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| VRB Mon Noon |
| Monday, May 26, 2014 |
| 12:00 PM–2:00 PM |
| W375a-d (McCormick Place Convention Center) |
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| 89. Comparing the Efficacy of Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing and Behavioral Momentum to Increase Vocal Behavior |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| VINCENT E. CAMPBELL (University of Oregon), Tiffany Kodak (University of Oregon), Patricia Zemantic (University of Oregon), Shaji Haq (University of Oregon), Brittany LeBlanc (University Of Oregon), Marilynn Porritt (University of Oregon) |
| Abstract: Some children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) infrequently emit vocal behavior. Stimulus-stimulus pairing and behavioral momentum are effective interventions for increasing low-probability behavior. The present investigation compared the effects of both interventions on increased levels of target vocalizations. The efficacy of both interventions were compared using an adapted alternating treatments design, embedded in a multiple probe across stimulus sets design with one participant with an ASD. The dependent variables included the rate of target vocalizations (stimulus-stimulus pairing) and the percentage of trials with echoic behavior (behavioral momentum). Mean interobserver agreement exceeded 95% for all dependent variables. In the first intervention comparison, the results indicated that stimulus-stimulus pairing increased the rate of the targeted sound. Behavioral momentum did not result in increased levels of the target sound. In the second intervention comparison, the results indicated that stimulus-stimulus pairing increased the rate of the target sound and behavioral momentum resulted in increased levels of the target sound. Our results indicate that stimulus-stimulus pairing produced more consistent increases vocalizations across stimulus sets. Additional research should evaluate whether increased vocalizations associated with the use of either of these procedures can be subsequently trained as mands. |
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| 90. Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Partial Replication and Treatment Investigation |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| AILA K. DOMMESTRUP (Kennedy Krieger Institute), Jonathan Campbell (University of Kentucky), Scott P. Ardoin (University of Georgia), Ashley H. Dubin (University of Georgia) |
| Abstract: Functional and social communication impairments are common symptoms of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Improving assessment of the functional use of language within this population of children is ongoing and the clinical utility of linking intervention to specific assessment results is growing. The purpose of the experiments included in the current study was to investigate these lines of research for children with ASD. The first experiment sought to replicate and extend use of a functional analysis methodology of verbal behavior (Lerman et al., 2005). Results suggested that this methodology is applicable to implement with children with ASD, and can be successfully completed in a non-clinic setting (e.g., the participant’s home). In the second experiment, the link between assessment results and subsequent intervention was investigated. The sensitivity of the functional analysis of verbal behavior methodology was assessed by conducting a post-intervention assessment in Experiment 3. Findings provided limited evidence supporting the use of assessment results to select more efficient intervention strategies. Post-intervention functional analysis results were also inconsistent but provided helpful information for future directions of this line of research. The limitations and implications of these experiments are also discussed. |
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| 91. CANCELED: The Effects of a Rolling Time Delay Procedure on the Frequency of MO Controlled Mands: A Replication |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| KRYSTL GIORDANO-PADILLA (BEACON Services of Connecticut), Robert K. Ross (Beacon ABA Services) |
| Abstract: Research has identified the rolling time delay (RTD) procedure as an effective strategy for transferring control of manding from environmental variables (multiply controlled mands) to mands under the exclusive control of movitational variables (Sweeney-Kerwin et al., 2007). However, the methodology employed by Sweeney-Kerwin et al., 2007, left room for questioning the source of control over the mand. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of the RTD procedure resulted in the acquisition of MO controlled mands or mands under the control of other environmental variables (specifically history of reinforcement in the instructional setting). An ABABC design was used and the data on the frequency of MO controlled mands for various items was collected. Once the manding was acquired, mands were assessed under novel stimulus conditions (different instructor, setting and activities) as was done in baseline to determine if manding was under the control of other stimuli or exclusively motivational variables. A return to the stimulus conditions in the RTD was conducted to compare rates with the baseline condition. Results demonstrated that the mands taught using the rolling time delay procedure were not MO controlled but multiply controlled mands. |
