Acquisition of a non-vocal ‘language’ by aphasic children

Alphasic children with serious language deficits were taught to communicate via a system of visual symbols originally devised by David Premack (1969) for use with chimpanzees. The subjects, lacking normal language, readily learned to express several language functions in this way (word, sentence, class-concept, question, negation). The linguistic status of ‘Premackese’ is questioned, and it is suggested that it is better viewed as a communication system. It may, therefore, be that the aphasic children lack some specifically linguistic ability.     

Self-monitoring and self-reinforcement processes in a pre-transsexual boy

Young boys with normal male physical status who manifest feminine gender-role behavior and verbalize a cross-gender identity are high-risk for later adult sexual adjustment problems, e.g., transsexualism and homosexual conflicts (Bakwin, 1968; Lebovitz, 1972; Stoller, 1968; Zuger, 1966). In the only published experimental treatment studies on child gender disturbance in which replication procedures were used, Rekers and his colleagues empirically demonstrated external stimulus control and reinforcement control over pronounced feminine behavior in young boys with serious gender identity and behavior disturbance (Rekers and Lovaas, 1974; Rekers, Lovaas and Low, 1974; Rekers, Willis, Yates, Rosen and Low, in press; Rekers, Yates, Willis, Rosen and Taubman, 1976). To potentially minimize the previously reported stimulus specificity of the extrinsic reinforcement effects, this study introduces, for the first time, behavioral self-control strategies to decrease feminine behavior in a cross-gender identified boy. A 6-year-old boy was taught to self-monitor his own sex-role behavior, and then to self-reinforce gender-appropriate responding. A behavioral cueing procedure was used during the initial phases of the training of self-monitoring.     

Contingent reinforcement of lowered blood-alcohol levels in an outpatient chronic alcoholic

Recently. the proposition that alcohol abuse is an operant behavior and thus functionally related to its consequences has been investigated under experimental conditions. In controlled laboratory settings, in which inpatient chronic alcoholics are allowed access to alcoholic beverages, alcohol consumption has been markedly altered via operant strategies. Monetary rewards (Cohen et al., 1971), the opportunity to participate in an enriched environment (Cohen et al., 1971). and visits to a girlfriend (Bigelow et al., 1973) have been used as reinforcers for decreased drinking.Other investigators (Sulzer, 1965; Miller, 1972: Hunt and Azrin, 1973) have successfully applied similar contingency management techniques to alcoholics in the natural environment. However, failure to control for the influence of extraneous therapeutic variables (e.g., attention-placebo factors, job counseling) together with reliance on self-report measures of drinking behavior seriously limit the conclusiveness of these results. Objective assessment is particularly essential with operant techniques since consequent events must be systematically scheduled upon the occurrence or non-occurrence of drinking. Documentation of drinking in the natural environment is a difficult task since the alcoholic frequently consumes alcohol when he is alone. In lieu of direct observation, blood alcohol concentrations are an obvious means of objective assessment. Such data are most conveniently obtained via breath tests similar to the ones that law enforcement officers utilize to identify intoxicated motorists.The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of reinforcement contingencies on lowering blood alcohol concentrations obtained in an alcoholic's natural environment.     

Feedback to attendants as a reinforcer for applying operant techniques

After varying lengths of baseline, initiation of a feedback system increased the daily use of operant training methods by non-professional hall personnel in a state institution for retarded children.     

The emergence of untrained mands and tacts in children with autism

Despite Skinner's (1957) assertion that verbal operants are initially functionally independent, recent studies have suggested that in some cases the acquisition of one verbal operant (e.g., mand) gives rise to the other (e.g., tact) without explicit training. The present study aimed to evaluate the functional independence of mands and tacts during instruction with children with autism. Four boys with autism (3 to 6 years old) were taught to construct two 4‐piece structures. Two participants were taught directly to mand, whereas the other 2 were taught to tact the names of the pieces. The effects of training were evaluated in a multiple probe design across verbal operants and tasks. Three of the 4 participants demonstrated an immediate transfer of control from 1 verbal operant to the other. These results were consistent with previous research with typically developing young children.     

Cultural transmission through infant signs: Objects and actions in U.S. and Taiwan

Infant signs are intentionally taught/learned symbolic gestures which can be used to represent objects, actions, requests, and mental state. Through infant signs, parents and infants begin to communicate specific concepts earlier than children’s first spoken language. This study examines whether cultural differences in language are reflected in children’s and parents’ use of infant signs. Parents speaking East Asian languages with their children utilize verbs more often than do English-speaking mothers; and compared to their English-learning peers, Chinese children are more likely to learn verbs as they first acquire spoken words. By comparing parents’ and infants’ use of infant signs in the U.S. and Taiwan, we investigate cultural differences of noun/object versus verb/action bias before children’s first language. Parents reported their own and their children's use of first infant signs retrospectively. Results show that cultural differences in parents’ and children’s infant sign use were consistent with research on early words, reflecting cultural differences in communication functions (referential versus regulatory) and child-rearing goals (independent versus interdependent). The current study provides evidence that intergenerational transmission of culture through symbols begins prior to oral language.     

