Operant conditioning of speech and language in the nonverbal retarded child. Recent advances

A functional analysis of verbal delay in preschool children: Implications for prevention and total recovery

Delays in acquiring age-appropriate verbal repertoires in preschool children with no known organic etiology may be explained by defective or absent behavior-environmental contingencies. This paper presents six possible behavioral paradigms that describe verbal episodes between parents and their preschool children and how these interactions may inhibit or prevent the acquisition of verbal behavior. These paradigms are contrasted with parent-child interactions that typically result in age-appropriate verbal repertoires. Identifying the reinforcement contingencies that produce delays in acquisition of verbal behavior could lead to the development of more effective behavioral programs for remediating nonorganic language delay. Recommendations for prevention, treatment and total recovery from functional verbal delay and associated mental retardation are presented. The relation between contingency-shaped and rule-governed behavior in the shaping of verbal behavior is discussed.

Using mand training to establish an echoic repertoire in young children with autism

This research describes a method that initially establishes a mand repertoire as the first component in producing echoic and tact repertoires in young children with limited verbal repertoires. The subjects were 3 nonverbal children with autism, aged 2.5 to 3.5 years. The results indicated that establishing a mand repertoire as the starting point for echoic training produced the acquisition of an initial echoic repertoire in all 3 children within the first 10 sessions. Two of the children also began tacting during the same period. A mand repertoire was acquired by all subjects by the sixth session. Negative vocal behavior was rapidly reduced without the use of aversive contingencies by shaping inapproapriate vocalizations into acceptable vocal mands. Our discussion analyzes those contingencies that contribute to the effectiveness of the manding procedure and compares this procedure with the conventional vocal imitation model. We also discuss variables that may contribute to the long-term success of language training programs and describe strategies for preventing language delay in typical infants and children.

The hierarchical relationship between several visual and auditory discriminations and three verbal operants among individuals with developmental disabilities

This study examined the relationship between performance on the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities test (ABLA), two auditory matching tasks, and a test of echoics, tacts, and mands with persons with developmental disabilities. It was found that discrimination skill (visual, auditory-visual, and auditory-auditory discriminations) was a better predictor of performance on verbal operant assessments than level of functioning based on diagnosis. The results showed high test-retest reliability for the test of verbal operants and no hierarchical relationship was found among the three verbal operants. The results suggest that the ABLA Level 6 might be a possible bridging task for teaching echoics, tacts, and mands. Further research is needed to ascertain the relation between the auditory matching tasks and the verbal operants.

A standard methodology for the analysis, recording, and control of verbal behavior

Lack of a standard methodology has been one of the major obstacles preventing advancement of behavior analytic research in verbal behavior. This article presents a standard method for the analysis, recording, and control of verbal behavior that overcomes several major methodological problems that have hindered operant research in verbal behavior. The system divides all verbal behavior into four functional response classes, correct, error, no response, and inappropriate behavior, from which all vocal responses of a subject may be classified and consequated. The effects of contingencies of reinforcement on verbal operants within each category are made immediately visible to the researcher as changes in frequency of response. Incorporating frequency of response within each category as the unit of response allows both rate and probability of verbal response to be utilized as basic dependent variables. This method makes it possible to record and consequate verbal behavior in essentially the same way as any other operant response. It may also facilitate an experimental investigation of Skinner's verbal response categories.

Four-year follow-up study of language impaired children

Children identified as normal or as specifically language impaired (SLI) were given speech, language, and intelligence testing on a longitudinal basis. Fourteen normal and 29 SLI children between the ages of 4 1/2 and 8 years were tested at Time 1. They were retested three to four years later when they were 8 to 12 years old. The results indicated that both the normal and the SLI children continued to develop skills in receptive and expressive language and speech articulation across the 3- to 4-year period intervening between evaluations. Overall, however, the SLI children appeared to develop language skills at a slower than normal rate and 80% of them remained language impaired at Time 2. In addition, the majority of the SLI children manifested reading impairment at Time 2, while none of the normal children did so. The implications for the educational management of SLI children are discussed.

An analysis of the Forum: Issues in education of the severely and profoundly retarded

The May 1979 issue of Exceptional Children presented a three-part forum of issues on the education of severely and profoundly retarded children (Burton & Hirshoren, 1979a, 1979b; Sontag, Certo, & Button, 1979). Different viewpoints were presented, focusing initially on anticipated levels of learning, personnel preparation, and locus of educational services for this population. The authors of the article presented here concluded that apparent errors of fact in the three articles merited an extensive, critical analysis. Here, these errors are identified and discussed. The authors' views are expressed on these and additional topics related to the education and educability of severely and profoundly retarded children.