Verbal Behavior

1. Verbal Behavior Shamsi Sadeghzadeh, BCBA Clinical Administrator Kim Sanders EVP/Chief Outcomes Officer

2. ABC Analysis • Antecedent: Those things that exist or happen in environment right before the behavior occurs. • Behavior: What child does, an observable movement that can be measured Behavior needs to be clearly defined & measured. • Consequence: What happens immediately after behavior occurs A consequence that increases the future probability of the behavior is a reinforcer.

3. Stimulus Control • Definition: The phenomenon of a stimulus altering (increasing or decreasing) the probability of a behavior because of a history of that behavior being differentially reinforced in the presence of it In other words, stimulus control is basically learning to pay attention to things that we identify in the environment that give us information about the effectiveness of our behavior.

4. Stimulus Control cont., • Discriminative Stimulus (SD): - A stimulus in the presence of which a response has been reinforced in the past - And in the absence of which a response has not been reinforced • S-delta (S ): A stimulus in the presence of which a response has not been reinforced

6. Verbal Behavior • Definition: VB is any communication involving a communicator and a communicator partner (listener) including speaking, signing, exchanging pictures, pointing, writing, typing, gesture, etc. Behaviors are also considered a form of communication. • In ABA, language is what a child does and considered a behavior that is effected by antecedents and reinforcers.

7. Verbal Behavior cont. • As babies make sounds, parents reinforce and shape approximation of beginning of words. • Sounds such as “ma”, “da”, and “ba” are reinforced while sounds like “aaaaa” or “dddd” are ignored. • This is how language develops.

8. Components of Verbal Behavior • Mand: A request for an item, action, attention or information • Tact: Labeling/naming some sensory nonverbal stimuli such as an object, smell, or feeling • Echoic: Repeating something that someone else says, and it can be immediate or delayed. • Intraverbal: Filling blanks or answering “wh” questions , and identifying word association

9. Mand • Mand is the most important operant since it is always preceded by motivation, child gets something he really wants by asking for it. • ABC concept must be in place: antecedent=thirst behavior= saying water, consequence=getting water • Manding is dependent on satiation and deprivation. • A typical toddler mands for hundreds of items before manding for attention and information. • To assess mand, present items and take data on manding independently or with prompt

10. Tact • Tact means child’s ability to label/name something that he sees, hears, smells, tastes, feels, or touches. • Reinforcer for tacting is non-specific • A picture book can be used, and, to limit distraction, flashcards are recommended. • Identify the child’s reinforcing items and gather pictures/icons of them. • To assess, present the photo & ask “what is this?

11. Echoic • Echoic is repeating what someone else says. • For typical developing child, it is the way of learning. • For children with ASD, even verbal, lack of echoic skill delays growth. • Echoic skill building starts with imitating sounds, one syllable words, and then larger vocabularies. • Sometimes a child may have a delayed echolaylia. • To assess echoic, sit across from a child in a distraction free setting and ask to repeat sounds and words.

12. Intraverbal • Intraverbal includes child’s ability to complete songs and or answer “wh” questions. • Examples: start singing a song, stop, and prompt the child to join or finish it. • Using “fill in blank” is a way of intraverbal skill, “you drink from a ……” or, “what fruit is yellow ?” • Function, feature, and class(FFC) can be used when working intraverbal.