Play desensitization of fear of darkness in preschool children.

Systematic desensitization therapy (SDT) is considered to be a technique of established effectiveness in reducing monosymptomatic fears (Paul, 1969a, 1969b), yet little systematic research has been done to investigate the merit of desensitization procedures in modifying children's behavior. The few available controlled studies (Miller et al., 1972; Obler and Terwilliger, 1970; Oliver, 1971) on desensitization with children have produced equivocal results. Although imagery and relaxation have been reported of benefit when used separately (Graziano and Kean, 1971; Lazarus and Abramovitz, 1962), evidence suggests that the usual combination of imagery and relaxation is not effective in reducing children's fears (Miller et al., 1972). Investigators in this area have often modified traditional SDT to include alternatives to imagery such as pictures, drawings, play (Cassell, 1965; Lazarus, 1960; Obler and Terwilliger, 1970; Patterson, 1965), or in vivo exposure to the feared stimulus (Obler and Terwilliger, 1970). Relaxation has often been replaced with other responses thought to be incompatible with anxiety such as eating (Jones, 1924). Another deviation from traditional SDT has been the delivery of positive reinforcement (food, praise, or toys) contingent upon the child's approaching the feared object (Obler and Terwilliger, 1970; Patterson, 1965). On the basis of such varied techniques, it is impossible to determine which of these procedures constitutes an effective treatment method for children. In the following study, three desensitization procedures involving graded exposure to the feared stimulus (darkness) through symbolic play, were compared to no-treatment and placebo control groups under differing instructional sets. Treatments were designed to determine the therapeutic efficacy of play as a method of stimulus presentation with children, and to determine whether reciprocal inhibition, extinction, operant reinforcement, or instructional set contribute to fear reduction in desensitization with children.     

Japanese Sound‐Symbolism Facilitates Word Learning in English‐Speaking Children

Sound‐symbolism is the nonarbitrary link between the sound and meaning of a word. Japanese‐speaking children performed better in a verb generalization task when they were taught novel sound‐symbolic verbs, created based on existing Japanese sound‐symbolic words, than novel nonsound‐symbolic verbs ( Imai, Kita, Nagumo, & Okada, 2008 ). A question remained as to whether the Japanese children had picked up regularities in the Japanese sound‐symbolic lexicon or were sensitive to universal sound‐symbolism. The present study aimed to provide support for the latter. In a verb generalization task, English‐speaking 3‐year‐olds were taught novel sound‐symbolic verbs, created based on Japanese sound‐symbolism, or novel nonsound‐symbolic verbs. English‐speaking children performed better with the sound‐symbolic verbs, just like Japanese‐speaking children. We concluded that children are sensitive to universal sound‐symbolism and can utilize it in word learning and generalization, regardless of their native language.     

Equivalence class formation in language-able and language-disabled children

Stimulus equivalence seems to have relevance to the study of semantics and of language more generally. If so, there may be a relation between language use and the demonstration of stimulus equivalence. This was examined in three groups of children ranging in chronological age and matched on a conventional measure of mental age: normally developing preschoolers, retarded children who used speech or signs spontaneously and appropriately, and retarded children who did not. All children were taught a series of four related discriminations and were then tested to determine if classes of equivalent stimuli had formed. All of the language-able children (retarded and normal) formed equivalence classes, whereas none of the language-disabled children did so. Although the exact nature of the relation between stimulus equivalence and language remains to be clarified, these results support the view that stimulus equivalence is a phenomenon with relevance to language.     

Evaluating children's use of symbol in some recent research

This paper explores a number of examples of what appeared to be recurring symbolic expressions of spirituality found in my recent research into the spiritual experiences of children in Victorian State primary schools. These expressions appeared in drawings and in conversation. In this paper I use hermeneutic phenomenology and a multidisciplinary approach to the literature, to explore the nature of symbol, in particular, the symbols of island, snake and mountain. I examine the children's use of these symbols, with their multiple meanings and function, to gain a greater understanding of their individual and collective spirituality and well‐being. This study can have applications in religious education. Through their symbolic expressions children may be enabled to explore meaning in their lives, and advance in their spiritual development. Moreover, examination by children of their own symbols may provide a bridge to understanding and exploring core ideas of religious faith, which are mainly expressed in metaphoric language. Exploring symbols can provide a way for children to exercise the imagination, grounded in bodily experience, to achieve open and enriching spiritual outcomes.     

