Toward establishing a qualifying autoclitic repertoire in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Autoclitics are secondary verbal operants that are controlled by a feature of the conditions that occasion or evoke a primary verbal operant such as a tact or mand. Qualifying autoclitics extend, negate, or assert a speaker's primary verbal response and modify the intensity or direction of the listener's behavior. Howard and Rice (1988) established autoclitics that indicated weak stimulus control (e.g., "like a [primary tact]") with four neurotypical preschool children. However, generalization to newly acquired tacts was limited. In Experiment 1, we addressed similar behavior as in Howard and Rice but with autistic children while using simultaneous teaching procedures, and we observed generalization across sets and with newly acquired tacts. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the effects of multiple-exemplar training on generalization of autoclitics across sets of naturalistic stimuli. Across participants, gradual increases in the frequency of autoclitics occurred with untaught stimuli after teaching with one or more sets.

Do NOT Read this Article: the Effects of Autoclitics and Nudge on Choosing.

The use of autoclitics can influence the behavior of individuals making choices when responding to a survey (e.g., checking or unchecking a box). In two studies, we investigated the effects of autoclitics as "nudges" on choice by manipulating different frames (opt-in and opt-out) and default options (i.e., unchecked and checked boxes). Undergraduate students recruited from behavioral science courses engaged with materials in the study. In study 1, we used an online survey at the beginning of the semester offering the choice of whether to enroll in extra-academic activities (i.e., practice tests) available via the online course platform, Blackboard. We randomly assigned students into one of four groups: 1) option to enroll with an unchecked box, 2) option to not enroll with an unchecked box, 3) option to enroll with a checked box, or 4) option to not enroll with a checked box. Results showed that the option to not enroll with an unchecked box produced higher enrollment to receive extra academic activities. In the middle of the semester, we conducted a within-subject arrangement wherein students who initially opted out of receiving activities had the option to accept them following exposure to the negative autoclitic frame. Most of these students opted into receiving activities. In study 2, we replicated the methods of study 1 in Canvas, a different course platform, and obtained similar results. We briefly discuss the implications of a nudge for ethical consent.

Toward a Behavioral Interpretation of English Grammar.

Behavior analysis is virtually alone among disciplines in assuming that the orderly arrangement of words in sentences, or grammar, arises from exposure to contingencies of reinforcement. In the face of the novelty, subtlety, complexity, and speed of acquisition of verbal behavior, this position will remain difficult to defend until the field can show that a representative range of grammatical phenomena is within reach of its interpretive tools. Using modern English as a case in point, this article points to the important role of automatic reinforcement in language acquisition and suggests that Skinner's concept of autoclitic frames (e.g., X is taller than Y) is central to a behavioral interpretation of grammatical phenomena. An enduring puzzle facing this interpretation is how stimulus control can shift from word to word in such frames as one speaks, for such permutations of verbal forms are often novel and rapidly emitted. A possible solution to the puzzle is offered by a consideration of contextual cues, prosodic cues, and the stimulus properties of the roles played by the content words that complete the frames. That these roles have discriminable stimulus properties is supported by considering that in Old English such roles directly controlled case inflections that correspond to positions in autoclitic frames. Continuing to develop behavioral interpretations of grammar is an important pursuit in its own right, whether or not it is sufficient to build bridges to other paradigms.

Acquisition of Children's Relational Responding: The Role of the Intradimensional and Interdimensional Abstract Tact and the Autoclitic Frame.

The acquisition of verbal behavior is complex and requires the analysis of myriad variables. Ernst Moerk estimated that by the time a child has reached 4 years of age they have experienced nearly 9 million language learning trials with mothers using at least 14 categories of maternal teaching interactions. The interactions provide a foundation for children learning the tact, mand, echoic, intraverbal, autoclitic, and other relations, described by Skinner in Verbal Behavior. Here we examine two relations that have been overlooked to some extent and arguably account for many of the generative features of verbal behavior and shared meaning: the abstract tact, or more precisely the interdimensional abstract tact, and the autoclitic frame. We describe Goldiamond's treatment of stimulus control in its many forms; dimensional, abstractional, and instructional, and how it can be used to understand the acquisition of both intradimensional and interdimensional abstract tacts and autoclitic frames that guide seemingly complex relational responding and meet consequential contingency requirements. We argue the development of complex relational responding in children can be explained parsimoniously without mediating variables or hypothetical constructs.

