Section: Research

Richard Serna, Ph.D.

Faculty Appointment(s) In:
   Psychiatry

Other Affiliation(s):
   Shriver Center

Processes in Discrimination Learning

Many individuals with intellectual disabilities have language deficits that make them difficult or impossible to evaluate and teach with the predominantly verbal methods common in special education settings. Solutions to this and related problems must be found in order to obtain positive teaching outcomes. One approach to these problems is to explore alternatives to verbal instructions for establishing desired forms of stimulus control. Dr. Serna investigates basic processes in discrimination learning with individuals who have severe intellectual disabilities and learning problems. His research also asks how such processes can be applied to individuals who fail to learn through traditional verbal and nonverbal discrimination training procedures. Ongoing projects include: (1) applications of relational learning research to new methods for establishing identity matching to sample; (2) an investigation of basic processes in stimulus control transfer, including studies that utilize eye-trackingtechnology; and (3) studies that examine the variables that influence the acquisition of auditory stimulus control.

Ongoing Projects

Office: Shriver
Phone: 781-642-0027
E-mail: Richard.Serna@umassmed.edu

More on Richard Serna's Research Research | Publications | Biography View All Sections on One Page