Rudimentary Reading Repertoires via Stimulus Equivalence and Recombination of Minimal Verbal Units

We report a study with sixteen low-SES Brazilian children that sought to establish a repertoire of relations involving dictated words, printed words, and corresponding pictures. Children were taught: (1) in response to dictated words, to select corresponding pictures; (2) in response to syllables presented in both visual and auditory formats, to select words which contained a corresponding syllable in either the first or the last position; (3) in response to dictated-word samples, to “construct” corresponding printed words via arranging their constituent syllabic components; and (4) in response to printed word samples, to construct identical printed words by arranging their syllabic constituents. After training on the first two types of tasks, children were given tests for potentially emergent relations involving printed words and pictures. Almost all exhibited relations consistent with stimulus equivalence. They also displayed emergent naming performances––not only with training words but also with new words that were recombinations of their constituent syllables. The present work was inspired by Sidman''s stimulus equivalence paradigm and by Skinner''s functional analysis of verbal relations, particularly as applied to conceptions of minimal behavioral units and creativity (i.e., behavioral flexibility) in the analytical units applied to verbal relations.     

The Emergence of the Listener to Speaker Component of Naming in Children as a Function of Multiple Exemplar Instruction

We tested the effect of multiple exemplar instruction on the transfer of stimulus function for unfamiliar pictures across listener responses (i.e., matching and pointing) and speaker responses (i.e., pure tacts and impure tacts). Three preschool students, who were 3- and 4-year-old males and did not have the listener to speaker component of the naming repertoire, participated in the experiment. The dependent variable was numbers of correct responses to probe trials of both untaught listener responses (“point to__”) and speaker responses (tact and impure tacts) following mastery of matching responses for two sets of five unfamiliar pictures (Set 1 and Set 3). After each participant mastered matching (e.g., “match Labrador”) for Set 1 pictures they were probed on the three untaught responses to Set 1 words. That is, they were asked to point to Labrador, tact the picture of Labrador, and respond to the picture of a Labrador and the question “What is this?” Next, the participants were taught mastery of all four types of responses using MEI for a second set of five pictures (Set 2) and probed again on the 3 untaught Set 1 responses. Finally, matching responses were taught to mastery for a novel set of pictures (Set 3) and then probed on the three untaught responses. The results showed that untaught speaker responses emerged at 60% to 85% for two participants, and 40%–70% for one participant. We discuss the role of instructional history in the development of the listener to speaker component of naming.     

Role of Contextual Control in Second Language Performance

Transfer of training from an instructional environment to a natural environment may bring about ineffective language performance by bilingual individuals. In that regard, this study was designed to demonstrate the effect of such a transition on individuals'' language performance. A series of Japanese and English words were used as sample and comparisons in a matching procedure. Differential conditioning was implemented in the presence two types of contextual stimuli. After three sets of relations were established, the physical configuration of the contextual stimuli was changed to more subtle appearances, and the number of variations in the contextual stimuli was increased. Measures of percent correct and response latency were used to show the negative influence on second language performance. Percent correct responses decreased with the subtle contextual stimuli for 11 out of 14 participants, and average response latency increased with the increased number of variations in the last phase. These findings indicate that the change in environmental stimuli will be a significant participatory factor in training of second languages.     

Language Generativity,Response Generalization,and Derived Relational Responding

Language generativity can be described as the ability to produce sentences never before said, and to understand sentences never before heard. One process often cited as underlying language generativity is response generalization. However, though the latter seems to promise a technical understanding of the former at a process level, an investigation of definitions and approaches to the term “response generalization” that appear in the literature suggests that it does not do so. We argue that a more promising candidate for the role of key process underlying language generativity is derived relational responding. We introduce the latter concept and describe empirical research showing its connection with language. We subsequently present a relational frame theory (RFT) conceptualization of derived relations as contextually controlled generalized relational responding. We then review a series of recent studies on derived manding in developmentally delayed children and adults that arguably demonstrate the applied utility of a derived relations-based approach with respect to the phenomenon of generative language.     

