VerbalBehaviorand

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

Membership in ABA: International

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3500
BA Members
3000

2500

2000
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1996

1997

1998

1999

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Years

2001

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2003

2004

2005

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!
Foranelectronicversionofthis
presentationemail:
marksundberg@astound.net