The stability and transferability of errorless learning in children with Down syndrome

Abstract

An errorless learning procedure was used to teach discrimination to two groups of children with learning disabilities, one composed of children with Down syndrome, the other of children without Down syndrome. Both groups responded positively to errorless teaching, with the children with Down syndrome requiring fewer training trials and showing better retention of the target discrimination than the children without Down syndrome. The errorless technique proved to have little value in teaching children with Down syndrome discrimination skills per se, however, since they showed little evidence of any transfer of learning to a second discrimination task. Errorless teaching strategies may nevertheless have an important role to play in increasing motivation to learn in children with Down syndrome, being most effective when used in conjunction with conventional trial-and-error methods.