Stimulus equivalence, generalization, and contextual stimulus control in verbal classes

Stimulus generalization and contextual control affect the development of equivalence classes. Experiment 1 demonstrated primary stimulus generalization from the members of trained equivalence classes. Adults were taught to match six spoken Icelandic nouns and corresponding printed words and pictures to one another in computerized three-choice matching-to-sample tasks. Tests confirmed that six equivalence classes had formed. Without further training, plural forms of the stimuli were presented in tests for all matching performances. All participants demonstrated virtually errorless performances. In Experiment 2, classifications of the nouns used in Experiment 1 were brought under contextual control. Three nouns were feminine and three were masculine. The match-to-sample training taught participants to select a comparison of the same number as the sample (i.e., singular or plural) in the presence of contextual stimulus A regardless of noun gender. Concurrently, in the presence of contextual stimulus B, participants were taught to select a comparison of the same gender as the sample (i.e., feminine or masculine), regardless of number. Generalization was assessed using a card-sorting test. All participants eventually sorted the cards correctly into gender and number stimulus classes. When printed words used in training were replaced by their picture equivalents, participants demonstrated almost errorless performances.     

Generalized Reflexive Responding and Cross-Modal Tactile Transfer of Stimulus Function in Children with Autism

We sought to evaluate the efficacy of successive matching training for establishing generalized reflexive matching across 4 children with autism. In Experiment 1, differential reinforcement with delay fading was efficacious in establishing “yes” and “no” matching and nonmatching responses in 2 participants when 2 identical or nonidentical picture stimuli were presented. In addition, emergent visual–visual reflexive relational responses were observed using novel picture stimuli in a transfer test phase. In Experiment 2, differential reinforcement alone was efficacious in establishing matching and nonmatching responses in the other 2 participants when 2 identical or nonidentical objects were presented. Transfer to identical objects presented through touch (i.e., tactile discrimination) was additionally observed for both participants. Procedures in the study were adapted from the PEAK Relational Training System to aid in clinical replication, and the translational results have implications for language training with individuals with autism.     

Trajectories of Perceived Friendship Quality During Adolescence: The Patterns and Contextual Predictors

Findings are presented from an ecologically grounded, longitudinal study of 206 urban, ethnic minority adolescents that used hierarchical linear modeling to examine: (1) individual trajectories of change in adolescents' perceptions of general and closest same‐sex friendship quality from middle to late adolescence; (2) the effects of gender and ethnicity on these trajectories of change; and (3) the relative influence of adolescents' perceptions of individual‐level (i.e., self‐esteem) and contextual‐level (i.e., family relationships and school climate) variables on change over time in perceptions of friendship quality. Findings indicated that adolescents' perceptions of the quality of friendships improved from middle to late adolescence. Boys reported sharper increases over time than girls in their perceptions of the quality of their closest, same‐sex friendships. Furthermore, perceptions of contextual level variables (i.e., family relationships, teacher/student relations, and student/student relations) were significantly associated with change over time in perceptions of general and/or closest same‐sex friendship quality.     

The Use of Instructive Feedback to Promote Emergent Tact and Intraverbal Control: A Replication

Instructive feedback (IF) involves incorporating additional acquisition targets into skill-acquisition programs. A recent study by Frampton and Shillingsburg (2020) found that IF led to emergent verbal operants with two elementary-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study replicated Frampton and Shillingsburg with two children with ASD. Therapists conducted sessions of mastered listener-by-name trials (e.g., “Show me otter,” with pictures of otter, dog, and elephant) with IF statements for features of the target stimuli (e.g., “It lives in rivers.”) embedded during the consequence portion of the trial. We evaluated the acquisition of secondary targets and emergent responses using a concurrent multiple baseline across sets design. We observed increased correct responding for secondary targets and emergent responses for all three sets of stimuli with one participant. The other participant emitted correct responses for secondary targets and emergent operants with the first set but not with the other two sets of stimuli. Results suggested that IF can lead to emergent verbal operants, but the extent of emergence may be idiosyncratic.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40616-022-00171-y.     

