The Functional Independence of Skinner's Verbal Operants: Conceptual and Applied Implications

Fryling, Mitch J.

doi:10.1002/bin.1462

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In any case, the multiple control of stimuli or responses can favor the interdependence between the verbal operants. However, to date, the evidence regarding independence or interdependence between verbal operants is still somewhat contradictory [71,72].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Verbal Behavior Training on Performance for Sustainable Development in Childhood and Early Adolescence

2020

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The effective teaching of language is an aspect of special relevance regarding the good adjustment of children in contexts such as school, family, or community. This article performs an experimental procedure to check which language teaching methodology is most effective in a sample of children. The objective was to analyze the influence of training, Condition 1 (pure tacts more intraverbal) or Condition 2 (pure tacts more impure tacts), on emergence of two tests involving impure tacts (AB-C, AB-D) and four new complex intraverbals (BC-D, BD-C) for each of two sets of stimuli (Set 1 and Set 2). The sample comprised 54 children aged between 6 and 12 years, divided into two groups of different experimental conditions. The results revealed statistically significant differences in performance on the tests of impure tacts and complex intraverbal, obtaining highly effective results in Condition 2. This teaching method using compound stimuli (impure tacts) clearly favors the expansion of language. The practical implications of this work can be more effective language teaching methodologies implemented that favor the good psychosocial adjustment of children in contexts such as family, school, or the community in general.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Verbal Behavior Training on Performance for Sustainable Development in Childhood and Early Adolescence

2020

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“…With independently verified studies to support both the training of a single verbal operant to facilitate the emergence of other verbal operants and the simultaneous training of multiple verbal operants to expedite the conditioning of each, it has become increasingly difficult to overlook the growing body of literature that supports the functional interdependence of verbal operants (Fryling, 2017). Consequently, behavior analysts have begun to question the pure independence of verbal operants (Bondy, Tincani, & Frost, 2004;Edwards, Lotfizadeh, & Poling, 2019;Mason & Andrews, 2019;Meindl, Miller, & Ivy, 2018;Michael, Palmer, & Sundberg, 2011).…”

Section: Research Highlightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Referent-Based Instruction to Strengthen the Verbal Behavior of Early Learners with Autism and Related Language Disorders

Mason

Andrews

2020

Behav Analysis Practice

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The current study evaluated the use of precision teaching to address the verbal behavior deficits of children with autism and other language disorders. From 2013 to 2018, a high-research-activity doctoral university in the south-central United States operated a free clinic that provided applied behavior anlaysis services to early learners in the local community. Participants received referent-based verbal behavior instruction to strengthen their functional language skills by systematically transferring stimulus control across 4 primary verbal operants: mands, echoics, tacts, and sequelics. Referent-based instruction is premised on the notion that proportionate levels of strength among these 4 operants provide the relational flexibility of naturalistic speaking observed in typical language development. This article details the language gains made by 49 participants who received 13 weeks of intervention for 90 min a day, 4 days a week. Relative strengths and weaknesses were identified in the verbal repertoire of each participant, and individualized fluency aims were subsequently developed. Results of pretest and posttest comparisons show that there was a large effect size within the verbal behavior gains of participants who received precision teaching. Implications for implementing referent-based instruction, as well as future areas of research, are discussed.

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“…The growing literature base on the emergence of untrained verbal operants supports the notion that verbal operants may be functionally interdependent (Fryling, 2016). Verbal behavior SCoREs may have value for assessing the emergence of other verbal operants during functional communication training, which predominantly focuses on conditioning the mand relation.…”

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confidence: 92%

“…Apart from demonstrating the present level of functional verbal performance, the stimulus control ratio serves as a curriculum guide, with the aim of balancing the relative levels of control across all four operants (Fryling, 2016;Mason & Andrews, 2014). To achieve this goal, the control ratio also provides an individualized hierarchy of most-to-least prompting.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Verbal Behavior Stimulus Control Ratio Equation: a Quantification of Language

Mason

Andrews

2018

Perspect Behav Sci

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Language is a much sought-after yet elusive subject matter for scientific investigation. Entire fields of study have evolved to address the complexities of language, with most using a structural analysis as the framework for examination. Skinner (Verbal Behavior, 1957) proposed that language fell within the scope of a science of behavior and was therefore open to functional analysis and interpretation. Over the past 60 years, much has been done to further the scientific explanation, prediction, and control of verbal behavior as a function of environmental variables. However, we still need to more accurately describe the subject matter of investigation. The stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE) is a metric to summarize a behavioral repertoire by comparing the relative frequency of its component parts. The verbal behavior SCoRE compares the observed proportions of responding against the null hypothesis to yield a statistic to describe the present level of functional performance. Such information may be useful for measuring change over time and comparing treatment effects within individuals and across groups. This article provides a conceptualization of the interdependence of the verbal operants identified by Skinner (1957), a model for analyzing the entirety of the verbal repertoire, and implications for research and practice.Keywords Stimulus control ratio . Multiple control . Verbal behavior . Null hypothesis In the first of two personal epilogues to his analysis of Verbal Behavior, Skinner (1957) wrote:

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The Functional Independence of Skinner's Verbal Operants: Conceptual and Applied Implications

Cited by 12 publications

References 22 publications

Influence of Verbal Behavior Training on Performance for Sustainable Development in Childhood and Early Adolescence

Influence of Verbal Behavior Training on Performance for Sustainable Development in Childhood and Early Adolescence

Referent-Based Instruction to Strengthen the Verbal Behavior of Early Learners with Autism and Related Language Disorders

The Verbal Behavior Stimulus Control Ratio Equation: a Quantification of Language

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