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| 92. The Effects of Stimulus Control Transfer and Prompting on the Emergence of Pure Mands |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| LINDSAY MEHRKAM (University of Florida), Michele R. Traub (University of Florida), Timothy R. Vollmer (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: Skinner (1957) suggested that mands and tacts are functionally independent verbal operants, in which acquiring one does not automatically result in acquisition of the other. Although several researchers have shown that mands and tacts are functionally independent (e.g., Lamarre & Holland, 1985), more recent research has demonstrated that mands may emerge following tact training. The extent to which stimulus control – both in terms of the presence of reinforcers in the direct environment as well as prompts delivered by a therapist – influence the emergence of mands without prior tact training has not been systematically examined. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of stimulus control transfer (leisure items present and absent) and prompting levels on the emergence of pure and impure mands in an adolescent girl with autism. An A-B-A design was used to first evaluate the relative levels of independent manding in the presence and absence of leisure items. Prompt fading was used once maintenance of independent manding was observed. Further research will examine the generalization of novel mands to other settings and stimuli. |
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| 93. Assessing and Establishing an Abstract Relation Between Tacts and Mands in Early Learners With Autism |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| GENAE HALL (Behavior Analysis Center for Autism, Behavior Analysis & Intervention Services), Jennifer Elia (Columbia University Teacher's College), Mark L. Sundberg (Sundberg and Associates) |
| Abstract: Two early learners with autism were first trained to complete three enjoyable chains of behavior involving three necessary items each. Both participants were taught to make bubbles using a battery-operated bubble machine and assemble and use a ball-rolling toy. Participant A also learned to operate a CD player with headphones and Participant B learned to make a milkshake with a child-sized blender. After the chains were acquired, participants were trained to tact the three items targeted in each chain (nine total). After meeting criterion on all tacts, Participant A was probed on mands for the same items and they did not emerge. Tacts were again probed and since some were weak or the response forms were somewhat unconventional, all tacts were re-trained. Mands for all items were again probed and they did not emerge. One mand for an item in chain #1 (bubbles) was then trained, and the others did not emerge. A second mand in chain #2 (ball run) was then trained, and the others did not emerge. Currently, a third mand in chain #3 (operating CD player) is being trained. This process will continue until untrained mands begin to emerge or all mands are trained directly. Participant B has received training on the nine targeted tacts and has not yet met criterion, apparently due to inconsistent attendance and interfering behaviors. The number of tact targets for this participant has therefore been reduced to three (one for each chain). When she meets criterion, mands for the same items will be probed, then trained (if necessary), as with Participant A. This process will then be repeated with the second and third sets of three. |
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| 94. High and Low Preference Items Strengthens the Emergence of Mand for Children With Autism |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Basic Research |
| NASSIM CHAMEL ELIAS (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos
), Valeria Mendes (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos
), Giovana Escobal (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos), A. Celso Goyos (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos) |
| Abstract: Children with autism greatly benefit from the early learning of mands and other verbal relations. Studies have investigated variables that may contribute to a more effective learning of these skills. One of these variables is the strength of non-verbal stimulus being tacted measured by preference assessment procedures. This study investigated the emergence of mand relations after teaching tacts for high (HP) and low (LP) preference items. Three 5- to- 10-year old children with autism and intellectual disabilities participated, with limited vocal tacts and mands. The procedure consisted of: (1) two paired choice preference assessment to identify a HP and a LP items, (2) teaching the mand task with non-experimental stimuli, (3) mand pre-tests with experimental stimuli, (4) teaching tact with echoic prompt, and (5) mand post-test with experimental stimuli. The results indicated the participants had no prior mand relations for the HP and LP items and, after learning to tact these items, manding emerged for HP and LP items, with a higher frequency for the HP items. The results strengthen previous findings which showed the potentials for the preference assessment procedures and showed that the identification and use of HP stimuli enhances tact acquisition and the emergence of mand relations. |
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| 95. Replication of Shillingsburg's et al. (2009) Evaulation and Training of Yes - No Responding Across Verbal Operants |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| SEBASTIAN GARCIA ZAMBRANO (Horizontes ABA), Omar David Chaves Hernandez (Horizontes ABA Terapia Integral), Laura Carolina Suarez Ordonez (Horizontes ABA Terapia Integral) |
| Abstract: The main objective of this poster was to replicate Shillingsburg, Kelley, Roane, Kisamore and Brown (2009) study of the effect of the training program of yes and no responses across contexts in a child with autism.. A pre-post design was implemented. Initially a pre-assessment with the Basic Language and Learning Skills Revised (ABLLS-R) was conducted to ensure that the verbal operants were present in the childs verbal repertoire. During the pretest phase, we evaluated the yes and no responses under mand, tact, and intraverbal conditions. The intervention was designed based in the Shillingsburg, et al. (2009) study in which the correct response was modeled by the experimenter followed by participants independent response. The criterion for training was 80% in all conditions. For the generalization of the responses, the participant was exposed to the generalization test with a new set of stimuli. Finally a posttest was presented to evaluate the acquisition of discrimination of yes and no responses within verbal operants. The results replicated the results of Shillingsburgs, et al. (2009) study. In the conclusion we discuss the findings of the study and the benefits on multiple exemplar training for the discrimination of yes and no responses with verbal operants. |