Training Intraverbal Naming to Establish Matching-to-Sample Performances

The current study evaluated whether training intraverbal naming would be sufficient to establish visual-visual matching-to-sample (MTS) performances in college students. In the first experiment, we used a multiple-probe design across stimulus sets to assess whether six participants could match arbitrary visual stimuli (AB) after learning to tact their two experimentally defined classes (A’ and B’) and then intraverbally relate their names (i.e., “A’ goes with B’”). All participants matched the stimuli accurately after training, as well as emitted the trained intraverbals. In the second experiment, we used a multiple baseline design across four participants to assess whether the same training would produce bi-directional intraverbals in the form of “B’ goes with A’,” and MTS performance consistent with symmetry (BA). All participants responded accurately during matching and intraverbal tests. Across both experiments, participants stated the trained intraverbals while performing the matching task. Results showed that MTS performance can be established solely by verbal behavior training.     

An Underdiscussed Aspect of Chomsky (1959)

Chomsky''s (1959) review of Skinner''s (1957) Verbal Behavior has been influential and attributed with a role in the cognitive revolution. However, while counter reviews from within behavior analysis have noted that Chomsky misunderstood the subject matter, certain aspects of his scholarship have been underdiscussed. This includes several instances where Chomsky misquotes Skinner or takes his quotes out of context. Similar to the findings of Sokal (1996a, 1996b), it is speculated that the problems with Chomsky were overlooked by cognitive psychologists because his general outlook was accepted. Implications for the editorial review process are discussed.

Transgressing disciplinary boundaries . . . [is] a subversive undertaking since it is likely to violate the sanctuaries of accepted ways of perceiving. Among the most fortified boundaries have been those between the natural sciences and the humanities.—Greenberg (1990, p. 1), as quoted in Sokal (1996a)Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.—attributed to Bernhard Mannes Baruch (Montapert, 1964, p. 145)

Areas of study are sometimes profoundly affected by people outside them. For example, the linguist Noam Chomsky is familiar to many psychologists for his influence in the cognitive revolution, the major shift in the orientation of American psychology from behavioral to cognitive in the 1960s and 1970s (e.g., Auyang, 2000, p. 105; Erneling, 1997; Hunt, 1982, p. 217; Kosslyn & Rosenberg, 2001, p. 238). Some have even suggested that Chomsky''s (1959) review of B. F. Skinner''s (1957) Verbal Behavior, the latter''s theoretical account of how language can be explained in behavioral terms, was responsible for initiating the cognitive revolution (e.g., Bialystock, 1997; Harnish, 2002, p. 44).When Chomsky set out to write his review, he faced a daunting task. While apparently well read in certain areas such as political theory, there is little to indicate he had any previous exposure to psychology except for psychoanalysis (Barsky, 1997) and through linguists who have drawn upon psychology, such as Bloomfield (1933). Psychology in general in the early and mid-20th century was broad and diverse (e.g., Heidbreder, 1933; Hilgard & Bower, 1966), and so too was behavioral psychology. At that time “behaviorism” was used to refer a variety of behavior-oriented work, such as the strict methodological behaviorism of John B. Watson (e.g., Watson, 1913, 1924), the mathematical modeling with intervening variables of Clark L. Hull''s school (e.g., Hull, 1943, 1951, 1952), and the eclectic, molar, purposive behaviorism of Edward C. Tolman (e.g., Tolman, 1922, 1932, 1948), each with its own assumptions and terminologies. Skinner''s approach, radical behaviorism, differed from all of them in that he recognized the fundamental respondent-operant distinction (Skinner, 1935, 1937, 1938, p. 61ff., 1953, pp. 45–90), accepted the reality of private events, and rejected purely hypothetical mental constructs (Skinner, 1945). Verbal Behavior was very specifically based on Skinner''s approach, and any reviewer would have to understand this to do the job properly.Behavior analysts’ responses to Chomsky''s (1959) review of Verbal Behavior have not been positive (e.g., MacCorquodale, 1970; McLeish & Martin, 1975; Richelle, 1976); their counter reviews generally have noted that Chomsky fundamentally misunderstood the subject matter and emphasized major points where he differed from Skinner. The existing counter reviews, however, do not exhaust the problems with Chomsky. An especially important yet underdiscussed problem of Chomsky is the poor quality of his scholarship, which, to this author''s best knowledge, has not been previously addressed. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue and discuss its implications for future literature reviews.

