Computational models of infant word-finding typically operate over transcriptions of infant-directed speech corpora. It is now possible to test models of word segmentation on speech materials, rather than transcriptions of speech. We propose that such modeling efforts be conducted over the speech of the experimental stimuli used in studies…

Control by compound antecedent stimuli in verbal behavior represents an understudied but promising area of research. To date, reference to compound verbal stimulus control has generally only included descriptions of convergent multiple control. A sizeable experimental literature exists on the topic of compound stimulus control, which differs from…

Concepts contain rich structures that support flexible semantic cognition. These structures can be characterized by patterns of feature covariation: Certain features tend to cluster in the same items (e.g., "feathers," "wings," "can fly"). Existing computational models demonstrate how this kind of structure can be…

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)…

Since speech is a continuous stream with no systematic boundaries between words, how do pre-verbal infants manage to discover words? A proposed solution is that they might use the transitional probability between adjacent syllables, which drops at word boundaries. Here, we tested the limits of this mechanism by increasing the size of the word-unit…

Background: The comprehension profile of people with agrammatism is a debated topic. Syntactic complexity and cognitive resources, in particular phonological short-term memory (pSTM), are considered as crucial components by different interpretative accounts. Aim: To investigate the interaction of syntactic complexity and of pSTM in sentence…

Background: Diadochokinetic rates tasks are frequently used for the assessment of diadochokinesia (DKK) in young and elderly adults. However, there is scarce research on healthy elderly adults over 65 years old, and little is known about the effect of different types of stimuli (non-words/real words) in this specific population. Furthermore, the…

Purpose: During videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing, patients commonly are instructed to hold a bolus in their mouth until they hear a verbal instruction to swallow, which usually consists of the word "swallow" and is commonly referred to as the command swallow condition. The language-induced motor facilitation theory suggests…

Human decision making is partly determined by the verbal stimuli involved in a choice. Verbal stimuli that may be particularly relevant to human decision making are the words "should" and "like," whereby "should" is presumably associated with what one ought to choose, and "like" is presumably associated with…

This study investigated the effectiveness of visual training or verbal training on how to use a text-picture processing strategy for learning from computer-based multimedia instructional material. Sixty-nine university students were randomly assigned to the verbal training group (students received text-based instruction for a text-picture…

The critical developmental implications of childcare centre teachers' caregiving sensitivity have been extensively documented. More efforts are pressing to identify antecedents of such sensitivity and elucidate implicated mechanisms. This study examined the association between socioeconomic status and caregiving sensitivity among Chinese childcare…

The research studies presented in this special issue rest on two assumptions: firstly, that limitations in verbal short-term memory and verbal working memory (vSTM/WM) capacity are likely to be related to impairments in syntax, and secondly that this relationship is likely to be causal, with impairments in vSTM/WM causing impairments in syntax. In…

A common practice in tact training is to include a supplemental verbal stimulus (e.g., "What is it?") in addition to the presentation of a nonverbal discriminative stimulus. Previous literature has suggested that this supplemental verbal stimulus can impede acquisition and generalization relative to the presentation of the object alone,…

Conceptually, the use of the technical term "naming" appears to be a broad term that describes several subtypes of emergent verbal behavior. Miguel ("The Analysis of Verbal Behavior," 32, 125-138, Miguel, 2016) introduces the concept of subtypes of naming, specifically common bidirectional naming and intraverbal bidirectional…

Teaching job-related problem-solving skills may increase the likelihood that individuals with developmental disabilities obtain and maintain employment (Kaye et al., 2011; Peck & Kirkbride, 2001; Unger, 2002). In this study, we evaluated the use of electronic-based flowcharts on an iPod Touch as a form of self-instruction to increase problem…