Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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AutismIntervention
MarkL.Sundberg,Ph.D.,BCBA
marksundberg@astound.net
Introduction
ItwassuggestedbyDr.GinaGreen(2005)atlastyears
ABAconventionthatlanguagetrainingproceduresfor
childrenwithautismthatarebasedonSkinners(1957)
analysisofverbalbehaviorshouldnotbedisseminated
untildatasupportingthoseproceduresareobtained
ThecurrentpresentationisaresponsetoDr.Greens
concernsabouttheuseofSkinnersanalysisofverbal
behaviorforlanguageassessmentandinterventionfor
childrenwithautism
Introduction
Behavioralinterventionsingeneralhavebeenquitesuccessfulfor
childrenwithautism
Withthissuccesscomesgoodnewsandbadnews
Thegoodnews...
Increaseinthedemandforbehavioralservices
Increaseintherecognitionofbehavioranalysis
IncreaseinthedemandforBCABAs&BCBAs
Increaseinthedemandfortraininganduniversitycourses
Increaseinthedemandforteachersofbehavioranalysis
Increaseinresearchopportunities
IncreaseinABA:Internationalmembership
MembershipinABA:International
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BA Members
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Years
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Introduction
However,withthissuccessthereissomebadnews
Everybodyisnowanexpertinbehavioranalysis
Widespreaddisseminationofbehavioraltechniquesand
services,oftenbyunqualifiedpeople
Simplifyingtheconceptsandproceduresbeyondrecognition
Commontoseeprocedurespromotedwithouttheanalysis
ParallelstoBmodandeducationinthe60s?
Whathappenedtothepromiseofbehaviormodification?
Similarconcernsforthecurrentpopularityoftheuseof
behavioranalysisforthetreatmentofchildrenwithautism
Introduction
Whatconstitutesabehavioralapproachtotreatmentofchildrenwithautism?
Consumersmustbeconfused.Therearemanymodelsoutthere,oftenquitedifferentfrom
eachother,butallclaimingtobeabehavioralapproach
DTT
Lovaasmodel
CARDmodel
ABA
Pivotalresponsetraining
VBapproach
CABAS
Competentlearnermodel
Naturallanguageparadigm
Milieulanguagetraining
Incidentalteaching
Introduction
Inaddition,therearemany
otherapproachesand
treatmentssuchas...
Floortime
RDI
SonRise
Holdingtherapy
TEACCH
Secretion
Auditorytraining
Sensoryintegration
Weightedjackets
Deeppressure
Specialdiets
Vitamins
Medications
Swimmingwithdolphins
Decompressionchambers
Chelation
Facilitatedcommunication
Introduction
ThankstotheeffortsofDr.GinaGreenandothers,manyofthese
pseudoscientificapproacheshavebeenidentifiedandconsumershavebeen
warnedabouttheirineffectivenessandevenpotentialdangertochildren
However,atleastyearsABAconventionDr.GreenaddedtheVerbalBehavior
Approachtoherlistofpseudoscientificapproachesandsuggestedthatithad
similaritiestofacilitatedcommunication
InherrecentpresentationattheNYABAtitledVerbalBehavior;An
evidencebasedtechnologyforautismintervention?Dr.Green(2005)
concludedtheVBapproachtoautisminterventiondoesnotappeartomeet
acceptedcriteriaforevidencebasedpracticeortransferablebehavioral
technology
Othershaveexpressesconcernaboutthedisseminationofverbalbehavior
procedures.CarrandFirth(2005)statedlittleresearchexiststosupportsuch
widespreaddissemination(oftheVBapproach)
Introduction
Thepurposeofthecurrentpresentationistoaddresstheconcerns
raisedbyDr.Green,CarrandFirth,andothersaboutthe
unwarranteddisseminationoftheverbalbehaviorapproachto
languagetrainingforchildrenwithautism
Thegoalistoclarifywhatconstitutesaverbalbehavior
approach,whiledemonstratingitsempiricalfoundation,on
goingresearchagenda,itsvaluetochildrenwithautism,and
hopefully,togetDr.Greentoremoveverbalbehaviorfromher
listofpseudosciences
WhatConstitutesaVerbalBehavior
ApproachtoAutismTreatment?
