The effect of joint control training on the acquisition and durability of a sequencing task

Gutierrez (2006) experimentally demonstrated the effects of joint control and particularly the role of response mediation in the sequencing behavior of adults using an unfamiliar language. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the procedures used by Gutierrez by comparing the effects of joint control training with the effects of a prompt-and-fade procedure on the acquisition of a sequencing task. The effects of each procedure on delayed sequencing behavior were also tested. Ten undergraduate students participated in 2 experiments. The results indicated that all participants acquired the sequencing response in fewer trials and maintained accurate delayed responding when the component responses necessary for joint control were directly taught. Finally, when the self-echoic mediation component was blocked, accurate responding deteriorated in 8 of 10 participants.     

The effects of tact training on stereotypic vocalizations in children with autism

This study was a systematic extension of Karmali, Greer, Nuzzulo-Gomez, Ross, and Rivera-Valdes (2005) and Ahearn, Clark, MacDonald, and Chung (2007). We investigated the effects of a tact correction procedure on stereotypic vocalizations in 4 children diagnosed with autism who ranged in age from 6 to 16 years. Participants had limited vocal verbal repertoires and were primarily dependent on prompts for the emission of appropriate vocalizations. A multiple-baseline design across participants was used. Data were collected on instances of stereotypic vocalizations and independent tacts during baseline conditions and on instances of stereotypic vocalizations, independent tacts, and echoic-tacts during intervention. Procedural integrity and social validity data were also obtained. The results indicated a decrease in stereotypic vocalizations for 3 of the 4 participants and a slight increase in appropriate vocal verbal behavior (i.e., tacting) for all participants. The study provides support for the use of tact correction procedures to decrease stereotypic vocalizations and increase appropriate vocalizations in children with autism.     

The Effects of Praising Qualifying Autoclitics on the Frequency of Reading

In the current study, tacts with positive qualifying autoclitics for reading were reinforced in order to determine if this procedure would increase the time spent reading by participants. Participants included 5 children, between 9–10 years old. Participants were individually exposed to 4 free operant sessions during which they were instructed to independently choose play activities. During pre- and post-treatment conditions, no consequences were provided for choosing reading. In addition, 4 treatment sessions were conducted on days separate from the free operant session days, during which the experimenter praised each positive reading-related statement emitted by the participant. Following treatment sessions, 4 out of 5 participants increased the time allocated to reading, suggesting that reading could be increased when praise is delivered contingent upon positive reading-related verbalizations.     

Manipulating motivating operations to facilitate the emergence of mands for a child with autism

Research on the functional independence of verbal operants (Skinner, 1957) has demonstrated inconsistent findings. One explanation may be that these studies have not manipulated the motivating operation (MO) to facilitate the emergence of mands (Hall & Sundberg, 1987; Lamarre & Holland, 1985). In the current study, 1 participant, diagnosed with autism, was taught to tact high-preference and low-preference leisure items, and emergence of mands was tested under varying MO conditions. Results showed the emergence of mands following periods of arranged deprivation, and greater maintenance for a highly preferred relative to a less preferred stimulus. However, mands only emerged when presession tact trials were conducted. These results suggest that in a state of deprivation, transfer of stimulus control from discriminative to motivational conditions may occur without direct training.     

Using Transfer Procedures to Teach Tacts to a Child with Autism

This applied study attempted to evaluate a combination of transfer procedures commonly used to teach tacts to children with autism. A receptive to echoic to tact transfer and an echoic to tact transfer procedure were combined during 5-min instructional sessions to teach tacts to a seven-year-old vocal child with autism. A multiple baseline design across three sets of ten tacts was used. Without the teaching procedure, the child acquired no target tacts. With the 5-min teaching procedure implemented first with Set 1 then with Sets 2 and 3, respectively, the child acquired thirty new tacts over sixty teaching sessions. The results have wide application for children with and without autism who need instruction to learn tacts.     

语用礼貌原则在商务英语中的运用

英语是一种世界性的语言,成为国际间的交际工具。由于国际贸易的迅猛发展,商务英语逐渐显示出自己的语言特征。各种各样的函电往来,业务洽谈,以及合同、协议、单证,无不反映出商务英语的特点。从事国际商务活动的人员在进行商务交际时,不管是商务谈判,还是函电往来,如果只熟悉国际贸易知识,不一定能使商务交际顺利进行。如果能掌握和运用一些语用策略,即语言的表达手段和技巧,就能使商务活动更加顺利地进行,从而达到预期的目的。     

An Introduction to Joint Control

Lowenkron and colleagues (Lowenkron, 1984; 1991; 1998; 2006; Lowenkron and Colvin, 1992) describe a model that explains complex behavior using only well-established behavioral principles, concepts and terms. The model, called joint control, is especially useful for understanding complex and delayed discriminations within a purely behavioral framework and with no appeal to hypothetical concepts or structures. In it the listener is an active behaver rather than a processor of information. In fact, on this account the listener becomes a speaker. Several examples of the relevance of this approach to the explanation of complex behavior are provided, including cases of stimulus selection, conditional discrimination, and generalized identity matching.     

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.     

The Effects of Multiple-Tact and Receptive-Discrimination Training on the Acquisition of Intraverbal Behavior

The purpose of this study was to determine whether multiple-tact training and receptive-discrimination training could be used to teach thematically related vocal intraverbals to typically developing preschool children. Multiple-tact training involved teaching a child to name both the item and the category to which the item belonged. Receptive-discrimination training consisted of teaching a child to select a picture card in the presence of a question from the experimenter regarding the item or its category. When neither of these strategies resulted in substantial increases in intraverbal responses, a typical intraverbal training protocol using tact prompts was implemented. Six typically developing children participated in the study. A multiple-baseline design across word categories was used to evaluate the effects of the three training procedures. Results indicated that both multiple-tact and receptive-discrimination training had minimal effects on the strength of the intraverbal repertoire, whereas direct intraverbal training had a more substantial effect. The results provide some evidence of the functional independence of verbal operants, as well as the independence of listener and speaker repertoires. Receptive-discrimination and multiple-tact training may have facilitated acquisition of intraverbals; however, further research is needed to assess how these repertoires might interact with each other.     

Expanding Vocal Requesting Repertoires via Relational Responding in Adults with Severe Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate untrained vocal requests in three adults with severe developmental disabilities. Specifically, we evaluated whether a history of reinforced relational responding would give rise to untrained vocal requests for novel items. Participants were first taught to request preferred items using their category names. They were then taught conditional discriminations between pictures of preferred items that were categorically related. Finally, participants were tested for their abilities to request items that had not been originally presented during request training, using their category names. All participants demonstrated untrained requests, and for some participants, changes in the mand repertoire were accompanied by changes in the tact repertoire. Some participants also showed generalization of skills across settings.