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36th Annual Convention; San Antonio, TX; 2010

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Symposium #194
Investigation of the Effects of Various Training Methodologies on the Generation of Emergent Responding
Sunday, May 30, 2010
10:30 AM–11:50 AM
214C (CC)
Area: VBC/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis
Chair: Sadie L Lovett (Southern Illinois University)
Discussant: Luis A. Perez Gonzalez (Universidad de Oviedo)
Abstract: Emergent responding is notoriously deficient in many individuals with developmental disabilities (Guess & Baer, 1973; Partington & Bailey, 1993). Therefore it is critical to develop procedures that generate emergent responding for individuals for whom this does not appear to naturally occur. The three studies in this symposium systematically investigate the effects of various training methodologies on the generation of emergent responding in young, typically developing children. In the first study, the investigators examined the effects of multiple exemplar instruction on the emergence of intraverbal categorization responding after training listener categorization responses. In the second study, the investigators attempted to enhance listener training by examining the effects of echoic and native-tact responding in generating novel tact and intraverbal responses. In the third study, the investigators examined the effects of various conditional discriminations, and category and exemplar training on the emergence of intraverbal relations.
 
The Effects of Multiple Exemplar Instruction on Generating Functional Interdependence Between Listener and Intraverbal Categorization Repertoires
SARAH A. LECHAGO (Florida State University), James E. Carr (Auburn University), April Kisamore (Western Michigan University), Laura L. Grow (Munroe-Meyer Institute)
Abstract: The results of the present study extend the literature on multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) by demonstrating that MEI was ineffective in producing functional interdependence between listener and intraverbal categorization repertoires. Four typically developing children between the ages of 3 years 11 months and 4 years 7 months participated in the study in which two categorization types (listener and intraverbal) were targeted. Previous research has demonstrated functional independence between these two categorization response forms (Petursdottir, Carr, Lechago, & Almason, 2008). The present study examined the efficacy of MEI in the form of alternating categorization response forms (listener and intraverbal) during training in producing emergent intraverbal categorization responding after training listener categorization responses. For two participants for whom there was some evidence of functional interdependence between listener and intraverbal categorization repertoires, responding was variable. For the remaining two participants, 72 to 100 MEI training trials produced minimal improvement in responding or no functional interdependence at all. The results are discussed in terms of Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior and naming theory (Horne & Lowe, 1996).
 
Evaluating Effects of Collateral Response Requirements on the Emergence of Verbal Operants Following Listener Training
ANNA I. PETURSDOTTIR (Texas Christian University), Sean Peterson (Texas Christian University), Tracy L. Lepper (Western Michigan University), Meredith K. Jantzen (Texas Christian University)
Abstract: The establishment of listener behavior (for example, via auditory-visual match-to-sample training), does not reliably result in the emergence of untrained vocal-verbal operants among young children. The present study evaluated the effects of enhancing listener training with requirements to emit vocal responses during training trials. The participants were three 4 to 6-year-old children who had no known developmental delays. During standard listener training, the participants were trained to match visual stimuli to spoken foreign-language words. Tokens were delivered contingent on correct stimulus selection, and incorrect selections followed by prompting. In subsequent phases, the token contingency and prompting procedures were successively applied to (1) echoic responses to the sample stimulus, and (2) native-language tacts of the chosen comparison. Effects of the intervention on vocal responding during training trials were evaluated in a multiple-baseline design across behaviors. A multiple-probe design across participants was used to assess the emergence of novel tacts and intraverbals following each training phase. Participants who did not demonstrate emergent tacts and intraverbals to criterion were subsequently exposed to exemplar training until the target tacts and intraverbals were demonstrated at criterion level
 
Effects of Two Training Conditions on the Emergence of Novel Intraverbals
CHARLOTTE LYNN CARP (Texas Christian University), Anna I. Petursdottir (Texas Christian University)
Abstract: Conditional discriminations are ubiquitous in intraverbal repertoires, but few studies have addressed the acquisition of intraverbals under conditional stimulus control. In a study with typically developing kindergarteners, Perez-Gonzalez et al. (2008) demonstrated the emergence of novel conditional stimulus control over intraverbal responses following the training of several intraverbals.The present study extended that study by assessing the separate effects of two training conditions that were combined into one in the previous study. Six typically developing children ages 5 - 7 were first taught A-B (i.e., state to city) and B-C (i.e., city to park) verbal relations (e.g., “Name a city in Florida/Utah”; “Name a park in Branford/Midway”) and then probed on 12 A-B, B-C, B-A, C-B, A-C, C-A verbal relations. If novel intraverbal relations did not emerge, each participant received either category training or exemplar training. In category training, participants were trained to respond with “state”, “city” or “park” given names of states, cities, and parks. In exemplar training, participants were trained to name examples of states, cities, and parks. If novel intraverbals did not emerge,, the participant was also exposed to the other training condition. Preliminary results suggest that both conditions are required for all novel intraverbals to emerge.
 

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