Teaching Mothers to Imitate Their Handicapped Children: Effects on Maternal Mands

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to teach mothers of children with handicaps to imitate their child's behavior and to measure the effects on the number of mands displayed by the mothers during 10-minute play sessions. The procedures for teaching mothers included telling them to imitate their child, demonstrating a verbal and motor imitation, setting a goal for the frequency of imitation, providing graphic feedback, and delivering verbal praise. These procedures were implemented within a combination multiple baseline and reversal design. A partial interval sampling system was used to measure the frequency with which caregivers imitated their child and provided mands to the child. The results indicated that (a) implementation of the teaching procedures was related to the percentage of intervals during which mothers imitated their child and (b) an inverse relationship existed between the percentage of intervals in which limitations and mands occurred (as imitations increased, mands decreased). Throughout the investigation, the mothers were not aware that mands were being measured.