Novel Dictation and Intraverbal Responses as a Function of a Multiple Exemplar Instructional History

Abstract

We tested the effect of multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) on acquisition of joint spelling responses, vocal to written and vice versa, for three sets of five words by four kindergarteners with language delays using a delayed multiple probe design. First, students were taught to spell Set 1 as either vocal or written responses (two vocal and two written) and probed on untaught responses. Next students were taught Set 2 using MEI (i.e., alternating responses) and again probed untaught responses for Set 1. Finally, Set 3 was taught in a single response and students were probed on untaught responses. Two students spelled none of Set 1 untaught responses before MEI, while two spelled the words at 60% accuracy or 10% accuracy. After MEI on Set 2, all students spelled untaught responses for Set 1 at 80% to 100% accuracy and Set 3 at 80% to 100% accuracy. The MEI resulted in joint stimulus function such that formerly independent responses came under the same stimulus control. We replicated these results with four other kindergartners with autism who performed academically above their typically developing peers. The results are discussed in terms of Skinner's treatment of the independence of the two verbal operants.

A Rose by Naming: How We May Learn How to Do It

“…The work we discuss has concentrated on the induction, or the bringing about, of Naming in children who are missing all or part of the speaker and listener components of Naming (see Table 1 for an overview of that literature). We characterize Naming as a higher order verbal operant that is one of several verbal behavioral developmental stages that have been identified experimentally in several studies (Fiorile & Greer, 2007;Gilic, 2005;Greer & Keohane, 2005Greer & Speckman, 2008;Greer, Yuan, & Gautreaux, 2005;Speckman-Collins, Park, & Greer, 2007). Naming emerged slowly over the year for many but not all participants.…”

“…However, the benefits of the procedure with language-delayed children are that it allowed the researchers to isolate and manipulate instructional histories and control for prerequisites experimentally (Fiorile & Greer, 2007;Gilic, 2005;Greer, Wiegand, & Kracher, 2006;Greer, Yuan, & Gautreaux, 2005;SpeckmanCollins, Park, & Greer, 2007).…”

“…Greer, Yuan, and Gautreaux (2005) identified children who were missing the transformation of stimulus control across spelling words vocally and writing words, or vice versa. This effect has been replicated by Eby, Greer, Tullo, Baker, and Pauly (2010).…”

How Kids Learn to Say the Darnedest Things: The Effect of Multiple Exemplar Instruction on the Emergence of Novel Verb Usage

“…There is a substantial body of research showing that the provision of MEI, involving the teaching of essential stimulus control for minimal units results in abstract stimulus control for novel stimuli, ranging from emission of novel textual responses (Becker, 1992), or visual categorization (Fields et al, 2003) in humans, to abstract control by novel and complex auditory stimuli in humans and pigeons (Greer & Lundquist, 1976;Porter & Neuringer, 1985). However, the types of MEI identified as the source of the production of novel verbal responses, at least for some children, is somewhat different in that the exemplar experiences have involved rotated responses to single stimuli (Greer, Stolfi, Chavez-Brown & RiveraValdes, 2005;Greer, Stolfi, & Pistoljevic, 2007;Greer, Yuan, & Gautreaux, 2005). In these studies, responses were rotated to a single stimulus.…”

“…Greer Yuan et al (2005) found that MEI was functionally related to the emergence of correspondence between writing and saying as responses to dictated words. Children, for whom vocal spelling and written spelling were independent, acquired correspondence between saying and writing as a function of MEI.…”