Error self-regulation following traumatic brain injury: a single case study evaluation of metacognitive skills training and behavioural practice interventions

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of metacognitive skills training (MST) and behavioural practice on error self-regulation during a naturalistic task after traumatic brain injury (TBI). A single-case study design was used and three participants (two males, one female) aged 26-43 years with severe TBI were included in the study. In the first study, after a four-session baseline of behavioural practice, two participants received eight MST sessions followed by four maintenance sessions. In the second study, a third participant received 16 sessions of behavioural practice to assess the extent to which error self-regulation improves through long-term task practice and therapist corrections. Participants prepared two different meals with a novel meal introduced later to examine skills generalisation. Behavioural outcomes included error frequency, checking and self-corrections. Data analysis involved a combination of visual analysis and two standard deviation (2-SD) band analysis. In the MST study, the two participants demonstrated a 38% and 76% reduction in error frequency (p < .05), a significant decrease in checks (p < .05), and a significant increase in self-corrections (p < .05) relative to baseline. In the behavioural practice study, the participant demonstrated reduced errors (25%), although this was not statistically significant, and a significant increase in checks (p < .05), but self-corrections did not significantly change (p > .05). This exploratory research suggests that, firstly, by targeting error self-regulation MST can potentially promote independence on complex everyday tasks; and secondly, although behavioural practice alone may facilitate some functional gains, it fails to promote more independent self-regulatory behaviours.