The Lovaas Model has potentially positive effects on cognitive development for children with disabilities, with an improvement index of +27 percentile points¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr1·q3
Currency · newest study 2010 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? The WWC rates the Lovaas Model as having potentially positive effects on cognitive development; the WWC-calculated difference was not statistically significant but the effect size was substantively important (at least 0.25). → Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis 2010
Evidence¶
Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis 2010¶
Lovaas Model of Applied Behavior Analysis. (2010). WWC Intervention Report, U.S. Department of Education, What Works Clearinghouse. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/InterventionReport/295
q3 · i? · causal · r1
WWC review of the Smith et al. (2000) randomized controlled trial with severe attrition (28 children, Los Angeles area). The WWC recalculated significance using a two-tailed test; the effect size met the WWC substantively-important threshold of "at least 0.25". The improvement index for cognitive development is +27 percentile points based on one finding in one study.
"Smith et al. (2000) reported a statistically significant difference on intellectual functioning favoring children in the treatment group. According to the WWC calculations, this difference was not statistically significant, but the effect size was substantively important according to WWC criteria (that is, at least 0.25)."
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- General Cognitive Ability — outcome: instruction changes it
Related Claims¶
- The Lovaas Model has no discernible effects on communication/language competencies for children with disabilities — related
- The Lovaas Model has no discernible effects on functional abilities for children with disabilities — related
- The Lovaas Model has no discernible effects on social-emotional development and behavior for children with disabilities — related
- The guide treats an effect size of +0.25 or higher as substantively important, equivalent to raising performance at least 10 percentile points — a broader claim this one bears on
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
lovaas-model-potentially-positive-cognitive-development |
title |
The Lovaas Model has potentially positive effects on cognitive development for children with disabilities, with an improvement index of +27 percentile points |
description |
The Lovaas Model has potentially positive effects on cognitive development for children with disabilities, with an improvement index of +27 percentile points |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2010 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-07 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — lovaas-model-of-applied-behavior-analysis-2010 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.