First,IshareDr.Greensconcernfortheneedforadditionalverbal
behaviorresearch.Ibelievethispointisuncontroversial.
(Sundberg,1991:301ResearchtopicsfromSkinnersbookVerbal
Behavior)
Verbalbehaviorresearchwastheprimarypurposeforstartingthe
journalTheAnalysisofVerbalBehavior,nowinits22ndVolume,
andpublishedbyABA:International
Second,IstronglyshareDr.Greensconcernabouttheimproper
disseminationofbehavioralconceptsandprocedures
And,herconcernsabouttheubiquitousdisseminationof
pseudoscientifictreatmentsforchildrenwithautism
WhatConstitutesaVerbalBehavior
ApproachtoAutismTreatment?
Thebasicteachingproceduresconsistofthestandardmethodology
foundinappliedbehavioranalysis(e.g.,Cooper,Heron,&Heward,
1987)
Prompting
Fading
Pairing
Modeling
Shaping
Chaining
Differentialreinforcementprocedures(e.g.,DRO,DRI,DRL)
Intermittentreinforcementprocedures(e.g.,FR,VR,FI,VI)
WhatConstitutesaVerbalBehavior
ApproachtoAutismTreatment?
Extinctionprocedures(e.g.,plannedignoring)
Punishmentprocedures(e.g.,reprimands)
Generalization
Discriminationtraining
Errorlesslearning
Transferofstimuluscontrol
Taskanalysis
Fluencyprocedures
Contingencycontracting
Tokeneconomies
WhatConstitutesaVerbalBehavior
ApproachtoAutismTreatment?
Additionalproceduralelementsinclude,forexample....
Individualizedassessmentandinterventionprogram
Frequentopportunitiestorespond
Useofdiscretetrialteachingprocedures
Incidental&naturalenvironmentteachingprocedures
Datacollection
Intersperseltechniques
Behavioralmomentumtechniques
Peerandsocialinteraction
Functionalanalyses
Ongoinganalysesofperformancebyformallytrainedbehavioranalysts
WhatConstitutesaVerbalBehavior
ApproachtoAutismTreatment?
Theseproceduresare(tovaryingdegrees)commontomost
behavioralinterventionprogramsforchildrenwithautism
(e.g.,Greer&Keohane,2006:Howard,Sparkman,Cohen,
Green,&Stanislaw,2005;Koegel&Koegel,1996;Leaf&
McEachin,1999;Lovaas,2003;Maurice,Green,&Luce,
1996:Sundberg&Partington,1998),andthusallbenefitfrom
thesameempiricalfoundationfoundinappliedbehavior
analysis
However,theseprogramsvarysubstantiallyintermstheir
treatmentoflanguage
WhatConstitutesaVerbalBehavior
ApproachtoAutismTreatment?
Themajordifferencebetweentheverbalbehaviorprogramsandthemajorityof
discretetrial(DTT)andABAprogramsavailableintheliteratureisthe
conceptualanalysisoflanguagethatunderliestheassessmentandcurriculum
usedineachprogram
Howislanguagemeasured,classified,andassessed?Whatistheunitof
analysis?Whatcausestheemissionofwordsandsentences?Howislanguage
acquired?Whatcauseslanguageerrorsanddeficits?
