2017 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 153-162
Study objective: The present study examined the generalization and social validity of a stimulus pairing procedure used to teach 2 elementary school students with intellectual disabilities to read kanji. Design: Multiple-probe design across materials. Setting: A classroom for students with special needs in a Japanese public elementary school. Participants: 2 elementary school students with intellectual disabilities. Intervention: In the stimulus pairing procedure, kanji words and spoken sounds were simultaneously presented for 2 sec, followed by corresponding pictures for 2 sec. Students were required to repeat the spoken sounds immediately. Measure: Percentage of correctly read kanji words. Results: The percentage of kanji words read correctly by both students increased during the stimulus pairing procedure and was maintained for about 10 days. In addition, the students' kanji reading skill generalized to reading sentences in a passage. Despite some individual differences, teachers' ratings of the acceptability of the intervention were good. Conclusions: The stimulus pairing procedure was effective for teaching kanji reading to elementary school students with intellectual disabilities, and it was applicable to a school setting.