Stimulus Clarity and the Emission of Descriptive Autoclitics.

The autoclitic is among the least studied and most complex verbal operant named and described by Skinner. The descriptive autoclitic is one subtype, which among other functions can describe the strength of the response. If the clarity of the stimulus is one source of response strength for tacts, manipulating stimulus clarity should evoke different frequencies of descriptive autoclitics. In an experiment with adults, digitally distorting pictures of common objects predicted the relative frequency of descriptive autoclitics that accompanied tacts. The most distorted images evoked twice as many autoclitics as moderately distorted images, and low-distortion images evoked no autoclitics. We encourage other researchers to interpret Skinner's conceptualization of the autoclitic and its various forms and test them empirically to evaluate how their functional definitions can be clarified, refined, or altered. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40616-023-00184-1.

A comparison of two teaching procedures to establish generalized intraverbal-tacting in children with autism.

Previous research has investigated generalized intraverbal-tacting by teaching children with autism to respond using autoclitic frames. The present study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of a Frame and a No Frame procedure across counterbalanced stimulus sets with 4 children with autism. In the Frame condition, children were taught to respond using autoclitic frames (e.g., "Shape square," "Number two," "Color green," "It's mummy," "S/he is drinking") corresponding to the verbal antecedent ("What shape?", "What number?", "What color?", "Who is it?", "What is s/he doing?"). In the No Frame condition, intraverbal-tacting was established without the autoclitic frame. Irrespective of stimuli employed, 2 children acquired intraverbal-tacting only in the Frame condition. The other 2 children acquired intraverbal-tacting in both conditions, with the Frame procedure requiring fewer teaching trials for 1 child and producing greater generalization for the other. Implications for clinical practice and the role of additive intraverbal stimulus control of autoclitic frames are discussed.

Estabelecendo recombinação generalizada de relações substantivo-verbo por meio de treino em matriz para crianças com Transtorno do Espectro Autista / Establishing recombinative generalization of noun-verb relations through matrix training for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

O treino em matriz é um procedimento de ensino que implica na organização dos componentes do repertório a ser ensinado em dois eixos. Ele tem sido utilizado para favorecer a recombinação generalizada de repertórios verbais. No entanto, ainda que pessoas com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA) apresentem geralmente dificuldades na linguagem, verifica-se que poucos estudos investigaram os efeitos do treino em matriz para o estabelecimento de repertórios verbais nessa população. O presente estudo avaliou, a partir de um delineamento de linha de base múltipla entre participantes, o efeito do treino em matriz na indução de recombinação generalizada de relações substantivo-verbo, em português, para duas crianças com TEA. As relações substantivo-verbo de nove figuras foram organizadas em uma matriz 3x3, sendo ensinadas diretamente três relações e testadas as outras seis. Outras nove relações substantivo-verbo foram organizadas em uma segunda matriz 3x3, sendo todas apenas testadas. O procedimento foi eficaz no estabelecimento das relações substantivo-verbo para um dos participantes e ocasionou aumento na emissão de respostas corretas das relações para o outro. Discutem-se a ampliação da validade externa do efeito do treino em matriz para crianças com TEA, questões relativas ao estabelecimento de controle de estímulos e quadros autoclíticos nesse procedimento de ensino.

Matrix training is a teaching procedure that involves the organizing the components of the repertoire to be taught in two axes. It has been used to promote the generalized recombination of verbal repertoires. However, even though people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) usually present language difficulties, few studies have investigated the effects of matrix training on the establishment of verbal repertoires in this population. The present study evaluated, from a multiple participant multiple baseline design, the effect of matrix training on the induction of generalized recombination of noun-verb relations, in Portuguese, for two children with ASD. The noun-verb relations of nine figures were organized in a 3x3 matrix, with three relations being directly taught and the other six tested. Another nine noun-verb relations were organized in a second 3x3 matrix, all of which were just tested. The procedure was effective in establishing noun-verb relations for one of the participants and produced an increase in the issuance of correct responses of the relations for the other. The expansion of the external validity of the effect of matrix training for children with ASD, issues related to the establishment of stimulus control and autoclitic frames in this teaching procedure are discussed.

