2001 Volume 39 Issue 2 Pages 31-40
In many educational programs, devices for compensating for the communication disabilities of persons with severe mental and physical disabilities are used in order to enable them to express themselves. The present research investigates the usefulness of such support, by examining the effect of a teacher's helping students' operation of a switch-device on expectancy response. Participants were 13 persons, 19 to 54 years of age, with severe mental and physical disabilities, whose developmental age was below 10 months. Heart rate (HR) responses were recorded in the S1-S2 paradigm, where the sound of chimes and a circular red light were S1, and human intervention was S2. The S1-S2 interval was 5.3 seconds. In Condition A, the tester controlled the initiation of the S1-S2 sequence; in Condition B, the participant controlled it by operating a switch. None of the participants could operate a switch by themselves, so a teacher helped them move their hand. Participants were divided into 2 groups based on their heart rate in the S1-S2 interval: Group 1 participants' heart rate did not change in Condition A and showed a marked deceleration in Condition B; Group 2 participants' heart rates did not show deceleration in either condition. Continuous deceleration of heart rate during the S1-S2 interval reflects an expectancy response. The results indicated that in participants who showed an emotional response to human intervention, the expectancy response might be facilitated by support from a teacher.