MostDTT/ABAprogramsarebasedonthetraditionallinguisticclassification
systemofexpressiveandreceptivelanguage,andtheassociatedvernacular,
concepts,andtheoreticalconstructsrelatedtolanguage,whichhasitsrootsin
cognitivepsychology
TheverbalbehaviorapproachemploysSkinners(1957)functionalanalysisof
language,whichhasitsrootsinradicalbehaviorism
SkinnersAnalysisof
VerbalBehavior
Languageislearnedbehaviorunderthefunctionalcontrolofenvironmental
contingencies
Whathappenswhenamanspeaksorrespondstospeechisclearlyaquestion
abouthumanbehaviorandhenceaquestiontobeansweredwiththeconcepts
andtechniquesofpsychologyasanexperimentalscienceofbehavior
(Skinner,1957,p.5)
Theanalysisofverbalbehaviorinvolvesthesamebehavioralprinciplesand
conceptsthatmakeuptheanalysisofnonverbalbehavior.Nonewprinciples
ofbehaviorarerequired
Chapter1ofVerbalBehavioristitledAFunctionalAnalysisofVerbal
Behavior
InChapter2Skinneridentifiesthedependentandindependentvariablesfora
functionalanalysisofverbalbehavior
AFunctionalAnalysisofVerbalBehavior:
TheBasicPrinciplesofOperantBehavior
StimulusControl(SD)
MotivatingOperation(MO/EO)
Response
Reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Conditionedreinforcement
Conditionedpunishment
Intermittentreinforcement
SkinnersAnalysisof
VerbalBehavior
Thetraditionallinguisticclassificationofwords,sentences,andphrasesas
expressiveandreceptivelanguageblendsimportantfunctionaldistinctions
betweentypesofoperantbehavior,andappealstocognitiveexplanations
forthecausesoflanguagebehavior(Skinner,1957,Chapter1)
Thus,inChapter1ofVBSkinnerrecommendsagainstwhathasbecomethe
linguisticfoundationofmostDTTandABAprograms
Whiletherearemanyconceptualandpracticaldistinctionsbetweena
cognitiveandbehavioranalysisoflanguage,thispresentationwillfocuson:
Researchonthedistinctionbetweenthemand,tact,andintraverbal
Afunctionalanalysisofverbalassessmentandintervention
SkinnersAnalysisof
VerbalBehavior
AtthecoreofSkinnersanalysisoflanguageisthedistinctionbetween
themand,tact,andintraverbal(traditionallyallclassifiedasexpressive
language)
Isthereconceptualandempiricalsupportforthisdistinction?
Skinneridentifiedthreeseparatesourcesofantecedentcontrolforthese
verbaloperants
EO/MOcontrol>Mand
NonverbalSD>Tact
VerbalSD>Intraverbal
Incognitiveanalysesoflanguagethesethreesourcesarecommonly
groupedtogetherundertherubricofreferentormeaning
SkinnersAnalysisof
VerbalBehavior
Theempiricalquestionis:Arethesethreeantecedent
variablesfunctionallyseparate,oristherenovaluein
makingthisdistinction?
Fromaclinicalstandpoint,thetwomostcommon
languageproblemsdemonstratedbychildrenwithautism
thatIhaveencounteredoverthepast32yearsisa
defectivemandrepertoireand/oradefective
intraverbalrepertoire,despiteoftenhavingstrongtact
andlistenerdiscriminationrepertoires
Charlie:QuickAssessment
4
3
2
1
0
Nathan:QuickAssessment
4
3
2
1
0
Matt:QuickAssessment
4
3
2
1
0
TheDistinctionBetweenthe
MandandtheTact
Basedonthedistinctionbetweentheestablishingoperation(EO/MO)
andstimuluscontrol(SD)asseparatesourcesofcontrol
Skinnerianpsychology(radicalbehaviorism,seeSkinner,1974)has
alwaysmaintainedthatmotivationalcontrolisdifferentfromstimulus
control
InBehaviorofOrganisms(Skinner,1938)Skinnerdevotedtwo
chapterstothetreatmentofmotivation;Chapter9titledDriveand
Chapter10titledDriveandConditioning:TheInteractionofTwo
Variables
SkinneralsomadeitclearinthesectiontitledDrive(is)Nota
Stimulus(pp.374376)thatmotivationisnotthesameas
discriminative,unconditioned,orconditionedstimuli
TheDistinctionBetweenthe
MandandtheTact
KellerandSchoenfeld(1950)titledChapter9Motivationand
furtherdevelopedSkinnerspoint,Adriveisnotastimulus(p.