Effects of time delay and requiring echoics on answering questions about visual stimuli.

An important communication skill for children with autism is answering multiple questions about visual stimuli (e.g., "What is it?" "What color is it?"). We targeted answering "What number?" and "What shape?" in the presence of numbers inside shapes, and "What is it?" and "What color?" in the presence of colored objects (e.g., a yellow cat) with 3 preschoolers with autism. In addition to a progressive time delay, we required the participants to answer the questions by echoing a keyword from the questions. For example, we taught them to answer, "What color?" with "color blue." In the context of a multiple-probe design across behaviors within a multiple-probe design across participants, the procedure was effective in increasing trained responses and producing within- and across-category generalization. The echoic may have facilitated the responses by increasing the salience of the auditory stimuli and strengthening intraverbals within autoclitic frames.

Using Extinction to Increase Behavior: Capitalizing on Extinction-Induced Response Variability to Establish Mands With Autoclitic Frames.

Members (behaviors) of a response class are equivalent in that they produce the same functional reinforcer. Oftentimes, some members of a response class occur at higher rates than others. This can be problematic when the members that occur at high rates are socially inappropriate (e.g., self-injury, aggression, or disruption). The participant in this study was a 16-year-old female diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who demonstrated aggression, one-word mands, and mands with autoclitic frames. In a series of contingency reversals, we placed 2 behaviors on extinction (e.g., aggression and one-word mands), which resulted in extinction-induced variability. Capitalizing on extinction-induced variability, we reinforced a different behavior (e.g., mands with autoclitic frames). The results confirmed that (a) the rate of responding for each topography was a function of extinction-induced response variability and differential reinforcement and (b) all response topographies belonged to the same response class. These results provide empirical support for the use of extinction-induced variability to differentially increase the rate of socially appropriate behaviors while decreasing socially inappropriate behaviors that belong to the same response class.

Transitivity as Skinnerian problem solving controlled by self-constructed relational stimuli.

In tests of the derivation of complex relations such as transitivity, extant cues might fail to evoke effective responding, necessitating the construction of supplemental stimuli prior to their solution. The significance of this process was investigated by within-subject manipulation of an instructional variable designed to produce different levels of construction of supplemental stimulation concerning relationships among stimulus elements of concatenated conditional discriminations. In two experimental sessions, serial training of three 5-member stimulus classes occurred, either with the instruction to simply name the component stimuli or to both name them and generate a tale serially linking the stimuli named; such constructed stimuli might be spontaneously reconstructed by precurrent acts in subsequent tests of "emergent" relations. Participants whose supplemental stimulus construction at the first session was limited to name-giving derived significantly more relations when, in training at session two, they generated tales linking stimulus elements; this same near-errorless derivation was obtained at the first session whenever relational stimuli beyond bidirectional naming were constructed. In some cases the uninstructed construction of supplementary relational stimuli occurred at the first session, to equivalent effect; such construction might constitute a typically unobserved component of the derivation of relations among stimulus elements entailed in multiple conditional discriminations.

Can Collateral Behavior Account for Transitions in the Stimulus Control of Speech?

The task of extending Skinner's (1957) interpretation of verbal behavior includes accounting for the moment-to-moment changes in stimulus control as one speaks. A consideration of the behavior of the reader reminds us of the continuous evocative effect of verbal stimuli on readers, listeners, and speakers. Collateral discriminative responses to verbal stimuli, beyond mere echoic or textual behavior, are potential sources of control and must be included in any complete account of both verbal and nonverbal behavior.

On Intraverbal Control and the Definition of the Intraverbal.

Behavior analysts should distinguish between the intraverbal, as a class of verbal operants, and intraverbal control, the potentiating effect, however slight, of a verbal antecedent on a verbal response. If it is to serve an explanatory function, the term intraverbal, as a class of verbal operants, should be restricted to those cases in which a verbal antecedent, as the result of a history of contiguous or correlated usage, is sufficient to evoke the putative intraverbal response. Intraverbal control is pervasive in verbal behavior, but since it is typically just one of many concurrent variables that determine the form of a verbal response, such multiply controlled responses are not usefully called "intraverbals." Because intraverbals and their controlling variables have invariant formal properties, they are conceptually simple, but they nevertheless play a central role in the interpretation of complex phenomena such as the structural regularities in verbal behavior (i.e., grammar).