Chomsky''s Review of Skinner

As noted above, Chomsky''s apparent understanding of radical behaviorism was poor, and at numerous points he makes claims not supported by the existing literature. Some parts of his review, such as citing a supporting claim that stimuli cannot be manipulated (Chomsky, 1959, p. 31, footnote 5) demonstrate severe problems with his understanding of the subject matter, and his handling of the most basic terms was so poor that Richelle (1976) said his “misunderstanding . . . would prompt most examination graders to read no further.”Many serious problems in this area have already been discussed by the above-mentioned counter reviewers; these include instances where Chomsky misattributed views to Skinner that clearly belong to others. For example, Chomsky (1959, p. 28) in describing response strength claimed: “The strength of an operant is defined by Skinner in terms of the rate of response during extinction. . . .” Skinner never claimed this, but rather defined it as the probability a response will occur under certain circumstances (Skinner, 1957, p. 22). MacCorquodale (1970) noted that rate of response during extinction was actually Hull''s definition of probability (Hull, 1943, pp. 260–262), and claiming that Skinner accepted this definition given his criticism of Hull''s work (Skinner, 1944) would be difficult to justify. Several other of Chomsky''s errors may have resulted from his failing to distinguish Skinner''s views from those of others. For example, Chomsky claimed that Skinner said “that children can learn language only through ‘meticulous care’ on the part of adults who shape their verbal repertoire through careful differential reinforcement” (Chomsky, p. 42) and that it is part of “the doctrine of Skinner and others that slow and careful shaping of verbal behavior through differential reinforcement is an absolute necessity” (op. cit., p. 42). Aside from the fact that other people''s doctrines are irrelevant here, nowhere does Skinner make this claim. Chomsky may have actually been reacting to Miller and Dollard (1941, p. 82), who in a discussion on language acquisition wrote: “The child is given meticulous training in connecting words to objects and connecting acts to words.” Skinner (1957), however, says almost nothing about language acquisition and certainly did not describe it as arising from a laborious and intentional shaping procedure. Chomsky (pp. 35, 52), perhaps supposing all responses would act like respondents, also wrongly indicated that a “strong” (operant) verbal response should, according to Skinner, necessarily be a high-pitched scream. However, as Skinner (1950, p. 196) noted,

In the sort of behavior adapted to the Pavlovian experiment (respondent behavior) there may be a progressive increase in the magnitude of response during learning. But we do not shout our responses louder and louder as we learn verbal material, nor does a rat press a lever harder and harder as conditioning proceeds. In operant behavior the energy or magnitude of response changes significantly only when some arbitrary value is differentially reinforced—when such a change is what is learned.

Not all of Chomsky''s errors involved confounding views or pure misunderstandings. There are several instances in Chomsky (1959) where Skinner is quoted out of context or the quote is incorrect such that Skinner''s views are not accurately portrayed. A few examples follow.

1. The above-mentioned false definition of response strength was again made when Chomsky (1959, p. 34) claimed that “Skinner has argued that this [rate of emission during extinction] is ‘the only datum that varies significantly and in the expected direction under conditions which are relevant to the “learning process.” The actual quote from Skinner (1950, p. 198) began with “Rate of responding appears to be the only datum which [sic] varies significantly. . . .” Extinction was not mentioned at all. Furthermore, this occurred in a discussion of learning theories, far removed from anything Chomsky discussed.
2. Chomsky (1959, p. 34) claimed that Skinner said that “the frequency of the response may be ‘primarily attributable to the frequency of occurrence of controlling variables’ . . . .” The actual sentence in Skinner (1957, p. 27) was “Nor can we be sure that frequency is not primarily attributable to the frequency of occurrence of controlling variables.” This occurred in a discussion of factors affecting frequency, during which Skinner emphasized that, contrary to the practice of “word counts” used in formal analyses of language, “it is also important to know the prevailing conditions,” that is, the circumstances under which they occur. Skinner was expressing a possibility or an uncertainty, which Chomsky failed to acknowledge.
3. Chomsky (1959, p. 34, footnote 9) quoted from Skinner (1950, p. 199) regarding allegedly using “the notion of probability in analyzing or formulating instances of even types of behavior which are not susceptible to this analysis.” Chomsky used this quote in a discussion in which he attacked Skinner''s usage of probability (and failed; see MacCorquodale, 1970). However, the passage from Skinner occurred at the end of a paragraph discussing complex activities that, as a whole, may never be repeated by the individual. In the same paragraph, Skinner (p. 199) said,

