© Division on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Effects of Goal Setting on Task Performance of Persons with Mental Retardation

Abstract: We reviewed empirical investigations of the effects of goal setting on task performance of persons with mental retardation. Use of goal setting strategies, in conjunction with other instructional strategies, in the reviewed studies was associated with increased rate or accuracy ofperformance of both children and adults with mild to severe mental retardation. Analysis of the studies resulted in identification offactors associated with effective goal setting, which could be incorporated into practice. Findings also yielded directions for future research. A goal may be defined as "the object or aim of an action " (Locke, Shaw, Saari, & Latham, 1981, p. 126), and typically is based on a spe-cific standard of task performance. Setting a goal typically is viewed as a process that in-volves establishing a performance standard, developing an action plan to achieve the stan-dard, implementing the action plan, and eval-uating performance against the standard (Smith & Nelson, 1997). Research in a variety of fields (e.g., industry, athletics, education) suggests that goal setting may have a powerful, positive effect on human behavior, including improving task performance, motivation, and perceived self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997; Locke & Latham, 1990; Wehmeyer, Agran, & Hughes, 1998). Researchers also have sug-gested that setting and achieving goals may promote success in achieving socially valued outcomes by people with disabilities (Martin & Marshall, 1997). Goal setting instruction typically requires teaching people to (a) select an appropriate behavior to target, (b) set a desired level of performance for that behavior, (c) develop a plan to meet the performance standard, (d) monitor their performance by evaluating it in Correspondence concerning this article shoul