Effect of the qualifying autoclitic "is" in conditional discrimination training and equivalence tests / Efecto de la autoclitica calificativa "es" en el entrenamiento de una discriminación condicional y las pruebas de equivalencia / Efeito da autoclítica qualificativa "é" no treinamento de uma discriminação condicional e os testes de equivalência

Reinforcement contingencies have been identified as an important variable for the establishment of conditional discriminations and stimuli equivalence. Studies in this area suggest that verbal behavior can facilitate the formation of discriminative responses and equivalence classes. Nevertheless, researchers have concentrated on studying the effect of the autoclitic behavior on those behavioral processes. The purpose of the present study was to analyze if an instruction that guides the participants to emit a verbal vocal response with a qualifying autoclitic and the assertion "is" between the presentation of the sample stimuli and the choice of the comparison stimuli in a matching to sample task, produces effects in the formation of new equivalence classes and has an influence on the number of trials necessary for the acquisition of conditional discrimination responses. The participants were divided into a Control Group and a Experimental Group where both of them went through three Training Phases and three Quiz Phases. The instruction was given only to the participants in the Experimental Group. The results obtained didn't show differences between the groups for the average of correct responses in the Training Phases nor in the average of correct responses during all of the Equivalence Quizzes. It can be concluded that the initial effect of the autoclitic was to increase the accuracy of the response, making easier the acquisition of the conditional discrimination as well as the formation of the stimuli equivalence.

Las contingencias de reforzamiento han sido identificadas como una variable importante en el establecimiento de discriminaciones condicionales y equivalencia de estímulos. Diversos estudios en el área sugieren que el comportamiento verbal puede facilitar la formación de respuestas discriminativas y clases equivalentes; sin embargo, algunos investigadores se han enfocado en estudiar el efecto de la conducta autoclítica en dichos procesos comportamentales. El propósito del presente estudio fue el de analizar si una instrucción que orienta a los participantes a emitir una respuesta verbal vocal con un autoclítico calificador y la afirmación "es" entre la presentación del estímulo muestra y el estímulo de comparación en una tarea de igualación de la muestra, produce algún efecto en la formación de nuevas clases equivalentes e influye sobre el número de ensayos necesarios para la adquisición de respuestas discriminativas condicionales. Los participantes fueron divididos en un Grupo Control y un Grupo Experimental, siendo ambos expuestos a tres fases de entrenamiento y tres fases de prueba. La instrucción fue dada únicamente a los participantes en el Grupo Experimental. Los resultados obtenidos no mostraron diferencia entre los grupos en el promedio de respuestas correctas durante las fases de entrenamiento ni en el promedio de respuestas correctas durante las pruebas de equivalencia. Se puede concluir que el efecto inicial del autoclítico fue el de aumentar la precisión de la respuesta, permitiendo la adquisición de la discriminación condicional con mayor facilidad, así como la formación de equivalencia de estímulos.

As contingências de reforço foram identificadas como uma variável importante no estabelecimento de discriminações condicionais e equivalência de estímulos. Diversos estudos na área sugerem que o comportamento verbal pode facilitar a formação de respostas discriminativas e classes equivalentes; porém, alguns pesquisadores enfocaram-se em estudar o efeito da conduta autoclítica nesses processos comportamentais. O propósito do presente estudo foi o de analisar se uma instrução que orienta os participantes a emitir uma resposta verbal vocal com um autoclítico qualificador e a afirmação "é" entre a apresentação do estímulo mostra e o estímulo de comparação em uma tarefa de igualação da mostra, produz algum efeito na formação de novos tipos equivalentes e influi sobre o número de ensaios necessários para a aquisição de respostas discriminativas condicionais. Os participantes foram divididos em um Grupo de Controle e um Grupo Experimental, sendo ambos expostos a três fases de treinamento e três fases de teste. A instrução foi dada somente aos participantes do Grupo Experimental. Os resultados obtidos não mostraram diferença entre os grupos na média de respostas corretas durante as fases de treinamento nem na média de respostas corretas durante os testes de equivalência. Pode-se concluir que o efeito inicial do autoclítico foi o de aumentar a precisão da resposta, permitindo a aquisição da discriminação condicional com maior facilidade, bem como a formação de equivalência de estímulos.