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| 96. The Motivating Operation and the Development of Expressive Language Repertoires in Children With Autism |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| ODERAY ALONSO SANCHO-DAVILA (ABA) |
| Abstract: The common behavioural approach to teaching language skills to children with autism is mostly based on a "receptive-before-expressive" instructional model, whereby receptive language is considered to be highly influential in the development of expressive verbal behaviour and as such an - all important pre-requisite when teaching expressive protocols. Based on Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behaviour, and specifically on the functional relation between the Motivating Operation (MO) and the mand it can be argued that children with autism are able to acquire a specific form of expressive language (i.e., mands) without prior receptive training (e.g., Michael, 1988; Bondy, 2001; Sundberg & Michael, 2001). The present study used an alternating treatment design to assess the above statement and determine if the manipulation of the MO was sufficient for 2 pupils with autism to learn to request using colour attributes, that were not yet part of their receptive repertoires. Results suggested receptive language training should not necessarily be considered a mandatory requirement for children with autism to acquire manding repertoires and highlights the importance of a behavioural analysis of the MO in language training. This study is currently being replicated using additional target attributes and an additional manding response form to address for any methodological issues. |
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| 97. Selection-Based Instruction and the Emergence of Topography-Based Responses to Interview Questions: A Dismantling Strategy |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| JOHN O'NEILL (Southern Illinois University), Andrew Blowers (Southern Illinois University Rehabilitation Institute), Ruth Anne Rehfeldt (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The interview process is an important aspect of vocational training and a well executed interview can be very useful when seeking employment. Three individuals with learning disabilities were exposed to a selection-based instructional protocol with a topography-based component intended to teach participants to identify accurate responses to interview questions. A dismantling strategy was employed in order to identify the necessary and sufficient components of the protocol. Participants were exposed to a selection-based protocol, selection-based protocol with audio feedback, and selection-based protocol with audio feedback and a topography-based component, respectively. Prior research suggests that responses are acquired with minimal exposure to the protocol including selection-based responding, audio feedback, and a topography-based component. At posttest, all participants engaged in higher levels of accurate topography-based responses to mock interview questions. Findings suggest that responses may not be readily acquired in the absence of a topography-based component. Results are discussed in terms of the multiple control of verbal behavior and of the distinction between selection-based and topography-based responding. The potential of automated instructional protocols to be included as an aspect of vocational training for young adults with learning disabilities is considered. |
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| 98. Establishment of Naming Trough Multiple Exemplar Instruction in Children With Autism |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| HEIDI SKORGE OLAFF (Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences
), Per Holth (Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences), Hanne Nordvik Ona (Haukeland University Hospital) |
| Abstract: Naming is a higher order verbal operant (Catania, 2007) and is considered a developmental behavioral cusp or verbal capability (Greer & Longano, 2010; Rosales-Ruiz & Baer, 1997). When a higher order operant is established, new behaviors emerge that previously have not been reinforced (or trained directly). Naming has been defined as "a verbal phenomenon wherein a child can emit both listener and speaker responses following occasions in which a child hears a novel tact spoken by another as the child attends to the stimulus that is tacted." (Greer et al., 2007. p. 1) Other researchers (Horne & Lowe, 1996) Have also defined Naming in a similar manner and have shown how Naming is involved in emergent categorizations. This study is a systematic replication of Greer, Stolfi, Chavez-Brown and Rivera-Valdes (2005), and was conducted in Norwegian kindergartens. The experimental design is a non-concurrent multiple baseline design, and the results showed improvement in pure- and impure tacting skills, and listener responding due to multiple exemplar instruction. |
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| 99. The Effectiveness of Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) to Induce Naming in the Applied Setting |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Matthew C. Howarth (Verbal Behavior Associates), KATIE ARTIANO (Verbal Behavior Associates), Gretchen Grundon (Verbal Behavior Associates) |
