Effectiveness of Information Processing Strategy Training on Academic Task Performance in Children with Learning Disabilities: A Pilot Study

Table 1

PRPP Core Intervention Strategies [8].

Strategy	Definition
Intervention goal is task mastery	(i) Expected outcome is improved functional performance in everyday tasks required by the person’s occupational roles and context.
	(ii) Intervention success is measured by increased functional performance.
Application of evidence based principle of systematic instruction	(i) Goal of intervention is clear to client.
	(ii) Least to most prompt hierarchy is used.
	(iii) Multiple opportunities for practice of the task and target cognitive strategy are offered and performance errors are prevented.
	(iv) Learning occurs across natural contexts to promote generalization.
	(v) Feedback is specific to task mastery and the cognitive strategy that is the target of intervention.
Cognitive strategies are behaviorally defined and measurable	(i) Strategies required for task performance are identified using the PRPP System of Task Analysis and their effectiveness measured before and throughout intervention.
“Chunking” of strategies across all PRPP Quadrants is planned	(i) Starting with “Stop,” one or two strategies are targeted from each processing quadrant for “Sense” (Perceive Quadrant), “Think” (Recall and Plan Quadrants), and “Do” (Perform Quadrant).
	(ii) Single descriptors are not used.
	(iii) A line of processing required for the task mirrors the; definition of arrows in the center of the PRPP System of Task Analysis.
Focus of intervention is on application of cognitive strategies (descriptors) to real-world performance	(i) The descriptor behaviors form the verbal, physical, or visual prompts given during performance.
	(ii) The therapist acts as a cognitive mediator.
	(iii) The patient is taught to self-instruct in the strategies.