276),andsuggestedanewdescriptiveterm...establishing
operation(p.271)
InScienceandHumanBehavior(1953)Skinnerdevotedthree
chapterstomotivation:Chapter9:DeprivationandSatiation,
Chapter10:Emotion,andChapter11:Aversion,Avoidance,
Anxiety
InVerbalBehavior(1957)Skinnerhadafullchapteronmotivation
andlanguage(TheMand),andthroughoutthebookprovidedmany
elaborationsonmotivationalcontrolasanantecedentvariable
TheDistinctionBetweenthe
MandandtheTact
HollandandSkinners(1961)bookcontainedfourchapterson
motivation;Chapters7:Deprivation,8:EmotionI,9:
AvoidanceandEscapeBehavior,and10:EmotionII
Millenson(1968)containedfourchaptersonmotivationand
presentedanexcellentsummaryoftherelevantempiricalresearch
(p.364384);Chapters15:MotivationI,16:MotivationII,17:
AversiveContingencies,and18:EmotionalBehavior
However,thetopicofmotivationwasforthemostpartdropped
fromthefirstgenerationofAppliedBehaviorAnalysis/Behavior
ModificationtextbooksthatfollowedMillensonsbook(e.g.,
Fantino&Logan,1979;Kazden,1975;Martin&Pear,1978;
Powers&Osborne,1976;Whaley&Malott,1971)
TheDistinctionBetweenthe
MandandtheTact
Inexplainingwhathappentotheanalysisofmotivationinbehavioranalysis,
Michael(1993)pointedout,Inappliedbehavioranalysisorbehavior
modification,theconceptofreinforcementseemstohavetakenovermuchofthe
subjectmatterthatwasonceconsideredapartofthetopicofmotivation(p.
191)
Therewasashiftfromtheanalysisofmotivationasanantecedentvariableto
motivationasaconsequence
Inaddition,motivationasatopicofresearchwasabsentfromthebehavioral
journals.Forexample,TheJournalofAppliedBehaviorAnalysiscontainedno
entriesforestablishingoperationsormotivationinthecumulativeindex
(1978)coveringthefirst10yearsofpublication
Duringthenext10years(19791988)therewerestillnoentriesforestablishing
operation.However,therewere5entriesformotivation,buttheyallinvolved
theuseofmotivationasaconsequence,ratherthanasanantecedentvariable
TheDistinctionBetweenthe
MandandtheTact
Motivationasanantecedentvariablehasreturnedtobehavior
analysistextbooksandnowisacommontopicinJABAthanksto
JackMichael,BrianIwata,WayneFisher,andothers
TheJABAindexfortheyears19992005contains29entriesfor
theEO,and2fortheMO(motivatingoperations)
Malott,Whaley,&Malott(1997)containsafullchapteronthe
EO.Catania(1998),Martin&Paer(2002),andPierce&Epling
(1995)allcontainanalysesofmotivationthroughouttheirbooks
The2ndEditionoftheCooper,Heron,&HewardbookApplied
BehaviorAnalysis(Inpress)containsafullchapteronmotivation
aswellasafullchapteronSkinnersanalysisofverbalbehavior
ClinicalValueofEOandtheMandto
Childrenwithautism
Manychildrenwithautismhaveabsentordefectivemand