| Abstract: Contemporary literature suggests that to be truly verbal, the speaker must simultaneously behave as a listener (Greer & Speckman 2009, Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes & Cullinan 2001, Greer & Ross 2008, Horne and Lowe, 1996). Because these two functions of language are initially independent of one another, language development involves the process of joining these two capabilities (Greer, 2009). Multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) has been used as an independent variable to teach Naming-a verbal developmental learning capability that allows a child to simultaneously acquire speaker and listener vocabularies incidentally (Greer & Speckman, 2009). For this poster, we analyzed MEI sample data collected by interventionists delivering ABA services in the home and school based setting. The purpose of this review was to determine the effectiveness of MEI in the applied setting to induce naming in learners with Autism. Of the seven students sampled, six of them acquired the listening component (point to response) of naming, while four of them acquired the speaker responses (pure tact and impure tact). |
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| 100. Effects of Echoic Instruction on Emergence of Listener and Speaker Naming |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| SUKHEE KIM (Kongju National University), Hyejin Shin (Kongju National University), Keynghee Kim (Kongju National University), Keyngsuk Sang (Kongju National University), Nanyoung Kim (Kongju National University), Sunhee Park (Kongju National University), Hye-Suk Lee Park (Kongju National University), Youngmo Yang (Kongju National University) |
| Abstract: The present study tested if teaching to echo names of stimuli during instruction on matching as listener responses to the stimuli would induce untaught pointing as listener Naming and untaught tacts and intraverbal as speaker Naming. A multiple probe design was utilized . A 5-year old male and a 7-year old male with developmental disabilities participated in Experiment I and in Experiment II respectively. Five picture sets of four unknown items in Experiment I and five picture sets of five unknown items in Experiment II were used. Participant A didn't show a clear emergence of speaker Naming after he received 10-trial echoic matching instruction in which he was required to echo twice when he emitted listener responses. Participant B was required to reach to a criterion (90% accuracy for two consecutive sessions) during echoic matching instruction. IOA were obtained 25% of sessions with Participant A and Participant B. The mean of IOA was 86.3% with Participant A and 97% with Participant B. Participant B demonstrated a clear emergence of listener and speaker Naming after he received intervention. Participant B demonstrated a clear generalization of Naming with novel sets of unknown items. Key words: listener Naming, speaker Naming, echoic, matching. |
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| 101. Using Multiple Exemplar Instruction in a Lecture-based Format and the Emergence of Untaught Verbal Operant |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| Dolleen-Day Keohane (Nicholls State University), Jinhyeok Choi (The Faison School for Autism), JOHN TOLSON (Faison School for Autism), Josh Raughley (The Faison School for Autism) |
| Abstract: We tested the effects of Multiple Exemplar Instruction across selection (listener) and production (speaker) responses, presented in a lecture-based format, and subsequent increases in the complexity of untaught verbal operants for four middle school students diagnosed with autism and language delays. The lecture content was based on the Virginia State Standard Curriculum subject areas. The dependent variable was the number of novel written responses to probe trials. During the pre and post-probe sessions, the participants watched an instructional video and were required to answer questions related to the topics presented. The results showed that Multiple Exemplar Instruction, across the topographies measured, was functionally related to the emergence of complex novel verbal operants. |
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| 102. The Training and Assessment of Relational Precursors and Abilities (TARPA): A Correlation With the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III) |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| YORS A. GARCIA (Fundacion Universitaria Konrad Lorenz), Sebastian Garcia Zambrano (Horizontes ABA), Liliana Cristiano (Fundacion Universitaria Konrad Lorenz) |
| Abstract: The aim of this study was to establish a correlation between the Training and Assessment of Relational Precursors and Abilities (TARPA) which is a protocol for the measurement of relational skills underlying language in typically developing children and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test -Third Edition (PPVT-III). In the first stage, receptive language evaluation was performed using the PPVT-III to six typically developing children with ages between 4 and 6 years old. In the second stage, the TARPA assessment procedures were administered to children in several sessions due to students attention and motivation. For each assessment session, the child and the teacher sat down in front of the computer in which the TARPA was presented. In the third stage, the training sessions simple and conditional discriminations with visual stimuli were implemented, where generalized reinforcement on a continuous schedule and social reinforcement provided by the teacher were included. A preliminary result supports the results of Kishita, Ohtsuki & Stewart (2013) with regard to TARPA as a valid protocol for measuring and training derived relational responding. |
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| 103. An Examination of the Effects of Verbal Stimuli, as Identified by the IRAP, on the Rate of Revolutions Pedaled on a Stationary Bicycle |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Basic Research |