Effects of behavioral training on the functioning of a profoundly retarded microcephalic teenager with cerebral palsy and without language or verbal comprehension: A case study

In previous investigations (Jacobson, Berger, Bergman, Millham and Greeson, 1971; Jacobson and Greeson, 1972), it was reported that as a result of the use of a behavior modification program, preschool children from poverty backgrounds demonstrated rapid conceptual acquisition. In addition, the Ss increased from the dull-normal to the normal range of intellectual functioning within approximately 20 hr of program participation. Since the increases in IQ found were most pronounced for children of lowest IQ (IQs = 46–83), the investigators hypothesized that the program would prove to be useful with Ss of greater cognitive and behavioral deficits than the initial population investigated.The present study reports the use of a variant of the conceptual acquisition program with an institutionalized, profoundly retarded microcephalic teenager with chronic brain syndrome and cerebral palsy. Prior to the study the boy demonstrated neither language nor an ability to comprehend and follow verbal directions.     

Comparison of sign versus verbal symbol training in retarded adults

Sign language as an alternative or as an augmentive system to verbal language training in the mentally retarded is in widespread use. This study began an exploration of the relationship between sign and verbal learning in 10 institutionalized severely mentally retarded adults. Three experimental groups were taught color labels. Three persons received sign training only, 4 more received verbal training only, and last 3 received combined verbal and sign training. Sign labels tended to be learned more efficiently than verbal labels by this small group. Combined sign and verbal training improved verbal learning whereas sign learning was not improved through the combined approach. Replication and extension of this preliminary work with a larger and more representative sample is needed.     

TRANSFER BETWEEN RECEPTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE LANGUAGE IN DEVELOPMENT ALLY DISABLED CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between receptive and productive language acquisition in developmentally disabled children. A single-subject operant methodology was employed to evaluate the effect of training in one mode on performance in the other mode. Noun labels for pictured objects were used as the unit of analysis. Six children with severe language deficits participated in the experiment. Each subject learning to identify a different set of five pictures in each of four successively administered training conditions. In the first condition, a set of pictures was trained in the productive mode. In the second condition, a different set was trained in the receptive mode. These training conditions were then repeated using two additional sets of pictures. Training was done using reinforcement for correct responses and prompting for incorrect responses. Nonreinforced probes were conducted throughout training to assess performance in the untrained mode. The pictures in each set were trained successively so that transfer across the language modes could be studied separately for each response trained. All subjects successfully met the criteria for learning each picture set in both the receptive and productive training conditions. The probe data showed that opposite-modality performance improved as a function of both types of training, although performance levels differed. After productive training, five of six subjects' performance was highly accurate on receptive probes. By contrast, receptive training resulted in limited correct productive performance. Transfer from receptive training was negatively related to subjects' use of extra-experimental labels on productive probe trials. In addition to these competing response errors, subjects frequently made articulation errors. The findings suggest that for retarded children similar to those studied here, productive training will be sufficient to establish accurate receptive performance on vocabulary tasks. However, receptive training does not appear to be either a necessary or a sufficient condition for productive performance. The results do not support the reception-then-production training sequence based on normal language development.     

Are models necessary?

Modelling is currently one of the most successful and popular ways of dealing with some neurotic problems. It is based on a social learning theory that amongst other virtues takes into account cognitive variables. helps shed light on the aetiology of some neurotic disorders (Rachman. 1972). and seems particularly relevant to the understanding of much child behaviour.The technique of the modelling treatment has been refined over the years, largely through the work of Bandura, and the contention to date has been that behavioural improvement is brought about by vicarious processes (Bandura, 1969). However, since a modelling procedure by necessity involves exposure to a phobic object it is possible that vicarious processes are in fact redundant and that improvement is affected by ‘straightforward’ extinction processes. In short the contention is that interaction with a model disguises the fact that the modelling situation is no more than a modified flooding session. In one of the few studies to test this hypothesis Bandura, Grusec and Menlove (1967) found that exposure alone resulted in some gains for dog-phobic children, but that these changes were neither as great nor as stable as those achieved by similar children in a modelling treatment. Other indirect evidence for this hypothesis can be found by-relating the amount of exposure to the phobic object to outcome in modelling studies. Despite obvious difficulties in cross-trial comparison, rate of success for longer exposure treatments would constitute some support, albeit very tentative, for this hypothesis. Unfortunately, few of the studies contained enough reliable information on the relevant variables to reveal much. Bandura et al. (1967) used 80 min of exposure in all, with success rates of 70%, whilst less exposure time resulted in worse outcome in studies by Spiegler et al. (1969) and Ritter (1969). However, against this, Hill et al. (1968) and Rimm and Mahoney (1969) both report good results with brief participant modelling. The fact that participant modelling seems to be more beneficial than symbolic modelling, may be regarded as some support for the exposure hypothesis, since presumably exposure in these cases is more intense.However, these studies are largely indirect and one test of the hypothesis requires a comparison between groups one of which is exposed to both phobic object and model interaction (symbolic modelling) and one of which is exposed just to the phobic object.     

