Association for Behavior Analysis International

The presence and impact of age-related language deficits have been acknowledged both the field within the field of behavior analysis (e.g., Gross, Fuqua, Merritt, 2013; Skinner, 1957; Sundberg 1991) as well as the broader field of gerontology (Cohen-Mansfield & Werner, 1997), though relatively little research has focused on remediation of those deficits. This dearth of intervention research is partly related to the notion that age-related language deficits are the result of biological processes, as well as the limited number of behavior analysts trained to work with older adults. However, there is growing support that environmental variables can and do play a role in language deficits among older adults. This talk symposium will include to empirical talks reviewing data from a studies aimed at the assessment and treatment of age-related language deficits among older adults.

Little is known about the functional deterioration of language in older adults with dementia and in particular, about the weakening of the mand repertoire. Skinner hypothesized that operants maintained by specific sources of reinforcement (i.e., the mand) might be less susceptible to deterioration, though it appears the opposite may be true (i.e., the mand is more susceptible to weakening and the most resilient operants are the echoic and textual) (Skinner, 1957; Gross, Fuqua, Mettitt, 2013). The current study employs a multiple-baseline across participants design to examine the effects of echoic and visual prompts, along with an interrupted-behavior chain procedure to teach mands to elders with dementia and aphasia, as well as a history of strokes. For one participant, visual and echoic prompts were faded completely and independent mands were emitted to the mastery criterion. Data will be collected on additional participants.

Aphasia can severely impact an individual's ability to communicate. However, existing research on interventions is limited. The current study compared different stimulus fading procedures with an older adult diagnosed with aphasia. A multielement within a multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to measure the efficacy of each approach. Results showed that the time delay procedure was more efficient at fading prompts when teaching intraverbals.