repertoires
Mandingisacriticalpartofatypicalchildslanguage
development
Tacttrainingdoesnottypicallyproducemandinginearlylearners
Afunctionalanalysisofthechildsverbalbehavioroftenreveals
thattheresponsecalledamandorarequestisnotunderEO
control,butratherSDcontrol,thusnot,bydefinitionamand
DefectiveMandAlly
EO
Doesnotevokeamand
______________________________________________________
EO
Doesnotevokeamand
Object
______________________________________________________
Intraverbalprompt
(e.g.Signcookie)
Evokesaresponse
Imitativeprompt
(notamand)
(ASLsign)
____________________________________________________________________
ASampleofthePublishedEmpiricalResearchon
theEO,andtheMandandTact
Hung(1980)
Simic&Bucher(1980)
Lamarre&Holland(1985)
Pierce,Epling,&Boer(1986)
Hall&Sundberg(1987)
Carroll&Hesse,(1987)
Stafford,Sundberg,&Braam(1988)
Yamamoto&Mochizuki(1988)
McPherson&Osborne(1988)
DeFreitas&Ribeiro(1989)
Sigafoos,Doss,&Reichle(1989)
Sundberg,SanJuan,Dawdy,&Arguelles(1990)
ASampleofthePublishedEmpiricalResearch
ontheEO,andtheMandandTact
Sigafoos,Reichle,Doss,Hall,&Pettitt(1990)
Baer&Detrich(1990)
Braam&Sundberg(1991)
Sprague&Horner(1992)
Williams&Greer(1993)
Twyman(1996)
Drasgow,Halle,&Ostrosky(1998)
Drash,High,&Tudor(1999)
Brown,Wacker,Derby,Peck,Richman,&Sasso(2000)
Knutson&Harding(2000)
BarnesHolmes&BarnesHolmes(2000)
Goh,Iwata,&DeLeon(2000)
ASampleofthePublishedEmpiricalResearch
ontheEO,andtheMandandTact
Sundberg,Loeb,Hale,&Eigenheer(2002)
Arntzen&Almas(2002)
Ewing,Magee,&Ellis(2002)
Winborn,Wacker,Richman,Asmus,&Geier(2002)
Chambers&Rehfeldt(2003)
Ross&Greer(2003)
NuzzoloGomez&Greer(2004)
Taylor,Hoch,Potter,Rodriguez,Spinnato,&Kalaigian(2005)
Petursdottir,Carr,&Michael(2005)
Hartman&Klatt(2005)
Wallace,Iwata,&Hanley(2006)
Sweeney, Carbone, OBrien, Zecchin, & Janecky (2006)
ASampleofthePublishedEmpiricalResearch
ontheEO,andtheMandandTact
Taylor,Hoch,Potter,Rodriguez,Spinnato,&Kalaigian(2005)
EOmustbepresenttoevokemands(initiationstopeers)
Petursdottir,Carr,&Michael(2005)
Mandtrainingresultedintacts,buttacttrainingdidnotresultinmands
Theredoesntappeartobeabodyofresearchthatcontradictstheseparationofthemand
andtactatthetimeofinitialacquisition,ormandingwithoutEOs
Empiricalresearchreviews:
Greer,R.D.,&KeohaneD.(2005).Theevolutionofverbalbehaviorinchildren.
BehavioralDevelopment,1,3148.
Oah,S.,&Dickinson,A.M.(1989).Areviewofempiricalstudiesonverbalbehavior.
TheAnalysisofVerbalBehavior,7,5368.
Sautter,R.,&LeBlanc,L.(2006).TheempiricalapplicationsofSkinnersanalysisof
verbalbehaviorwithhumans.TheAnalysisofVerbalBehavior.
