Acquisition of Complex Assembly Skills through the Use of Systematic Training Procedures: Involving Profoundly Retarded Adults

Work Activity Centers in the United States have been very prone to let their clientele attempt to learn basic industrial tasks in group settings without the use of a controlled training procedure. The usual effects have been: (a) excessively long periods of skill acquisition, (b) high variability in production techniques, (c) substantial fluctuations in product quality, and (d) preferential opportunities for those whose learning ability was least severely impaired. This report is concerned with the acquisition of skills to perform a complex industrial task by seven profoundly retarded adults using a systematic training procedure. The task consisted of inserting six different colored game pawns into a poly-bag and placing the loaded bag in a finish bin. The method described was adopted after an extended period of observation during which substantial numbers of clients were found to be unable to acquire the requisite skills through any of the various non-systematized methods of presentation. The training procedure employed three phases. The first was based on a backward chaining format and took place in a designated training area with only the trainer and a single trainee present. The second phase was based on a total task presentation in the same setting; and the third continued the total task format in the production area of the Center. Each of the five individuals who completed the training has reached the established criterion for all three phases.