The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the efficacy of combining two operant learning procedures--shaping and fading--for treating selective mutism. The participant was a 12-year-old boy with mental retardation presenting a severe long-term selective mutism. The treatment was aimed at increasing the loudness of his vocalizations in an…

The authors revisited evidence in favor of modularity and of functional equivalence between the processing of verbal and spatial information in short-term memory. This was done by investigating the patterns of intrusions, omissions, transpositions, and fill-ins in verbal and spatial serial recall and order reconstruction tasks under control,…

With an emphasis on procedural fundamentals, the original behavior-analytic equivalence experiments and the equivalence paradigm are described briefly. A few of the subsequent developments and implications are noted, with special reference to the possible significance of the findings with respect to language and cognition. (Contains 9 figures.)

This study examined differences in performance between 20 shy and 20 matched nonshy children on a narrative task and in the way parents scaffolded their narrative performance when reading the wordless book "Frog, Where Are You", by Mercer Mayer. Consistent with previous research, results demonstrated that shy children spoke less than their nonshy…

One important finding with the picture-word interference paradigm is that picture-naming performance is facilitated by the presentation of a distractor (e.g., CAP) formally related to the picture name (e.g., "cat"). In two picture-naming experiments we investigated the nature of such form facilitation effect with Mandarin Chinese, separating the…

Matching-to-sample and sequence training procedures were used to develop responding to stimulus classes that were considered analogous to 3 aspects of verbal behavior: identifying synonyms and parts of speech,and using syntax. Matching-to-sample procedures were used to train 12 paired associates from among 24 stimuli. These pairs were analogous to…

The year 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of B. F. Skinner's "Verbal Behavior", a book that by Skinner's own account was his most important. The received view, however, is that a devastating review by a young linguist not only rendered Skinner's interpretation of language moot but was also a major factor in ending the hegemony…

The relative advantage of the left (LH) over the right hemisphere (RH) in processing of verbal material for most individuals is well established. Nevertheless, several studies have reported the ability of positively and negatively valenced stimuli to enhance and reverse, respectively, the usual LH greater than RH asymmetry. These studies, however,…

We evaluated the effects of 2 types of training on the emergence of bidirectional intraverbal relations with 4 typically developing children. Tact training involved reinforcing foreign-language vocalizations in the presence of visual stimuli, and listener training involved reinforcing selections of visual stimuli following vocal presentations of…

Whilst findings from experimental studies suggest that perceptual mechanisms underpinning musical cognition are preserved or enhanced in autism, little is known about how higher-level, structural aspects of music are processed. Twenty participants with autism, together with age and intelligence matched controls, completed a musical priming task in…

This article examined the effects of body-object interaction (BOI) on semantic processing. BOI measures perceptions of the ease with which a human body can physically interact with a word's referent. In Experiment 1, BOI effects were examined in 2 semantic categorization tasks (SCT) in which participants decided if words are easily imageable.…

This bridge study evaluated the effects of contingency-specifying instructions (CSIs) and incomplete instructions (IIs) in terms of establishing instructional control of appropriate behavior. Results suggested that instructional control and maintenance were achieved with CSIs but not with IIs. Results are discussed in terms of the potential use of…

The present study examined whether the presentation of stimuli in equivalence relations with consequences increases the operant behavior that produces these consequences. In Experiment 1, both normal words and experimentally trained equivalence stimuli did so with young children. In Experiment 2, results were similar with college students. Here, a…

Conditional discrimination is inherent in the intraverbal relation when one verbal stimulus alters the evocative effect of another verbal stimulus and they collectively evoke an intraverbal response. Rarely in research on conditional discriminations have both conditional and discriminative stimuli been vocal verbal and rarely have the responses…

Individuals with intellectual disabilities who exhibit psychotic verbal behavior are at increased risk for hospitalization and dependence on external support. Traditionally, medication is the clinical treatment of choice for this behavior. This article selectively reviews the existing literature within the field of behavior analysis on reducing…