Mode-relations in language learning by language-deficient retarded subjects

The relationship between language comprehension and production was examined with two severely language-deficient retarded subjects who were taught the plural form /z/. Comprehension and production were trained concurrently with different words in each mode until correct plural use occurred in the untrained mode for each word. Subsequent training of reversed plural use in comprehension for one subject and production for the other failed to result in reversed plural use in the untrained modes for those words. This mode-independence contrasted with interdependence displayed by normal children in earlier study using similar procedures. The results are discussed in relation to the normal developmental process and the possible deviation from it.     

Maintaining disulfiram ingestion among outpatient alcoholics: a security-deposit contingency contracting procedure

Disulfiram is frequently prescribed to alcoholic patients as a deterrent to drinking. Although ingestion of ethanol by a disulfiram patient quickly results in an intense dysphonc reaction, the drug is not generally credited with significant value in alcoholism treatment (Mottin, 1973). It is suggested that most alcoholics simply stop taking the medication (Gerrein et al., 1973). and review articles conclude that motivation for abstinence is the crucial variable involved in successful disulfiram treatment (Ditman, 1966: Mottin, 1973).Motivation may be a characteristic of environmental contingencies rather than of individuals. If so, environmental contingencies should permit one to design into a disulfiram treatment progrim the requisite motivation to achieve therapeutic success. Contingency management procedures supporting disulfiram ingestion reported to date (Liebson et al., 1973: Haynes, 1973) have been of the sort to be imposed upon difficult populations rather than offered to general treatment applicants. Contingency contracting may represent a technique for supporting disulfiram ingestion appropriate to the broader general population of voluntary alcoholism treatment applicants. Contingency contract treatment (Homme, 1969; Stuart, 1971) is a procedure in which client and therapist mutually agree to establish an incentive for the client to achieve a behavioral goal. Contingency contracts can be viewed as a form of self-control therapy, and have been applied in a wide variety of problem areas, including school problems (Homme, 1969: Cantrell, et al., 1969). delinquency (Stuart, 1971),weight control (Mann, 1972). smoking reduction (Elliott and Tighe, 1968: Winett, 1973), drug abuse (Boudin, 1972), and alcoholism (Miller, 1972).Frequently contingency contracting involves the client's posting of a financial security deposit to serve as his incentive for achieving the agreed-upon therapeutic goal (Tighe and Elliot, 1968). This security deposit can be earned back consequent upon achieving specific goals, or sacrificed consequent upon failure. Controlled studies by Mann (1972) and by Winett (1973) have demonstrated this security-deposit procedure to be effective in enhancing weight loss and smoking reduction, respectively.We report here on our experience with application of the security deposit contracting procedure to maintaining routine disulfiram ingestion among outpatients in an alcoholism treatment program.     

A comparison of different methods of toilet training the mentally handicapped.

A number of different toilet training methods have recently been described. Ellis' (1963) model of toilet training is used to provide a simple basis for classifying these methods. Two main differences, timing versus regular potting, and intensive individual training versus group training are distinguished. Three toilet training programmes (intensive individual, regular potting; intensive individual, timing; group training, regular potting) are compared with five severely or profoundly mentally retarded children for each method. It is concluded that intensive individual training is more cost-effective than group training and that, although there is no significant difference between the intensive individual regular potting and timing methods, the former is the method of choice as it is slightly less complex. Various practical and theoretical issues arising from these toilet training programmes are discussed, including the need for more detailed study of bladder function and other factors related to the development of continence in such children.     

INVOLVING INSTITUTIONAL STAFF IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF SIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS WITH PROFOUNDLY RETARDED PERSONS

A program to involve institutional staff in developing manual sign language skills with profoundly retarded persons was evaluated. In Experiment 1, six direct care staff, with close supervision, taught a small repertoire of signs to six profoundly retarded residents who had not benefited from previous training in vocal language. Training was conducted in a group format using instructions, modeling, manual guidance, contingent reinforcers, and feedback. During training, all residents learned to identify pictures of objects with manual signs. Generalization observations during unstructured times on the residents' living unit indicated that staff used their signing skills with the residents in addition to their vocal interactions but the residents did not increase their signing or vocalizing. In Experiment 2, the residents' skills in signing with real objects on their living unit as opposed to pictures of objects were evaluated and provided with additional training where necessary. Results indicated that all participating residents learned to communicate with signing during structured interactions on their living unit, and the skills maintained during follow-up assessments ranging from 39 to 49 weeks. Results are discussed regarding the variable generalization effects noted as well as the general benefits and disadvantages of teaching manual signing skills to profoundly retarded persons.