"Spontaneous" transfer of stimulus control from tact to mand contingencies

An important issue in teaching verbal behavior to persons with severe handicaps is the transfer of stimulus control from tact (e.g., naming) to mand (e.g., requesting) relationships. Previous research has shown that topographies taught as tacts frequently fail to appear as mands unless transfer between these two response classes is explicitly programmed. Procedures promoting this transfer would provide a necessary instructional tool. Transfer from tact to mand contingencies was investigated in two adults with severe mental retardation. Correct pointing responses to line drawing symbols depicting the utensils required to access previously requested food (beverage) items were assessed prior to and following tact intervention. Mands for two of three utensils emerged following tact intervention. The results suggest transfer from tact variables to the conditioned establishing operation may be facilitated by the prior development of a minimal mand repertoire.     

Teaching intraverbal behavior to children with autism

Skinner's conceptual analysis of language has influenced one model of early and intensive behavioral intervention with children, which incorporates verbal operants including mands, tacts, intraverbals, etc. Many studies have examined the mand and tact relations, with little focus on teaching intraverbal behavior. In the present experiment, children with autism were taught intraverbals using a transfer-of-stimulus-control procedure (i.e., tact to intraverbal) in combination with errorless learning (i.e., delayed prompting). Three children were successfully taught to name items associated with preselected categories (e.g., “What are some colors?”) with limited generalization to a fourth, non-targeted category, and limited maintenance of skills.     

Comparisons of intervention components within augmentative and alternative communication systems for individuals with developmental disabilities: A review of the literature

Decisions regarding augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for individuals with developmental disabilities (e.g. what AAC to use and how to teach a person to use a specific AAC modality) should involve consideration of different intervention component options. In an effort to elucidate such decisions and options, this review synthesized 14 studies, published between 2004 and 2012, comparing different AAC intervention components including different symbol sets, instructional strategies, or speech output within aided AAC systems, and different verbal operants within unaided AAC. Evidence supported the following: (a) different instructional strategies such as building motivation, using errorless learning, or adding video models to picture exchange interventions may improve the acquisition or rate of acquisition of picture exchange mands, (b) limited data supports training mimetic (imitated) or mand signs over tacts and (c) differences in symbol sets and speech output levels appeared to have little effect on AAC-based mand acquisition, but listener-based differences should be considered. These findings have implications for future research and clinical practice.     

Training and generalization of yes and no as mands in two autistic children

This study presented a practical and replicable procedure to train and generalize the use of “yes” and “no” as mands by a nonverbal boy and a previously echolalic girl, both diagnosed as autistic. The procedure used systematic modeling and reinforcement with detailed criterion for introducing and terminating the training stimuli. The subjects were first trained to use yes and no to mand three food items, following the stimulus question “Do you want ...?” and presentation of a food item. The teachers then tested the subjects for generalization of the two mands to successive sets of new food items. The results showed that the nonverbal subject needed to be trained on five sets of food items before generalization occurred. The previously echolalic subject generalized and maintained the two mands after being trained on only one set of items. The study thus demonstrated that the procedure was effective in training two useful mands for the autistic children, and that after such training, the behavior may then generalize to new items without training. Specific response patterns and the importance of intermittent modeling and arrangement of reinforcers in the training are discussed.     

Assessing the acquisition and generalization of two mand forms with adults with severe developmental disabilities

The purpose of this study was to determine whether manual sign or the Picture Exchange Communication System (P.E.C.S.) (Frost and Bondy, 1994) would be more effective in teaching mand skills to adults with mental retardation in the severe and profound range. Four participants were taught to mand for four reinforcing items using both communication modalities, in an alternating treatments design. Three of four participants demonstrated criterion performance across all four mands using P.E.C.S. first. Two of those three participants later demonstrated criterion performance for the mands using manual sign. The fourth participant was removed from the study during training due to illness, but her progress indicated greater acquisition with P.E.C.S. Generalization probes conducted at participants' respective residences showed that three participants demonstrated generalization across settings using P.E.C.S., and two participants demonstrated generalization across settings using manual sign. Participants were also more likely to mand for reinforcing items not present using P.E.C.S. than using manual sign.     

Effects of fixed-ratio schedule values on concurrent mands in children with autism

Interventions with children with autism often involve more than one concurrent schedule or reinforcement. Manipulation of one schedule of reinforcement may affect responding on a second. We demonstrated the effect of manipulating the schedule of reinforcement for a single high-rate mand on alternative concurrently available mands with two children with autism. Teachers conducted sessions in the participant's usual teaching environment. When the schedule value for all mands was FR1, a single mand occurred at a high rate while all other mands occurred at low rates for both participants and response variability was low. When the schedule of reinforcement for the high-rate mand increased to FR10 for one participant and to FR25 for the second participant, and all other mands remained on FR1 schedules, the high-rate mand decreased while the combined rate of all other mands increased. There was also some evidence of increased response variability. We discuss the affects of schedule values during concurrent schedules and implications for increasing variability in manding.     

