The Use of Trivial Pursuit in Teaching Community Living Skills to Adults With Developmental Disabilities

The use of gaming provides variety, motivation, and renewed interest in activities developing community living skills. In this study, Trivial Pursuit, a popular adult game, was adapted for use with 16 adults with mental retardation attending a developmental center day treatment program. Game questions were developed for six categories of independent living based on the McCarron-Dial Street Survival Skills Questionnaire (SSSQ) and Curriculum Guide. A two-group, pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the game in teaching independent living skills. An analysis of variance on the measurement scale and for the total score on the SSSQ indicated significant differences in improvement rate after eight sessions with the game. Additionally, subjects found the Trivial Pursuit format interesting and absorbing. Results suggest that the gaming approach can be a valuable adjunct to traditional independent living training programs.