The acquisition of tacts,mands, and intraverbals by individuals with traumatic brain injury

Two individuals who sustained traumatic brain injuries from motorcycle accidents were taught several verbal responses by using tact, mand, and intraverbal training procedures. The rate of acquisition for each operant and the transfer to untrained verbal operants involving the same response topography were measured. The results showed that tacts and intraverbals were acquired quickest, and training on the tact produced the greatest amount of transfer to the untrained verbal operants. Intraverbal training also resulted in transfer for both subjects, but to varying degrees. Direct mand training proved to be the least efficient way to generate a mand repertoire, and when acquired showed least amount of transfer to the untrained operants. These results seem to be in contrast with the findings of similar research with developmentally disabled individuals, and may have implications for methods of language instruction for the brain injured population.

     

The effects of alternating mand and tact training on the acquisition of tacts

Two training procedures were compared with respect to the average number of training trials it took to teach new verbal responses to normal children. Mand contingencies were alternated with tact contingencies in one condition while only tact contingencies were in effect in the other condition. Normal, preschool children served as subjects and toy parts were the objects that were to be named. The results indicated that it took, on the average, fewer trials to teach part names (tacts) in the mand-tact condition than in the tact only condition. Although more research is needed to confirm this, it appears that mand contingencies involve stronger controlling variables and can facilitate the acquisition of a tact repertoire.

     

Comparing topography-based verbal behavior with stimulus selection-based verbal behavior

Michael (1985) distinguished between two types of verbal behavior: topography-based and stimulus selection-based verbal behavior. The current research was designed to empirically examine these two types of verbal behavior while addressing the frequently debated question, Which augmentative communication system should be used with the nonverbal developmentally disabled person? Four mentally retarded adults served as subjects. Each subject was taught to tact an object by either pointing to its corresponding symbol (selection-based verbal behavior), or making the corresponding sign (topography-based verbal behavior). They were then taught an intraverbal relation, and were tested for the emergence of stimulus equivalence relations. The results showed that signed responses were acquired more readily than pointing responses as measured by the acquisition of tacts and intraverbals, and the formation of equivalence classes. These results support Michael’s (1985) analysis, and have important implications for the design of language intervention programs for the developmentally disabled.

     

Teaching mands by manipulating conditioned establishing operations

Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior suggests the functional independence of the verbal operants. However, only a few empirical studies have directly examined the nature of these operants, and their independence. The present study evaluated whether teaching topographies as tacts would lead to their emission as mands. The results indicated that manding only occurred reliably after direct mand training, which consisted of the use of imitative and tact prompts, and fading those prompts, to transfer stimulus control from nonverbal stimuli to conditioned establishing operations. The results contribute to the existing data on the functional independence of mands and tacts, as well as demonstrate the value of manipulating conditioned establishing operations for mand training.

     

Emergence of Mands and Tacts of Novel Objects among Preschool Children

According to Skinner''s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior, the mand and the tact are functionally independent verbal operants, each of which is acquired through a unique history of reinforcement. The present study attempted to replicate the findings of Lamarre and Holland (1985), who empirically demonstrated functional independence of mands and tacts in typically developing preschool children. Five children participated. All were initially trained to complete two 4-piece assembly tasks. Four children were then trained to tact the four pieces that comprised one of the assembly tasks, and to mand for the four pieces that comprised the other task, using arbitrary vocal response forms. The remaining child received tact training only, and only on one task. The effects of training on the untrained operant were evaluated in a multiple-probe design across tasks. Following mand training, 4 out of 4 children reliably emitted tacts under testing conditions, while the effects of tact training differed across participants. The results differ from those of Lamarre and Holland, but are not necessarily surprising from the point of view of either Skinner''s analysis or more recent behavioral accounts of language. Future research should attempt to identify variables that affect transfer between mand and tact relations.     

A Functional Analysis of Non-Vocal Verbal Behavior of a Young Child With Autism

The functions of an American Sign Language response were experimentally evaluated with a young boy diagnosed with autism. A functional analysis procedure based on that reported by Lerman et al. (2005) was used to evaluate whether the target sign response would occur under mand, tact, mimetic, or control conditions. The target sign was observed most often in the mand and mimetic test conditions, very seldom in the tact test condition, and never in the control condition. These results support those reported by Lerman et al. and extend previous research by evaluating a non-vocal verbal response using a brief multi-element arrangement with a single control condition. The implications for language assessment and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing and Subsequent Mand Acquisition of Children with Various Levels of Verbal Repertoires

Effects of a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure on the subsequent acquisition of mand operants were investigated. An attempt was made to shape novel sounds that emerged through the pairing procedure into a mand. Six children, aged two to five years, with moderate to severe language and communication delays, participated. Two conditions were used following the pairing condition: postpairing and direct reinforcement. The emergence of mands was compared across these conditions. An additional analysis was made of the relation between participants'' baseline verbal repertoires and the effects of the pairing and the emergence of mands. Results indicate the possibility of stimulus control from a stimulus-stimulus pairing to mand as shown in two of the participants who had demonstrated high rates of vocal play and low to no verbal repertoire prior to this study. Target vocal sounds during postpairing and direct reinforcement condition remained at zero to low levels for participants with high verbal repertoire and little vocal play, warranting future studies on relations between the pre-existing verbal repertoire and the effectiveness of stimulus-stimulus pairing.     