Evaluation of a pre-treatment assessment to select mand topographies for functional communication training

Recent research has suggested that variables related to specific mand topographies targeted during functional communication training (FCT) can affect treatment outcomes. These include effort, novelty of mands, previous relationships with problem behavior, and preference. However, there is little extant research on procedures for identifying which mand topographies to incorporate into FCT. In the current study, a mand topography assessment was conducted following functional analyses to identify the proficiency with which individuals used several different mand topographies. Two mand topographies (high and low proficiency) were then compared during FCT-based treatments. FCT was more effective when the mand topography identified as high proficiency was incorporated into FCT as compared to FCT that included the lower proficiency response. The results are discussed in terms of the need for individualized assessment procedures for selecting mand topographies that are targeted during FCT.     

An evaluation of strategies to maintain mands at practical levels

In order to teach individuals with developmental disabilities to request stimuli they are motivated to obtain (mand), it is often necessary to initially deliver the item requested immediately and frequently. This may result in an undesirably high rate of mands that is impractical to maintain. The purpose of the current investigation was to extend the findings of previous research on the maintenance of low-rate mands within a communication-training context for children diagnosed with autism by evaluating the efficacy of two procedures: (1) signaled delay-to-reinforcement and (2) multiple schedules. The results of our evaluation of multiple schedules replicated those of previous research; this arrangement was found for all participants to be effective in maintaining mands at low rates under multiple schedules with a 270-s extinction component and 30-s reinforcement component. For all participants, signaled delay-to-reinforcement was ineffective in maintaining mands at the terminal criterion, a 270-s delay.     

The effect of motivating operations on the transfer from tacts to mands for children diagnosed with autism

This study examined the effect of motivating operations (MO) on the emergence of a mand following tact training. Two children with autism were taught to tact a high-preferred (HP) edible identified through a preference assessment. The children were then tested to see if a mand for the HP edible emerged under deprivation (24+ h) and pre-session exposure (immediately prior to the mand test) test conditions. Following tact training, both participants manded for the HP edible in the deprivation condition but little to no responding occurred in the pre-session exposure condition. The results from this study suggest that a tact-to-mand transfer may occur under certain conditions.     

Collateral effects of mand training for children with autism

Proponents of the verbal behavior approach to instruction for individuals with autism have identified mand training as a starting point for early intervention. Mand training is a process whereby the learner is taught to request highly preferred items under conditions when those items are most valuable. A hypothesized benefit of this approach is that mand training has a collateral effect on nontargeted behavior, though empirical support for this hypothesis is currently tenuous. The present investigation examined the collateral effects of vocal mand training compared to vocal request training for 3 previously nonvocal children with autism. Levels of orienting toward a speaker, compliance with instruction, and overall problem behavior were measured across experimental conditions and analyzed using an alternating treatment design. Results indicate that problem behavior for all participants occurred at lower levels during mand training than request training and that the level of nontargeted social behavior (i.e., orienting and compliance) was higher during mand training for 2 participants and was similar across both conditions for the final participant. The results support the hypothesis that mand training can have a collateral impact on nontargeted behavior, though explicit instruction of social behaviors may also need to be embedded within mand training procedures.     

Teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorder to ask questions: A systematic review

This review involved a systematic search and analysis of studies aimed at teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to ask questions (i.e., teaching mands for information). A systematic search of databases, reference lists, and journals identified 21 studies that met predetermined inclusion criteria. Included studies were then summarized in terms of (a) participant characteristics, (b) dependent variables (e.g., types of question-asking skills that were taught), (c) intervention procedures, (d) research designs, and (e) outcomes. All 21 studies reported that participants acquired or improved in the targeted question-asking skills. The most common intervention components included (a) echoic prompts and systematic fading procedures (e.g., time delay), (b) positive reinforcement via provision of requested information and/or access to preferred items or activities, and (c) contriving situations to motivate specific questions (i.e., creating establishing operations). Implications for practitioners and directions for future research are discussed.     

The effects of a conversation prompt procedure on independent play

This study used a multiple baseline design (ABCAD) to determine whether teaching children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) to tact private events would function as a conditioned reinforcer for teaching non-preferred play activities. In this study, 10 children, aged between 5.3 and 8.9 years of age, were taught to tact a set of private events (e.g., fun, bored, easy, hard) after engaging in selected preferred, and non-preferred, play activities. These ‘typical’ language exchanges were built into existing individual activity play schedules, and were designed to prompt a conversational unit after a play period of up to 10 min. This conversational unit was designed to serve as a conditioned reinforcer for the activity under observation. The results show that having access to a set of tacts for putatively private events could function as a conditioned reinforcer when teaching non-preferred play activities, reduced off-task play behavior, while revealing a measurable increase in spontaneous language, emitted both during the targeted play sessions.     