They are not simple unitary events lending themselves to prediction as such. If we are to predict marriage, success, accident, and so on, in anything more than statistical terms, we must deal with the smaller units of behavior which lead to and compose these unitary episodes. If the units appear in repeatable form, the present analysis may be applied.

Chomsky, however, attempted to apply this analysis to language behaviors, which typically involve a large number of units that may occur very frequently; thus the limitations that may apply to predicting marriage, success, accident, and so on as wholes are irrelevant to Skinner''s program. Chomsky acknowledged none of this.4. Chomsky (1959, p. 35, footnote 10), in discussing pitch, quoted Skinner as saying “Fortunately, ‘In English this presents no great difficulty’ since, for example, ‘relative pitch levels . . . are not . . . important,’” the “this” apparently referring to that pitch, among things, has linguistic functions (pp. 34–35). He further indicated (op. cit.): “No reference is made to the numerous studies of the function of relative pitch levels and other intonational features in English.” The implication is that Skinner ignored the importance of pitch and intonation in actual speech. But what Skinner (1957, p. 25) actually wrote was:

In English, this [energy level, speed of response, and even repetition entering into the construction of different forms of response] presents no great difficulty. Absolute levels of pitch and intensity are not “distinctive,” nor are relative pitch levels important. Changes in pitch, however, distinguish different types of utterance.

Skinner then discussed the functions of pitch in English. While Skinner and Chomsky may have disagreed about their exact functions, it is clear that Skinner did not contend that intonation or pitch in English were completely “unimportant” as Chomsky implied.5. Chomsky (1959, p. 52, footnote 42) quipped, “Similarly, ‘the universality of a literary work refers to the number of potential readers inclined to say the same thing’ (. . . i.e., the most ‘universal’ work is a dictionary of clichés and greetings).” However, the paragraph in Skinner (1957, pp. 274–275) this quote was taken from begins:

A reader seeks out other works of a given writer or other literature of a given type because of the reinforcement he has received. The reinforcement depends upon his own verbal behavior. A thematic correspondence between a reader and a literary work is likely to involve a matching of variables in the fields of motivation and emotion. The universality of a literary work refers to the number of potential readers inclined to say the same thing, at least in some measure. The success of a book is some indication of the number of people who possess a given kind of verbal behavior in strength.

In other words, a work has “universality” when readers would be likely to say something similar in content to the work, not specific utterances.6. Chomsky (1959, p. 53) claimed that “Skinner considers a sentence to be a set of key responses (nouns, verbs, adjectives) on a skeletal frame” and then proceeded to criticize Skinner as if this was his position. However, the actual quote was: “Others [other sentences] are nearly complete skeletal ‘frames’ upon which an exceptional response or two may be hung” (Skinner, 1957, p. 346), and this was not presented as the sole possibility. Rather, it was part of a much longer chapter (pp. 344–367) in which Skinner discussed how verbal responses are combined. Much of this involves a class of responses called autoclitics (p. 311ff.), which are verbal operants whose occurrence depends in part on the occurrence of other verbal operants; in Skinner''s hypothesis, grammar results from an interaction of autoclitics with other verbal operants. For example, when one is confronted by the appropriate stimulating conditions (seeing a hungry man) one would not only emit such responses as hungry and man, but also autoclitics related to the specificity of the situation (the) and occurrence (is) to produce a longer, structured utterance (The man is hungry; Skinner, p. 345). Not all sentences are necessarily created this way, and in the quote Chomsky cites, Skinner does indicate some may be partially or completely preformed; however, he certainly did not claim all were.     