An Evaluation of Two Tact-Training Procedures on Acquired Tacts and Tacting During Play

A common practice in tact training is to include a supplemental verbal stimulus (e.g., “What is it?”) in addition to the presentation of a nonverbal discriminative stimulus. Previous literature has suggested that this supplemental verbal stimulus can impede acquisition and generalization relative to the presentation of the object alone, as it may establish faulty stimulus control or decrease spontaneous tacting. Research has yet to compare these 2 training methods on the generalization of learned tacts to more naturalistic, play-based environments. The present study evaluated the use of “What is it?” compared to the presentation of only the nonverbal discriminative stimulus on tact acquisition among 3 children with autism spectrum disorder and the extent to which these training procedures led to tacting in a play-based setting following discrete-trial training. Overall, participants learned to tact stimuli under both conditions, and all participants demonstrated generalization of tacts in a play-based setting. Recommendations for the development and evaluation of naturalistic posttraining assessment are discussed.     

Using Textual Prompts to Teach Mands for Information Using “Who?”

Recent research on teaching mands for information to children with language deficits has focused on manipulating establishing operations (EOs). However, only a few of those studies have programmed both EO conditions (in which information is needed) and abolishing operation (AO) conditions (in which information has already been provided) to ensure functional use of the mand for information. Shillingsburg, Bowen, Valentino, and Pierce (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47, 136–150, 2014) provided a successful demonstration of differential responding between EO and AO conditions demonstrating control of the response by the relevant EO. Echoic prompts resulted in successful mands for information “Who?” One limitation of this study was that the participants did not re-issue the initial mand upon approaching the named adult to retrieve the item. This may be problematic in the natural environment as it is unlikely that the named adult would know what the child was looking for. The current study sought to replicate and expand previous research by using textual prompts to teach the mand “Who?” in four children diagnosed with autism (Phase 1) and by requiring the mand for the item be re-issued upon approaching the named adult (Phase 2). Textual prompts resulted in differential use of the mand for information during EO and AO conditions for all of the participants. Additionally, three of the four participants who did not re-issue the mand to the named adult during the Phase 2 baseline did so following the intervention. Overall, results support the use of textual prompts to teach mands for information to children with autism.

     

Reinforcement,stereotypy, and rule discovery

The effects of reinforced pretraining on subsequent rule discovery were examined with college students as subjects. Levels of behavioral stereotypy observed during reinforced and non-contingent pretraining were compared. During pretraining subjects received reinforcement if they pressed two keys in a particular sequence. During the problem session pressing each key four times was a necessary condition for reinforcement, but each problem had additional different requirements for reinforcement. Subjects were asked to solve the problems by discovering the rule that determined whether or not they received reinforcement. Levels of stereotyped responding during pretraining were equivalent for contingently and non-contingently trained subjects. During the problem session contingently pretrained, non-contingently pretrained, and naive subjects required equal numbers of trials to solve problems and solved the same number of problems. The results suggest that behavioral stereotypy observed in this experimental preparation may be due to repeated exposure to the task. Differences between the results observed in this study and that of Schwartz (1982) and implications for the use of reinforcement procedures in applied settings are discussed.

     

Using Mand Training to Establish an Echoic Repertoire in Young Children with Autism

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - This research describes a method that initially establishes a mand repertoire as the first component in producing echoic and tact repertoires in young children...     

Maximization of reinforcement by two autistic students with accurate and inaccurate instructions

The present study examines maximization of reinforcement by two autistic individuals under conditions of no instructions, accurate instructions, and inaccurate instructions. Accuracy of instructions and magnitude of reinforcement for differential responding in a choice paradigm were systematically varied across phases. Subject one maximized reinforcement across all three conditions in seven experimental phases. Subject two maximized across these same seven phases, but also experienced three additional phases. In two of the additional phases, subject two maximized reinforcement. In a ninth phase, when reinforcement was intermittent rather than continuous, he failed to maximize reinforcement. Implications of the results for the controversies surrounding the concept of rule-governed behavior are discussed.