O efeito do autoclítico qualificador "É" em treinos de discriminação condicional e teste de equivalência de estímulos / Effect of qualifying autoclitic is in conditional discrimination training and stimulus equivalence test

O efeito do reforçamento é apontado como a principal variável para a formação de discriminações condicionais e de equivalência de estímulos. Pesquisas têm se concentrado em analisar outras variáveis que influenciam a formação de discriminações condicionais e de equivalência de estímulos. Tais estudos sugerem que o comportamento verbal pode facilitar a formação do responder discriminativo e da equivalência de estímulos, porém poucas pesquisas tem se concentrado em investigar o efeito do comportamento verbal autoclítico neste responder. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi analisar se uma instrução que orientou o participante a emitir uma resposta verbal vocal com autoclítico qualificador de asserção é, entre a apresentação do estímulo modelo e a escolha do estímulo amostra, em uma tarefa de matching to sample produz efeitos na formação de novas classes de equivalência e influencia na quantidade de tentativas necessárias para a formação do responder discriminativo condicional. Foram utilizados vinte participantes adultos divididos em dois grupos, Grupo Controle e Grupo Experimental. Todos os participantes foram submetidos a três etapas de treino e três etapas de testes. Na primeira etapa foram treinadas as relações A1B1, A2B2, A3B3 e A1C1, A2C2, A3C3 e testada a formação de classes equivalência entre os estímulos B1C1, B2C2, B3C3; na segunda etapa foram treinadas as relações A1B1, A2B2, A3B3 e A1C1, A2C2, A3C3 e testada à formação de classes equivalência entre os estímulos B1C1, B2C2, B3C3; na terceira etapa foram treinadas as relações A1B1, A2B2, A3B3 e A1C1, A2C2, A3C3 e testada à formação de classes equivalência entre os estímulos B1C1, B2C2, B3C3. Cada treino foi composto por doze tentativas, tendo como critério de aprendizagem a ocorrência de 100% de respostas corretas. A instrução foi apresentada apenas aos participantes do Grupo Experimental. Os resultados obtidos não apresentam diferenças de desempenho, entre os grupos na média de tentativas... (AU)

The effect of reinforcement is pointed as the main variable for formation of conditional discrimination and stimulus equivalence. Researches have concentrated on analyzing other variables that influence the formation of conditional discrimination and stimulus equivalence. Such studies suggest that verbal behavior can facilitate formation of discriminative responding and stimulus equivalence, however few researches have focused on investigate the effect of autoclitic verbal behavior in this responding. The purpose of the present research was to analyze if an instruction that oriented the participant to emit a vocal verbal response, the autoclitic qualifier is, between the presentation of model stimulus and the choice of the sample stimulus in a task of match to sample, produces effects in formation of new equivalence classes and if it influences over the quantity of trials required to meet conditional discriminative responding. Twenty participants were dived in two groups, Control Group and Experimental Group. All the participants were submitted to three stages of training and three stages of tests. During the first stage of training the relations A1B1, A2B2, A3B3 e A1C1, A2C2, A3C3 were trained and were tested the formation of equivalence classes between stimulus B1C1, B2C2, B3C3; on the second stage of training the relations A1B1, A2B2, A3B3 e A1C1, A2C2, A3C3 and was tested the formation of equivalence classes between stimulus B1C1, B2C2, B3C3; on the third stage were trained the relations A1B1, A2B2, A3B3 e A1C1, A2C2, A3C3 and tested the formation of equivalence classes between the stimulus B1C1, B2C2, B3C3. Each training was composed by twelve trials. The learning was 100% of correct. The instruction was presented just for the participants in Experimental Group. The results dont show differences in performance between groups in mean trials required at all stages of training, however, the experimental group has a higher initial performance of the control... (AU)

Controle instrucional do autoclítico em tarefas de formação de classes de equivalência e em sequências intraverbais / Instructional control of the autoclitic in tasks of class formation of equivalent stimuli and in intraverbal sequences