ASampleofthePublishedEmpiricalResearch
ontheEO,andtheMandandTact
EOandMandresearchacrossavarietyofpopulationswithsimilareffects
Childrenwithautism(e.g.,Ross&Greer,2003)
Languagedelayedchildren(e.g.,Twyman,1996)
Typicalchildren(e.g.,Petursdottir,Carr,&Michael,2005)
Deaf/autisticteenagerse.g.,(Hall&Sundberg,1987)
Childrenwithdevelopmentaldisabilities(e.g.,Sigafoos,Doss,&Reichle,1989)
Adultswithdevelopmentaldisabilities(e.g.,Chambers & Rehfeldt, 2003)
Adultswithtraumaticbraininjury(e.g.,Sundberg, San Juan, Dawdy, &
Arguelles,1990)
Pigeons(e.g.,Sundberg,1985)
Rats(e.g.,Pierce,Epling,&Boer,1986)
Chimpanzees(e.g.,SavageRumbaugh,1984)
Parrots(e.g.,Pepperberg,1988)
ASampleofthePublishedEmpiricalResearch
ontheEO,andtheMandandTact
EOandMandresearchandreviewsacrossavarietyofbehavioraljournals
JEAB (e.g., Lamarre & Holland, 1985)
JABA (e.g., Wallace, Iwata, & Hanley, 2006)
TAVB(e.g.,Petursdottir,Carr,&Michael,2005)
TBA(e.g.,Michael,1993)
Behavioral Development (e.g., Greer & Koehane, 2005)
Research in Developmental Disabilities(e.g.,Taylor,Hoch,etal.,2005)
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities (e.g., Hung, 1980)
Behavior Modification (e.g., Rogers-Warren & Warren, 1980)
Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention (e.g.,Pistoljevic&Greer,
2006)
EOAntecedentControlandMand
AssessmentandIntervention
inDTTandABAPrograms
Lovaas,1977,1981,2003(clearlythemostinfluential,outcomedata)
Expressivereceptiveframeworkforlanguage
Terminologyandanalysisderivedfromtraditionallinguistics
NomentionofEO/motivationantecedentcontrol
AlllanguageskillsarepresentedasSDcontrol
ClosestmandtrainingactivityistheIWant___programfoundlatein
theprogram(betweentheadjectiveandprepositionchapters).
Requestingdoesnotappearinthe2003index
Nofocusonthefactthatasingleword,phrase,orsentencecanbestrong
inonerepertoireandnotanother
Nofunctionalanalysisofwordsasbehavior
HowABAisperceivedinthepress:
TimeMagazine,May15,2006
Biasedpresentationofbehavioranalysisandanexcellentbehavioralprogramthatis
clearlyguidedbybehavioralprinciples,includingtheanalysisofVB,EOs,etc.
Floortimepresentedwithaveryfavorablebias,despitetheacknowledgedlackofdata.
Greenspanisrespondingwithaseriesofstudiesjustgettingunderway
WhatdoesFloortimehavethatthereporterseemedsoimpressedwith?
David,6,goesdownaslideagainandagain.Ateacherplayfullyblockshisway,She
wantshimto...sayMove.She'sgotanagenda;hedoesn'tknowit.Hekeepsgoingback
formorebecauseit'sfun....Knowingtoask...ispartoflearningtoregulateoneself.
Manding!!!
Wehavetheanalysisanddata.Floortimegetsthecredit
Howaboutnaturalenvironmentteaching,makinglearningfun,andpairing?Again,we
havetheanalysisanddata,Floortimegetsthecredit
DTT/ABAcannotaffordtowaitanylonger,oritwillgotherouteofeducationinthe60s
TheDistinctionBetweenthe
theTactandtheIntraverbal
Asubstantialnumberofchildrenwithautismhaveextensivetact
andRDrepertoires,butaweak,absent,ordefectiveintraverbal
repertoire
Theexistingbodyofresearchsupportstheconceptualanalysis
thataresponseacquiredundernonverbalstimuluscontrolmaynot
automaticallytransfertoverbalstimuluscontrol
Forexample,achildmaybeabletosayPoolwhenheseesa
swimmingpool(NonverbalSD),butnotsayPoolwhenasked
Wheredoyougoswimming?(VerbalSD)
EmpiricalResearchontheDistinction
BetweentheTactandIntraverbal
Braam&Poling(1983)
Chase,Johnson,&SulzerAzaroff(1985)
Luciano(1986)
Daly(1987)
Lodhi&Greer(1989)
Tenenbaum&Wolking(1989)
Watkins,PackTeixeira,&Howard(1989)