| JOVONNIE E-LEAL (Fresno State), Marianne L. Jackson (California State University, Fresno) |
| Abstract: The purpose of the current study was to examine the use of pictorial stimuli and the effect they have on exercise behavior in an analogue setting. The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure was used to assess preferred outcomes of exercise for each participant. Current research in Relational Frame Theory suggests that stimuli related to these outcomes should function as motivational augmentals, a type of rule-governed behavior that can temporarily alter the value of a reinforcer and increase behavior related to it. Participants were undergraduate students at California State University, Fresno. Photos of preferred outcomes of exercise were presented on a screen positioned directly in front of a stationary bicycle and the rate of revolutions was recorded. An imagery condition was also examined; it prompted participants to imagine preferred consequences to examine whether imagining consequences in the absence of photos had similar effects. An alternating treatments design was used in the study. Results suggest revolutions pedaled did not increase significantly across participants in the presence of the pictorial stimuli. There was a slight increase in revolutions pedaled within imagery conditions but the increase was not significant. The study raised a number of issues and suggests future directions for the use of pictorial stimuli as motivational augmentals in exercise settings. |
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| 104. Contextual Control of Roulette Through the Use of Natural Contingencies |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Basic Research |
| RACHEL ENOCH (Southern Illinois University), Mark R. Dixon (Southern Illinois University) |
| Abstract: The present experiment investigated the impact of contextually trained discrimination on gambling behavior using the game of roulette. Four recreational novel roulette players were exposed to the roulette game and bet on either red or black. The participants contacted the natural contingencies for win and loss depending on where the wheel naturally landed. Results of the study indicate that after being exposed to the relational responding task, participants allocated the majority of their betting to red, which was paired with positive stimuli opposed to black, which was paired with negative stimuli. |
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| 105. The Effects of Category Tact Training on the Emergence of Analogical Reasoning |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Basic Research |
| CAREEN SUZANNE MEYER (California State University, Sacramento), Charisse Ann Lantaya (California State University, Sacramento), Caio F. Miguel (California State University, Sacramento), Danielle LaFrance (California State University, Sacramento) |
| Abstract: Previous research suggests that analogical responding, as measured by the formation of equivalence-equivalence classes, can be produced in the laboratory via tact training of stimulus compounds, as long as participants can also differentially respond to separate components. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of tact training of individual components of stimulus compounds on the emergence of analogical reasoning. Three undergraduate students were presented with individual images belonging to one of two three-member classes, and trained to tact components with membership in class one (e.g., A1) as "vek" and class two (eg., A2) as "zog." Participants were then presented with tact and matching-to-sample analogy tests for emergent baseline (AB and BC), symmetry (BA and CB), and transitivity (AC and CA) relations with compounds comprised of both class-consistent and class-inconsistent components. In addition, participants completed a component relations test to assess equivalence class formation among individual components of these compounds. All participants passed without remedial training. Results suggest that speaker training, specifically category tact training was sufficient for establishing discriminative control over components in a compound, two distinct equivalence classes, and analogical responding (equivalence-equivalence). |
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| 106. Teaching Children with Autism to Derive Rules |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| MELISSA NISSEN (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Sarah A. Lechago (University of Houston-Clear Lake) |
| Abstract: The present study taught children with autism to derive rules of antecedent and behavior specifying contingencies in the form of if/then rules. Using multiple exemplar instruction (MEI), the current study trained multiple sets of rules and assessed emergent responding of rule derivation to untrained sets of rules. Participants were placed in dyads, to assess the validity of those derived rules, investigating if a peer with autism would follow the rule derived by the fellow peer with autism. The flexibility of the rule was also assessed using an intraverbal rule reversal. For both participants, MEI was effective and highly efficient in teaching rule-derivation and emergent responding was observed to untrained sets of rules. In the dyad, one participant did derive rules independently, while the other did not show rule derivation. One participant showed strict rule rigidity, while the other showed flexibility in the order of the rule. Avenues for future research are discussed. |
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| 107. Further Analysis of Rule Construction and Rule Following Repertoires |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Theory |
| JONAS FERNANDES GAMBA (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos), Ana K. Arantes Leme (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos), A. Celso Goyos (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos
) |
| Abstract: Distinct theories have discussed how rules can be a high complex and important class. In a verbal episode, rules can benefit the speaker, e.g., when the speaker uses the rules to control the environment at his/her own favor. The listener, in his/her turn, can benefit from rules when it allows him/her to act faster than when the said behavior is mainly modeled from direct contact with the contingencies. Our goal in this study is to present a conceptual analysis about rule construction and following repertoires acquisition based on behavioral terms. After that, we intend to discuss how this repertoire is established as a high order operant behavior. For this, we are considering jointly the definitions of tact, mand, listener behavior, and motivational operation as a starting point in order to provide functional analysis of rule acquisition and rule following behavior. Furthermore, we canvass the experimental verbal behavior protocols to find whether it can be used to investigate rule acquisition and to which extent they are consistent with Skinners Verbal Behavior interpretation. Finally, we discuss how this analysis integrates with other behavioral theories of language such as the Naming Theory and the Relational Frame Theory. |
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| 108. Verbal Behavior Developmental Theory: The General Outlines of the Theory |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Theory |
| DJENANE BRASIL DA CONCEIÇÃO (Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos - UFSCar ), R. Douglas Greer (Columbia University Teachers College), Jennifer Lee (Columbia University Teachers College) |
| Abstract: Verbal Behavior Developmental Theory (Greer, 2009) offers an account of how verbal behavior evolves within the individual’s lifespan as a result of experiences in the environment, including how untaught verbal behavior emerges. The theory was recently developed from the applied research with typically and atypically developing children, and points out milestones, cusps and capabilities which are the critical components of verbal behavior. The verbal developmental path begins with a preverbal child, moves toward the emergence of independent listener and speaker functions, and reaches the joining of the listener and speaker functions, related to more complex verbal behavior. Going further than just describing the milestones, the theory shows how to induce missing cusps and capabilities through research-based protocols, thereby advancing the child’s verbal development, one of its most important achievements. This work aims to present the general outline of the theory, including the Naming capability, and its related protocols, a powerful model that has proven to be efficient in inducing improvements in the verbal behavior of children with and without disabilities. |
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| 109. Computer-Based Instruction of Contextually Controlled Stimulus Equivalence Classes and Topography-Based Responding in University Students |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| SADIE L. LOVETT (Central Washington University) |
| Abstract: The use of a computer-based stimulus equivalence protocol in the instruction of advanced learners was examined. Additionally, the emergence of topography-based responding following a selection-based training procedure was evaluated. Participants were trained on relations between the names, pictures, and chemical compositions of three different minerals. Tests for equivalence and tests to evaluate the emergence of topography-based tact responses to each stimulus were then administered. Participants were then trained and tested on relations for three additional minerals. Training on relations between members of the separate sets of mineral classes was then conducted using contextual cues identifying that the minerals were similar in regards to belonging to the same mineral class or having the same hardness rating. Participants were then tested to evaluate contextual control of the merger of the equivalence classes. Results show that equivalence relations emerged between the stimuli with contextual control shown for one of the two contextual cues, and selection-based training is sufficient to produce proficiency in a topography-based response format. |
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| 110. Using SAFMEDS to Promote Fluency with Skinner’s Verbal Behavior Terms in Undergraduate Students in Saudi Arabia |
| Area: VBC; Domain: Applied Research |
| MICHELLE P. KELLY (Dar Al-Hekma College) |
| Abstract: This research study was a replication and extension of “A Case Study Using SAFMEDS to Promote Fluency with Skinner’s Verbal Behavior Terms” by Fawna Stockwell and John Eshleman (2010), published in the Journal of Precision Teaching and Celeration. Using a deck of 60 Say All Fast a Minute Every Day Shuffled (SAFMEDS) cards, the aim was for each student to establish a fluent verbal repertoire related to the key terms of Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior. Each of the six students in the undergraduate course Analysis of Verbal Behavior participated. Five participants speak and write English fluently as second-language learners and one participant is bi-lingual with fluent English and Arabic repertoires. By utilizing see definition/ say term SAFMEDS to reach a fluent performance in terminology from the course (at least 40 correct responses with 2 errors or less in one minute), specific products of fluency were achieved. These outcomes included the retention of information, stable responding in distracting settings, application of material to novel situations, and the ability to meet performance standards (Stockwell & Eshleman, 2010). Standard Celeration Charts and video footage will be utilized to demonstrate performance gains. |
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| Keyword(s): poster session |