Becoming a Communicative Partner: Infant Contingent Responsiveness to Maternal Language and Gestures

Infant contingent responsiveness to maternal language and gestures was examined in 190 Mexican American, Dominican American, and African American infant–mother dyads when infants were 14 and 24 months. Dyads were video‐recorded during book‐sharing and play. Videos were coded for the timing of infants’ vocalizations and gestures and mothers’ referential language (i.e., statements that inform infants about objects and events in the world; e.g., “That's a big doggy!”), regulatory language (i.e., statements that regulate infants’ attention or actions; e.g., “Look at that”, “Put it down!”), and gestures. Infants of all three ethnicities responded within 3 sec of mothers’ language and gestures, increased their responsiveness over development, and displayed specificity in their responses: They vocalized and gestured following mothers’ referential language and gestures, but were less likely than chance to communicate following mothers’ regulatory language. At an individual level, responsive infants had responsive mothers.     

Recombinative Generalization of Tacts Through Matrix Training with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Foss (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76, 450–459, 1968a; Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77, 341–344, 1968b) compared overlap and non-overlap instruction to promote recombinative response generalization using a matrix training procedure. In the present study, we used a similar set of procedures to teach tacting of kitchen items and prepositions (i.e., relational autoclitics) to three females ages 13–20, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We taught some kitchen items/prepositions as tacts (e.g., “the strainer is to the right of the box”) according to a non-overlap instructional sequence. Subsequently, we taught more combinations in an overlap instructional sequence. Each training procedure was followed by probes of untrained relations. Two participants demonstrated recombinative generalization of untrained combinations following the first non-overlap phase, while the third participant demonstrated some response generalization of untrained relations after a few additional training sequences. All three participants demonstrated generalized tacting of object components while two participants showed generalized tacting of preposition components.     

The Effects of Auditory Tact and Auditory Imagining Instructions on the Emergence of Novel Intraverbals

The current research investigated whether intraverbals would emerge following auditory tact instruction. Participants were first taught to tact auditory stimuli by providing the name of the item or animal that produces the sound (e.g., saying “eagle” when presented with the recording of an eagle cawing). Following test probes for simple intraverbals as well as intraverbal categorization participants were taught to tact what each auditory stimulus is (e.g., saying “caw” when presented with the recording of an eagle cawing). Following both tact instructional phases, the effects of an auditory imagining instruction procedure on target intraverbals were examined. Results indicate that following both tact instructional phases, intraverbals increased for three of four participants. Auditory imagining instruction was sufficient for two of four participants to reach mastery criterion, and two of four participants needed some direct instruction. Low covariation between simple intraverbal and categorization was also observed. Functional interdependence between tacts and intraverbals and the possible role of a conditioned hearing response are discussed.     

Re-Mediating Second Language Acquisition: A Sociocultural Perspective for Language Development

This article provides a cultural-historical (CHAT) analysis of the practices used by an effective teacher of Latino/a children previously classified as “underachieving” and “beginning/novice” English Language Learners. Although the teacher would not describe her practices in strict CHAT, or sociocultural theory (SCT) terms, our analysis shows that teaching practices in this classroom are better understood using a SCT model rather than more prevalent second language acquisition (SLA) models that dominate the field of bilingual/English as a Second Language education. We describe the fundamental limitations of SLA assumptions about learners vis-à-vis a SCT perspective and use classroom and case study data to illustrate how a CHAT perspective illuminates this teacher's practices. From a CHAT perspective, teaching and learning are socially reorganized around the mediation of dynamic learner identities and include shifts in expert–novice status, dialogic interactions, and the use of innovative mediational tools (e.g., keystrokes on a calculator) to promote academic writing and oral communication. The mediational reorganization described in the classroom opened up access to students who might have been dismissed by a SLA model as “incapable” of engaging in such tasks. We draw on classroom-level data (i.e., standardized scores in reading and math) as well as the work of selected focal students to illustrate our case.     