Facilitating derived requesting skills with a touchscreen tablet computer for children with autism spectrum disorder

Two experiments were conducted employing derived relational responding and conditioned motivating operations to establish untaught mands with 11 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who lacked a vocal repertoire. Following formal language assessments and preference assessments, a multi-stage automated protocol was implemented on touchscreen tablet computers. Children were first taught to mand by picture exchange for missing items necessary to play with a toy and then learned to conditionally relate the dictated names of the items to the corresponding pictures of the items (A-B training) and to relate the dictated names to the corresponding printed words (A-C training). Test probes, in the absence of reinforcement, were presented to determine whether or not participants would mand for the missing items using text exchange (hence demonstrating derived manding/requesting). Probes for spontaneous matching (B-C and C-B) and labeling (B-A and C-A) were also presented in both experiments, one of which employed a pretest/posttest design and the other a multiple probe across participants design. Across both experiments, all but one of the participants showed evidence of derived requesting and derived stimulus relations. Implications for research on high-tech devices for facilitating independent communication skills of children with ASD and for derived relational responding approaches to verbal operants are discussed.     

Comparing the effectiveness of error-correction strategies in discrete trial training

Error-correction strategies are essential considerations for behavior analysts implementing discrete trial training with children with autism. The research literature, however, is still lacking in the number of studies that compare and evaluate error-correction procedures. The purpose of this study was to compare two error-correction strategies: Independent Probe and Delay across learners with autism in an intensive intervention program. Two studies were conducted. The first study compared the two procedures across receptive tasks for 3 individuals, and differential effects were seen across learners. The second study compared the two procedures across tact trials with two of the same learners and found that individual differences were noted, but in addition, the more effective error-correction strategy was consistent across the two verbal operants (i.e., receptive in Study 1, tacts in Study 2). These combined studies suggest the effectiveness of error-correction strategies may be individualized to the learner but may generalize across operants.     

The effects of fixed ratio values on concurrent mand and play responses

Three children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disabilities emitted a high rate of mands and a low-to-zero rate of appropriate play responses when the two responses were reinforced on concurrent Fixed Ratio 1 (FR1) schedules. When mands were reinforced on an FR10 schedule and play responses were concurrently reinforced on an FR1 schedule, play responses increased. Two participants' mands decreased from baseline levels but were maintained, and the third participant's mands increased. Implications of the use of choice procedures for clinical settings are discussed.     

Behavioral treatment of chronic skin-picking in individuals with developmental disabilities: A systematic review

Skin-picking is a type of self-injurious behavior involving the pulling, scratching, lancing, digging, or gouging of one's own body. It is associated with social impairment, and increased medical and mental health concerns. While there are several reports showing that skin-picking is common in individuals with developmental disabilities, knowledge about effective treatment approaches is sparse. We therefore reviewed studies involving the treatment of chronic skin-picking in individuals with developmental disabilities. Systematic searches of electronic databases, journals, and reference lists identified 16 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of: (a) participants, (b) functional assessment procedures and results, (c) intervention procedures, (d) results of the intervention, and (e) certainty of evidence. Across the 16 studies, intervention was provided to a total of 19 participants aged 6–42 years. Functional assessment procedures included direct observations, analog functional analyses, and functional assessment interviews. The most commonly identified function was automatic reinforcement. Treatment approaches included combinations of differential reinforcement, providing preferred items and activities stimuli (e.g., toys), wearing protective clothing (e.g., helmets or gloves), response interruption and redirection, punishment, and extinction. Improvements in behavior were reported in all of the reviewed studies. Suggestions for future intervention research are offered.     

Differential impact of response effort within a response chain on use of mands in a student with autism

We investigated the effects of response effort on the use of mands during functional communication training (FCT) in a participant with autism. The number of links in a picture exchange response chain determined two levels of response effort. Each level was paired with a fixed ratio (FR3) schedule of reinforcement for aggression in a reversal design. Responding to either schedule produced access to a preferred item. The participant opted for the low effort mand while aggression decreased significantly. However, the high effort mand did not compete with the FR3 schedule for aggression. Results are discussed in terms of response effort within a response chain of a picture exchange system and competing ratio schedules for problem behavior during mand training.     

Promoting generalization of mands for information used by young children with autism

We investigated the extent to which mands for information taught using structured teaching trials (i.e., verbal discriminative stimulus, verbal prompts, and programmed consequences) while contriving the establishing operations to young children with autism generalized to novel stimuli and settings. Three students with autism participated in this study and were taught to mand for information using “where” during structured teaching trials. We conducted generalization probes in a hierarchical fashion to determine the extent to which generalization occurred. Manding for information did not completely generalize to natural settings when specific verbal cues were removed and that training in the natural setting in the absence of verbal cues was required for all three participants before generalized responding occurred.