The effects of faded manual/verbal guidance, faded visual/verbal guidance, and no guidance on learning and retention of a two-hand coordination task by children with mental disabilities

Manual guidance is often an accepted method of teaching psychomotor skills to learners with mental disabilities. However, research and opinions present a conflicting and confusing picture on the efficacy and use of this methodology. The purpose of this research was to study the efficacy of manual guidance as a teaching methodology with children with mental disabilities. This research consisted of a two-phase pilot study to develop the training protocol and the primary study; for both studies the task was a simple rhythmic tapping task executed in time with an auditory stimulus.

In Phase 1 of the pilot study 11 subjects who were nondisabled attempted the task with the stimulus presented at 500, 750, and 1000 ms intervals. An analysis of the results suggested that the Hz level of the stimulus presentation did not have a significant effect on the tapping performance of the subjects. Therefore, the 750 ms intertap interval was chosen for subsequent testing because it had been used in prior research with this equipment. In Phase 2 eight of the original subjects were assigned to either a treatment group or a control group. The treatment group was taught the rhythmic tapping task using a manual guidance training program; the control group practiced the task without additional instruction. The feedback from the subjects, as well as the practice in administering the training, were used in the development of the training protocol for the primary study.

In the primary study three teaching methodologies were compared, namely (a) faded manual guidance with visual/verbal cues, (b) faded visual/verbal cues only, and (c) self-discovery. The subjects were 30 students with mild/moderate mental disabilities ranging in ages from 6 to 15 years. They were randomly assigned to one of the three teaching methodology groups. Each group participated in a pre-test, five training periods, a post-test, and a test for retention. There was no significant difference in learning the tasks among the three groups. The subjects that were trained using the faded manual guidance teaching methodology, however, appeared to benefit more from participation in their training program.