Sundberg,SanJuan,Dawdy,&Arguelles(1990)
Partington&Bailey(1993)
Sundberg,Endicott,&Eigenheer(2000)
Finkel&Williams(2001)
Miguel,Petursdottir,&Carr(2005)
EmpiricalResearchontheDistinction
BetweentheTactandIntraverbal
Twoexamplesofresearch
Braam&Poling(1983)foundthatchildrenwithautismwhocouldemit
specificresponsesundertactcontrolcouldnotemitthesameresponseforms
underintraverbalcontrol.TransferofstimuluscontrolbetweennonverbalS Ds
andverbalstimuliweresuccessful
Miguel,Petursdottir,&Carr(2005)replicatedthebasicproceduresfrom
BraamandPoling(1983)andconcludedwhileparticipantswereableto
tactandpointtothepicturestheywerenotnecessarilyabletoreliably
producethematicallyrelatedintraverbalresponses(until)intraverbaltraining
wasused
Nobodyofresearchhasemergedtoshowthetactandintraverbalarethesame
ClinicalValueofVerbalStimulusControl
andtheIntraverbaltoChildrenwithAutism
Manychildrenwithautismhaveabsentordefectiveintraverbalrepertoires
Verbalbehaviorevokedbyverbaldiscriminativestimuliconstituteasignificantelement
ofhumanverbalinteraction
Afunctionalanalysisofthechildwithautismsverbalbehavioroftenrevealsthatthe
responsecalledintraverbalorconversationalisnotunderverbalstimuluscontrol,but
ratherundernonverbalstimuluscontrol,orEOcontrol,thusbydefinition,notan
intraverbal
Manycommonverbalerrorsbychildrenwithautismarerelatedtodefectiveverbal
stimuluscontrol
Verbalstimuluscontrolisextremelycomplicated,usuallyinvolvingverbalconditional
discriminationswhereoneverbalstimulusalterstheevocativeeffectofanotherverbal
stimulus(e.g.,Whatdoyouweartothebeach?vs.Whatdoyoutaketothebeach?)
VerbalStimulusControlandVerbal
ConditionalDiscriminationsinABA
Researchonverbalstimuluscontrol,conditionaldiscriminations,
andespeciallyverbalconditionaldiscriminationsisabsentfromthe
appliedjournals
AreviewoftheJABAindexesfrom1968to2005showsonly5
entriesforconditionaldiscriminations,andnoneforverbal
conditionaldiscriminations
Thus,liketheEOandthemand,theantecedentvariablesthatevoke
intraverbalbehaviorhavenotbeenafocusofbehavioralresearch
However,thereisnoargumentthatmuchofourverbalbehavioris
controlledbyverbalSDs(e.g.,answeringquestions)
VerbalStimulusControlandIntraverbal
AssessmentandIntervention
inDTTandABAPrograms
Lovaas(1977,1981,2003)
Nosectionsonansweringquestions,fillins,verbal
categories,etc.orwhatcouldbeidentifiedasintraverbal
training
Nomentionofverbalantecedentcontrolofverbal
behavior(allunderreceptivelanguage)
Nomentionofverbalconditionaldiscriminations
Cognitivetheoryofwords,referents,andmeaningsdrives
thelanguagecurriculum
SummaryoftheEmpiricalResearch
SupportingVerbalBehavior
Sautter&LeBlanc(2006)
ThevolumeofempiricalsupportforSkinners(1957)analysisofverbal
behaviorhasincreasedthreefoldoverthepast15years.
Todate,empiricalinvestigationshaveprovidedinitialsupportfor...
Skinnersnotionoffunctionalindependence,
theimportanceofthemandasthepreliminaryfocusoflanguagetraining,
theutilityoftransferofstimuluscontrolprocedures
thebenefitsofmultiplycontrolledlanguageintheacquisition
anddevelopmentofmorecomplexverbalbehavior
thenotionoftheestablishingoperationasacriticalcontrollingvariable
forthemand
SummaryoftheEmpiricalResearch
SupportingVerbalBehavior
Greer&Koehane(2005)
Whilealargeportionoftheliteratureonverbalbehaviorhas
beentheoretical,wehaveidentifiedover88experimentsdevoted
totestingthetheory.Inourprogramofresearchwehave
completedapproximately44experimentsandanumberof
replications(Greer&Koehane,2005,p.32).