     

The Emergence of Autoclitic Frames in Atypically and Typically Developing Children as a Function of Multiple Exemplar Instruction

In two experiments, we tested the effect of multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) for training sets on the emergence of autoclitic frames for spatial relations for novel tacts and mands. In Experiment 1, we used a replicated pre- and post-intervention probe design with four students with significant learning disabilities to test for acquisition of four autoclitic frames with novel tacts and mands before and after MEI. The untaught topographies emerged for all participants. In Experiment 2, we used a multiple probe design to test the effects of the MEI procedures on the same responses in four typically developing, bilingual students. The novel usage emerged for all participants. In the latter experiment, the children demonstrated untaught usage of mand or tact frames regardless of whether they were taught to respond in either listener or speaker functions alone or across listener and speaker functions. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of MEI in the formation of abstractions.     

Skinner’s Elementary Verbal Relations: Some New Categories

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - In Verbal Behavior (1957) B. F. Skinner identified and named five elementary verbal relations: mand, tact, intraverbal, textual and echoic. Because of their...     

Discrete Trial Instruction vs. Mand Training for Teaching Children With Autism to Make Requests

The present study compared the effects of discrete trial instruction (DTI) and mand training on the acquisition of independent requests in 6 children with autism. Two multiple-probe designs across participants were conducted with 3 participants receiving mand training followed by DTI and the other 3 receiving DTI followed by mand training. Eye contact and challenging behaviors were also assessed across conditions. Results indicate that 5 of 6 participants made more independent requests and acquired requesting faster in the mand training condition, had slightly better eye contact in the DTI condition, and fewer challenging behaviors in the mand training condition. Overall, the results indicate that mand training is a more efficient method for teaching children with autism to make requests.     

An Exploratory Essay on Listening Instruction in the K-12 Curriculum

This article presents a reanalysis of a previously reported study on the impact of the Tomatis Method of auditory stimulation on subjects with autism. When analyzed as individual case studies, the data showed that six of the 11 subjects with autism demonstrated significant improvement from 90 hours of Tomatis Therapy. Five subjects did not benefit significantly, at least not on the measures used in this research. The results of this study support previous findings reported in peer-reviewed research.

The benefits from the Tomatis Therapy varied from subject to subject. In this study, one subject transitioned from nonverbal to verbal, one began to spontaneously repeat words, and others increased their receptive and expressive vocabulary. Additional findings included improvements in skills of daily living, motor skills, socialization, and overall communication skills. The findings of this study also indicated reductions in hyperactivity, atypical behavior, and inattention.     

Evaluation of single and mixed verbal operant arrangements for teaching mands and tacts

The purpose of this series of experiments was to evaluate the effects of mixed mand-tact arrangements on the acquisition of mands and tacts in preschool-aged children. In Experiment 1, the effects of three training arrangements (mand-only training, tact-only training, and mand-tact training) were investigated with 3 typically developing children. Rates of acquisition in single (mand-only and tact-only) versus mixed (mand-tact) presentation were comparable, in contrast to earlier investigations. Experiment 2 attempted to clarify the equivocal findings of Experiment 1 by directly replicating the Carroll and Hesse (1987) investigation with 2 typically developing children. Results again demonstrated no clear benefit of mixed verbal operant training on tact acquisition. In Experiment 3, these same arrangements were evaluated with a boy with autism and included assessments to determine that a relevant establishing operation was in effect prior to each mand training session. Experiment 3 again failed to demonstrate the facilitative effects of mand-tact training on the acquisition of mands or tacts. Taken together, the data from these three experiments fail to support the improved efficiency of mand-tact training suggested by prior studies. Findings are discussed in the context of future research investigating mixed verbal operant arrangements.     

A test among models of nonverbal immediacy reactions: Arousal-labeling,discrepancy-arousal,and social cognition

Individuals may respond to an increase in nonverbal immediacy by either increasing or decreasing the immediacy of their own behavior. To account for this, a number of models have been proposed, including arousal-labeling (Patterson, 1976), discrepancy-arousal (Cappella & Greene, 1982), and social cognition (e.g., Ellsworth, 1978). An experiment was designed to test the social cognition approach and, when combined with findings of previous studies, to serve as a test among three models. Individual male subjects discussed a moral dilemma with a male confederate at a seating distance of either 1.1 m (control group) or 0.3 m in two experimental groups (confederate intentional-close and confederate forced-close). Subjects in both experimental conditions showed less immediate nonverbal behavior, but only subjects in the intentional-close condition evaluated the confederate more negatively than subjects in the control group. These results, when combined with past research findings, suggest that social cognition alone may determine whether nonverbal compensation or reciprocation will occur, and that arousal-based explanations may be unnecessary. Other self-report findings of the study, however, create difficulties for all three models of nonverbal exchange.We thank Paul Baker, Larry Coutts, David Gartrell, Leslie Hayduk, Ron Hoppe, Eric Knowles, G. Alexander Milton, and an anonymous reviewer for their comments on earlier drafts.