Teaching complex verbal operants to children with autism and establishing generalization using the peak curriculum

The present study evaluated the feasibility of the PEAK Relational Training System's Generalization Module (Dixon, 2014b) to teach and establish generalization of autoclitic mands, distorted tacts, and creative path finding in three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Using a multiple‐baseline design across behaviors, each participant was provided with differential reinforcement and a least‐to‐most prompting hierarchy for correct responses to a subset of stimuli, and responses to other similar stimulus sets were probed for emergent generalization. Following training, each participant successfully acquired the directly trained behaviors and demonstrated generalization to the nonreinforced test exemplars. These data support the utility of Skinner's (1957) analysis to teach complex forms of verbal operants, and suggest that a manualized curriculum such as PEAK may have utility for promoting skill development and generalization for front line staff and caregivers of children with autism.     

The role of verbal ability in the processing of complex verbal information

Summary This study investigated the relation between psychometric mental-ability test scores and several reaction-time measures; a simple-reaction task, a choice-reaction task, the Posner and Mitchell (1967) letter-identification task, and a variation of the sentence-verification task. Scores on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices and the Verbal Subtest of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SATV) were obtained. The less complex information-processing tasks replicate earlier studies in which general intelligence was only marginally related to reaction-time measures. The sentence-verification task systematically varied task complexity. Several direct and derived measures from the task were significantly correlated with psychometric mentalability measures. However, even though a number of precautions were taken to ensure that the sentence-verification task assessed purely verbal-processing efficiency, there was little evidence for an important task-specific relation between verification measures and verbal ability. Moreover, despite its relative verbal complexity, sentence verification did not reflect a greater relationship to verbal ability than other tasks did. Overall, the information-processing efficiency measures used in this study suggested a fairly general, rather than a task-specific, relationship to intellectual ability.The research presented in this paper was conducted while the first author was affiliated with the University of Georgia, U. S. A.     

Redundancy as a facilitator in the learning of complex verbal forms

A principle to account for mastering of complex linguistic forms was proposed. A total of 149 4- to 6-year-old children were tested to determine whether experience with redundant features (e.g., the word first) in the sentence facilitated later comprehension of equivalent nonredundant sentences expressing temporal order (before, after). The data showed that sentences were scalable as proposed, and that redundancy as a temporal marker facilitated later comprehension, but only for relatively low levels of complexity. Different findings by different experimenters highlight how apparently minor variations in experiments can result in different conclusions about comprehension strategies when one generalizes from studies that use subjects still acquiring language.This research was supported in part by a National Institute of Education grant, Project No. 4-470     

Phonological similarity effects in verbal complex span

Phonological similarity effects were used to assess the role of acoustic coding in verbal complex span, a processing-plus-storage measure found to correlate significantly with aspects of complex cognition. Three experiments demonstrated consistent effects of phonological similarity on listening span. These effects appeared relatively insensitive to manipulations of task materials (Experiment 1) and differences in processing task demands (Experiments 2 and 3). The results were interpreted as reflecting a significant role for the phonological loop in supporting verbal complex span and a multicomponent view of working memory, as tapped by these tests. Phonological similarity did not significantly interact with aspects of the tasks varied across Experiments 1 to 3, suggesting a relative robustness of the effect. However, variation in the phonological similarity effect sizes across Experiments 1 to 3 supports the suggestion that task demands and characteristics have the potential to disrupt the phonological similarity effect and, by implication, the reliance on a phonological code.     

Skill-based differences in option generation in a complex task: a verbal protocol analysis

In recent models of decision-making, cognitive scientists have examined the relationship between option generation and successful performance. These models suggest that those who are successful at decision-making generate few courses of action and typically choose the first, often best, option. Scientists working in the area of expert performance, on the other hand, have demonstrated that the ability to generate and prioritize task-relevant options during situation assessment is associated with successful performance. In the current study, we measured law enforcement officers’ performance and thinking in a simulated task environment to examine the option generation strategies used during decision-making in a complex domain. The number of options generated during assessment (i.e., making decisions about events in the environment) and intervention (i.e., making decisions about personal courses of action) phases of decision-making interact to produce a successful outcome. The data are explained with respect to the development of a situational representation and long-term working memory skills capable of supporting both option generation processes.     

Action, verbal response and spatial reasoning

Studies have shown that perception of distance, orientation and size can be dissociated from action tasks. The action system seems to possess more veridical, unbiased information than the perceptual/verbal system. The current study examines the nature of the distinction between action and verbal responses in a spatial reasoning task. Participants imagined themselves facing different orientations and either pointed to where other objects would be, or verbally reported their egocentric directions (e.g., "50 degrees to my left"). When using pointing responses, RT and error increased as a function of the angular disparity between the imagined heading and their actual heading. However, when using verbal responses, performance was not affected by angular disparity, suggesting that participants knew the direction of the targets from the imagined perspective but could not point to them directly. The verbal and action systems have fundamentally different information or processes rather than quantitatively different ones.     

Operant training and generalization of a verbal response form in a speech-deficient child

A subject who spoke essentially in "telegraphic" English, leaving out most articles and auxiliary verbs, was trained to use a particular sentence form that included the articles and verbs to describe a set of standardized pictures. The subject used the trained sentence form to describe the trained pictures, and in addition, use of the sentence form generalized to sets of untrained and novel stimuli. When the trained sentence form was changed, the subject used the new form to describe both training and generalization stimuli. When the original correct form of response was retrained, the subject once again used the trained sentence form to respond to both training and generalization trials.     

Counsellor verbal response mode usage and client-perceived rapport

The effects of usage of eight verbal response modes by trainee counsellors during an initial interview were determined by reference to client-perceived rapport. Data on rapport were gathered via a standardized client's minute-by-minute ratings of his experience of rapport on a five-point scale during the interview. A total of ten counselling interviews were conducted, and data were examinedfor overall effects (i.e. during the interview as a whole) and minute-by-minute effects. Restatements, Minimal Encouragers and Verbosity were significantly dafferent in occurrence in high versus low rated interviews. Minute-by-minute data revealed that these overall differences were not consistent at all stages of the interviews. Implications for counsellor training are discussed.