SummaryoftheEmpiricalResearch
SupportingVerbalBehavior
Horne&Lowe(1996)Naming
Horne,Hughes,&Lowe(2006)concludethatarouteforfuture
researchmaybetoconcentratedirectlyontheextraordinary
behavioralrepertoiresthatwetermlanguageorverbalbehavior
andtheissueofhowittransformshumanlearning.Skinner
(1957)hadclearlyrecognizedtheimportanceofthisbehavior
andhadbeguntoestablishatheoreticalframeworkforlanguage
research....Thenamingaccount...inconjunctionwiththepresent
seriesofexperimentaltests,isanattempttoadvancethistheory
andtoestablishacoherentempiricalbaseforitsfurther
development(p.271)
Conclusion
Thereisarapidlygrowingbodyofempiricalresearchsupporting
variousaspectsofSkinnersanalysisofverbalbehavior
Thisconferencehascontainedmanyexcellentexamplesofverbal
behaviorresearchonawiderangeoftopics(includingpickuplines)
Therearenocontradictorylinesofresearchonthedistinctionbetween
themand,tact,andintraverbal
TheVBapproachisjustbehavioranalysis
TheVBapproachsharesthesameproceduresandmethodsasthe
otherbehavioralapproaches,butisbasedonafunctionalratherthan
structuralanalysisoflanguage
Conclusion
Shouldwecontinuetodisseminateverbalbehaviorprocedures?
Sundberg&Michael(2001)suggestedfivemajorcontributionsthat
Skinnersanalysisofverbalbehaviorcouldmaketotheexisting
DTT/ABAprogramsforchildrenwithautism:
Mandtraining
Motivation(EO)asanindependentvariableinlanguagetraining
Intraverbaltraining
Automaticreinforcement
Afunctionalanalysisofverbalresponses,verbalerrors,language
assessment,andcurriculumdevelopment
Conclusion
Isthereenoughempiricalsupportforthedisseminationofthese
suggestions?
Mandtraining
Yes
Motivation(EO)asanindependentvariable
Yes
Intraverbaltraining
Yes
Automaticreinforcement
No(but,seeTimVollmerspresentationat11amthismorning)
Afunctionalanalysisofverbalresponses,verbalerrors,language
assessment,andcurriculumdevelopment
Yes
Conclusion
TheVBapproachissimplynormativeappliedbehavioranalysis
withafewrefinements.Thatis,itincorporatesallofthestandard
methodologyofappliedbehavioranalysis,butitexplicitlyadopts
Skinner'sinterpretiveframeworkforanalyzingverbalcontingencies.
Inotherwords,itisasmallvariationonamethodologythathasan
enormousempiricalfoundation.Theworstcasescenarioisthatthe
addedframeworkdoesn'thelp.Buteveninthatcasethechildisstill
gettingafullfledgedprogramofappliedbehavioranalysis
procedures.Itissimplyhardtobelievethatasetofprocedures
guidedonlybyadistinctionbetweenreceptiveandexpressive
languagecanbeassharpasonethatrespectsallofthevarioustypes
ofcontingenciesanalyzedbySkinner(Palmer,2005)
Conclusions
Recommendations
Continuetoconductexperimentalandapplied
researchonverbalbehavior(Carr&Firth,2005;
Sautter&LeBlanc,2006;Sundberg,1991)
Conductcasehistories
ObtainmoreVBoutcomedata
Conclusion
In1978B.F.Skinnerwrote
VerbalBehaviorwill,Ibelieve,proveto
bemymostimportantwork(p.122)
Letsgetonwiththeproving!
ThankYou!
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