Os objetivos do presente estudo foram: 1) verificar se a formação de classes de estímulos equivalentes adquire controle instrucional sobre uma resposta não verbal do ouvinte (comportamento de se coçar); 2) verificar se após a formação de equivalência emergem sequências intraverbais entre os estímulos das classes; 3) comparar o controle instrucional sobre o ouvinte via equivalência e via sequências intraverbais e, por fim, 4) identificar se a manipulação do autoclítico tom de voz em um dos estímulos da classe altera o comportamento não verbal do ouvinte em ambas as condições (equivalência de estímulos e sequências intraverbais). Nove crianças, com idades variando de oito e dez anos, foram participantes. Cada criança passou por fases e passos específicos em duas Etapas Experimentais (Etapa I e Etapa II). A Etapa I envolveu pré-treinos com estímulos familiares aos participantes e treinos e testes de equivalência com os estímulos experimentais. O estímulo oral - DESESPERADAMENTE - era apresentado ora com alteração no tom de voz ora sem, de acordo com a Fase. A variável dependente foi o comportamento de se coçar. Antes dos treinos e testes de equivalência todas as crianças eram filmadas, tanto para medir a variável dependente em condição de linha de base, como para verificar que sequências intraverbais dos estímulos envolvidos nos treinos e testes. Após os treinos e testes de equivalência, os participantes passavam novamente pelas condições de filmagem do comportamento de se coçar e da montagem das sequências intraverbais. Na Etapa II os mesmos participantes assistiram a vídeos que apresentavam uma frase e depois uma estória com os mesmos estímulos (A1, B1 e C1).(AU)

The goal of this research was 1) to verify if the formation of equivalent stimuli classes acquires instructional control over the non-verbal response of the listener (scratching behavior), 2) check if after the formation of equivalence, intraverbal sequences between the stimuli of the classes appear, 3) compare the instructional control over the listener through equivalence and through intraverbal sequences and finally, 4) identify if the autoclitic voice tone manipulation in one of the class stimuli alters the behavior of the listener in both conditions (equivalence of stimuli and intraverbal sequences).The research was attended by nine children with ages from eight to ten years old. Every children went through specific phases and steps of two Experimental Stages (Stage I and Stage II). Stage I involved pre-training with familiar stimuli to the participants and training and tests of equivalence with the experimental stimuli. The oral stimulus: DESPERATELY was presented at times with alteration in the voice tone and sometimes without, according to the Phase. The dependent variable was the behavior of scratching. Before the training and tests of equivalence, every children was filmed, to both measure the dependent variable in baseline conditions and to verify which intraverbal sequences of the stimuli were involved in the training and tests. After the training and tests of equivalence, the participants would again go through the conditions of shooting of the behavior of scratching and the assembly of the intraverbal sequences. On Stage II, the same participants watched videos that featured a sentence and afterwards a story with the same stimuli (A1, B1 and C1).(AU)

Some Implications of a Behavioral Analysis of Verbal Behavior for Logic and Mathematics.

The evident power and utility of the formal models of logic and mathematics pose a puzzle: Although such models are instances of verbal behavior, they are also essentialistic. But behavioral terms, and indeed all products of selection contingencies, are intrinsically variable and in this respect appear to be incommensurate with essentialism. A distinctive feature of verbal contingencies resolves this puzzle: The control of behavior by the nonverbal environment is often mediated by the verbal behavior of others, and behavior under control of verbal stimuli is blind to the intrinsic variability of the stimulating environment. Thus, words and sentences serve as filters of variability and thereby facilitate essentialistic model building and the formal structures of logic, mathematics, and science. Autoclitic frames, verbal chains interrupted by interchangeable variable terms, are ubiquitous in verbal behavior. Variable terms can be substituted in such frames almost without limit, a feature fundamental to formal models. Consequently, our fluency with autoclitic frames fosters generalization to formal models, which in turn permit deduction and other kinds of logical and mathematical inference.

