Generalization of Training Effects in Social Skills Training for Students with Disabilities

With the current national emphasis on normalization and community integration, generalization has been a highly significant issue in social skills training research for individuals with disabilities. There has been a controversy over different generalization effects of social skills training between behavioral approach and cognitive-process training approach. This paper addresses the importance of generalization effects and the basis of the controversy in social skills training literature. The two major social skills training approaches, behavioral and cognitive approaches, are described according to the generalization issue in the theoretical and empirical literature, especially in relation to my stance on the controversy. The cooperative use of the two approaches to promote generalization effects and future work in the generalization issue are briefly discussed.