Pj. Belfiore et W. Torozambrana, PROGRAMMING FOR EFFICIENCY - THE EFFECTS OF MOTION ECONOMY ON VOCATIONAL TASKS FOR ADULTS WITH SEVERE AND PROFOUND MENTAL-RETARDATION, Research in developmental disabilities, 16(3), 1995, pp. 205-220
Principles of motion economy were assessed with two vocational task fo
r two adults with severe to profound mental retardation. Study I asses
sed task acquisition by comparing two tasks (collating three pages, ba
gging three ribbons), one task trained using the standard job site lar
k analysis, the other trained using a motion economy-based task analys
is (requiring less total distance movement to task completion) in two
alternating treatments designs. Study 2 assessed task fluency by exami
ning the effects of the motion economy-bared task analysis on collatin
g and bagging separately across the same two adults in four reversal d
esigns. Neither task analysis was superior overall in acquisition (Stu
dy I), but once each task was mastered, the motion economy-based task
analysis enhanced fluency across both tasks for both participants (Stu
dy 2). The use of distance movement as a parameter of response efficie
ncy is discussed when targeting job performance, productivity and pref
erence.