Efeitos de instruções sobre respostas de checagem / Effects of instructions on checking responses

O estudo teve o objetivo de testar o controle verbal de diferentes instruções sobre respostas de checagem. Dois participantes adultos foram instruídos a separar quatro tipos de sementes misturadas. Utilizou-se um delineamento sujeito único ABCA na apresentação das instruções. Os resultados mostraram que a instrução C com descrição de conseqüências aversivas aumentou a freqüência das respostas de checagem, sendo que o participante um o fez em relação à instrução B com autoclítico e o participante dois em relação à instrução A de linha de base. Na fase de reversão ambos os participantes diminuíram a freqüência após a apresentação de uma instrução A sem descrição de conseqüências aversivas. Sugere-se que a instrução C especificando toda a contingência pode ter estabelecido função aversiva para as respostas de separação não-efetivas.

The study had the objective of testing the verbal control of different instructions on checking responses. Two adult participants were instructed to separate four types of mixed seeds. An ABCA single-subject design was used in the presentation of the instructions. The results showed that instruction C with description of aversive consequences increased the frequency of checking the responses. Participant one showed an increase in relation to instruction B with autoclitic and participant two in relation to instruction A of the base line. In the reversion phase both participants reduced the frequency after the presentation of an instruction A without description of aversive consequences. The results suggest that instruction C that specifies the whole contingency established an aversive function for the non-effective separation responses.

Efeitos de instruções sobre respostas de checagem / Effects of instructions on checking responses

O estudo teve o objetivo de testar o controle verbal de diferentes instruções sobre respostas de checagem. Dois participantes adultos foram instruídos a separar quatro tipos de sementes misturadas. Utilizou-se um delineamento sujeito único ABCA na apresentação das instruções. Os resultados mostraram que a instrução C com descrição de conseqüências aversivas aumentou a freqüência das respostas de checagem, sendo que o participante um o fez em relação à instrução B com autoclítico e o participante dois em relação à instrução A de linha de base. Na fase de reversão ambos os participantes diminuíram a freqüência após a apresentação de uma instrução A sem descrição de conseqüências aversivas. Sugere-se que a instrução C especificando toda a contingência pode ter estabelecido função aversiva para as respostas de separação não-efetivas.(AU)

The study had the objective of testing the verbal control of different instructions on checking responses. Two adult participants were instructed to separate four types of mixed seeds. An ABCA single-subject design was used in the presentation of the instructions. The results showed that instruction C with description of aversive consequences increased the frequency of checking the responses. Participant one showed an increase in relation to instruction B with autoclitic and participant two in relation to instruction A of the base line. In the reversion phase both participants reduced the frequency after the presentation of an instruction A without description of aversive consequences. The results suggest that instruction C that specifies the whole contingency established an aversive function for the non-effective separation responses.(AU)

The emergence of autoclitic frames in atypically and typically developing children as a function of multiple exemplar instruction.

In two experiments, we tested the effect of multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) for training sets on the emergence of autoclitic frames for spatial relations for novel tacts and mands. In Experiment 1, we used a replicated pre- and post-intervention probe design with four students with significant learning disabilities to test for acquisition of four autoclitic frames with novel tacts and mands before and after MEI. The untaught topographies emerged for all participants. In Experiment 2, we used a multiple probe design to test the effects of the MEI procedures on the same responses in four typically developing, bilingual students. The novel usage emerged for all participants. In the latter experiment, the children demonstrated untaught usage of mand or tact frames regardless of whether they were taught to respond in either listener or speaker functions alone or across listener and speaker functions. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of MEI in the formation of abstractions.

Emergent verbal behavior and analogy: skinnerian and linguistic approaches.

The production of verbal operants not previously taught is an important aspect of language productivity. For Skinner, new mands, tacts, and autoclitics result from the recombination of verbal operants. The relation between these mands, tacts, and autoclitics is what linguists call analogy, a grammatical pattern that serves as a foundation on which a speaker might emit new linguistic forms. Analogy appears in linguistics as a regularity principle that characterizes language and has been related to how languages change and also to creativity. The approaches of neogrammarians like Hermann Paul, as well as those of Jespersen and Bloomfield, appear to have influenced Skinner's understanding of verbal creativity. Generalization and stimulus equivalence are behavioral processes related to the generative grammatical behavior described in the analogy model. Linguistic forms and grammatical patterns described in analogy are part of the contingencies of reinforcement that produce generalization and stimulus equivalence. The analysis of verbal behavior needs linguistic analyses of the constituents of linguistic forms and their combination patterns.