A Review and Critical Examination of the System of Least Prompts. (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shepley, Collin; Lane, Justin D.; Ault, Melinda Jones
• Is Part Of: Remedial and special education. Volume 40:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 313
• Page End: 327
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: system of least prompts -- least-to-most prompting -- response prompting -- publication bias -- single-case design; Special education -- Periodicals; Learning disabilities -- Periodicals; 371.905
• DOI: 10.1177/0741932517751213
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0741-9325

Abstract

We systematically reviewed more than 25 years of applied research examining the system of least prompts response prompting procedure with individuals with disabilities. We identified 123 peer-reviewed studies including 413 participants receiving instruction with the system of least prompts. A total of 252 experimental designs were evaluated, with 51 designs indicating a functional relation and the presence of 154 demonstrations of effect across 91 individuals. Our data indicate that the system of least prompts is an evidenced-based practice for teaching chained responses related to community, self-care, and vocational skills to individuals with moderate intellectual disability who are 13 years of age or older. In addition, we present and discuss a method for analyzing and aggregating data from single-case studies to account for noneffects and publication bias when identifying if an intervention meets standards as an evidence-based practice.