, increased emphasis has been placed
upon self-directed behavior change procedures with mentally retarded and other excep-
tional children (Kurtz
&
Neisworth, 1976; Mahoney
&
Mahoney, 1976; Meichenbaum,
1977, 1980; Rueda, Rutherford,
&
Howell, 1980; Rutherford, Howell,
&
Rueda, 1982).
Several investigators have successfully taught self-control procedures to mildly
retarded adolescents (Horner
&
Brigham, 1979; Knapczyk
&
Livingston, 1973) and to
moderately retarded adults (Helland, Patuch,
&
Klein, 1976; Nelson, Lipinski,
&
Black,
1976).
Self-control has been conceptualized as the result of several combined subskills.
These subskills include self-recording and self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-
reinforcement (Kanfer
&
Karoly, 1972). Self-monitoring skills are considered essential
to self-control, as they are indicative of students' awareness of their own behavior and
their sensitivity to changes in that behavior. It is unlikely that anyone (retarded
or
otherwise) could learn to control their behavior without first being aware of that
behavior.
Litrownik, Frietas, and Franzini
(1
978) successfully taught moderately retarded
adolescents to use self-recording procedures to monitor their own behaviors with accept-
able accuracy levels. Zegiob, Klukas, and Junginger (1978), on the other hand, reported
very low accuracy in self-recording activities with a similar population. It is probable
that methodological differences (e.g., length of self-recording sessions, number of en-
vironmental cues to self-monitor, etc.) between these studies may account for the dis-
crepant results in self-recording accuracy. continued use of self-regulatory procedures,
especially in academic settings, will require further demonstration of the utility and
feasibility
of
these procedures with moderately retarded students. Documentation of
acceptable self-recording accuracy is considered an essential first step in this process.
Self-recording is distinct from self-monitoring in that the cue promoting the
recorded behavior is external. In self-monitoring, the subject decides when to record and
Requests
for
reprints should be sent to Kenneth
W.
Howell, College of Education, Dept. of Special Educa-
tion, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287.
'This project was supported with funds received
from
a Faculty Research Grant from the College of
Education of Arizona State University. In addition, the second author received support from
N.1.M.H.-M.H.
Fellowship 15972-03, Ford Foundahon Grant 780-0639A, and Carnegie Grant DC15 Dept. 0684.
202
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