Work and Family in the Second Decade of the 21st Century

In the second decade of the 21st century, research on work and family from multiple disciplines flourished. The goal of this review is to capture the scope of this work–family literature and to highlight both the valuable advances and problematic omissions. In synthesizing this literature, the authors show that numerous scholars conducted studies and refined theories that addressed gender, but far fewer examined racial and class heterogeneity. They argue that examining heterogeneity changes the understanding of work–family relations. After briefly introducing the broad social, political, and economic context in which diverse work–family connections developed, this review uses this context to address the following three main themes, each with subtopics: (a) unpaid work including housework, parenting as work, and kin work; (b) paid work including work timing and hours, money (i.e., motherhood penalty, fatherhood bonus, marriage bonus, kin care penalty), relationships (i.e., coworkers, supervisors), and work experiences (i.e., complexity, autonomy, urgency); and (c) work–family policies (i.e., scheduling and child care). Given the breadth of the work–family literature, this review is not exhaustive but, rather, the authors synthesize key findings on each topic followed by a critique, especially with regard to the analyses of differences and inequalities around gender, race, ethnicity, and social class.     

Mands for Information Using “How” Under EO-Absent and EO-Present Conditions

The present study replicates and extends previous research on teaching “How?” mands for information to children with autism. The experimental preparation involved mand training in the context of completing preferred activities and included training and testing under conditions when the establishing operation (EO) was present and absent. Results show that two children with autism acquired mands for information using How? only in situations where information was valuable (i.e., the EO was present); they then consistently made use of the information provided in activity completion. Generalization to novel, untaught situations was assessed.     

Toward an “Awareness” of the Relationship between Task Performance and Own Verbal Accounts of that Performance

The existence of learning without awareness has been debated for many years. Learning without awareness is said to occur when an individual''s behavior has been affected without that individual being aware of the conditions affecting the behavior, of the relationship between those conditions and the behavior, or of the fact that the behavior has changed. This paper describes a series of experiments investigating this phenomenon. The findings support the existence of “learning without awareness.” However, it is argued that the term “awareness” should be discarded as it is misleading. Instead, the results of the experiments are discussed in terms of behavior for which the individual does not provide a complete verbal account.     

Public relations identity and the stakeholder–organization relationship: A revised theoretical position for public relations scholarship

This paper addresses the challenge to differentiate public relations scholarship from other related communication disciplines (i.e., marketing, advertising, communication studies) by examining the concept of the stakeholder–organization relationship and public relations’ unique contributions therein. This paper proposes that public relations scholars move beyond discussing relationship attitudes and examine the central concept of a relationship, which comprises mutual orientation around a common interest point and the multiplicity of stakes and stakeholders. Research imperatives in the integration of relationship stakes and the value of social media in relationship analysis stand to further differentiate public relations from marketing.     

How Kids Learn to Say the Darnedest Things: The Effect of Multiple Exemplar Instruction on the Emergence of Novel Verb Usage

We report experiments using time-lagged pre- and postintervention designs with (a) 4 first graders with learning delays, and (b) a systematic replication with 3 preschoolers with learning delays. Both experiments tested the effects of multiple exemplar instructional procedures (MEI) on the emergence of untaught past tense emission of novel regular verbs (e.g., jumped derived from jump) and grammatically inaccurate but experimentally correct usage of irregular verbs (e.g., singed derived from sing). Prior to the MEI, none of the children could produce regular or irregular past tense forms to pictures that provided simulated contexts (pictures with backgrounds for past and present tense). MEI provided across the picture contexts for past and present tense used separate training sets of verbs to teach children to form regular past tense. After either 1 or 2 MEI training sets, the children emitted accurate past tense forms of the untaught regular and inaccurate, but experimentally correct irregular verbs. These findings provided an instructional history that resulted in the children''s acquisition of past tense for untaught regular past tense verbs and “creative” errors with irregular tenses. Results are discussed in terms of the research on experimentally induced sources for novel verbal behavior and related interpretations.     

The Prospects of Global English as an Inclusive Language

English is increasingly a global language, as it is the world's most popular second language and the primary language of international communication. The emergence of English as a global language raises many potential normative challenges, such as the risks that it will erode minority cultures and that it will give core English-speaking countries an unfair advantage over nonnative speakers. I argue that global English can be made more inclusive for nonnative speakers and that the benefits of global English can therefore be realized without suppressing the cultures of nonnative English speakers. However, realizing this potential depends on overcoming the beliefs that English should be neutral and that there is a standard correct form of English.