Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interventions Used to Teach Tacts to Young Children with Autism: a Narrative Review of the Literature

  • Published:
Current Developmental Disorders Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Tact is a verbal operant emitted by a non-verbal stimulus (e.g., object) and maintained by social reinforcement (e.g., acknowledgement). Learning tacts facilitate acquisition of other verbal (e.g., mands and intraverbals) and non-verbal (e.g., listener) operants. Also, there is some evidence that teaching tacts to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) helps with reducing vocal stereotypies and palilalia. Due to the importance of teaching tacts to young learners with autism, this review aimed to examine the literature on tact instruction to this population who ranged from 0 to 59 months. Specifically, this review examined 10 constructs (i.e., interventions, efficacy, target tacts, outcomes of generalization and maintenance, stimuli used to elicit tacts, consequences of tacts, settings in which the interventions implemented, implementers, social validity, preexisting tact repertoires, and learning histories of the participants).

Recent Findings

The findings of the present review indicate that several interventions were effective in teaching and generalizing tacts to young children with autism. Although limited, the outcomes of maintenance and social validity were also positive.

Summary

There are different interventions that can be used to teach, generalize, and maintain tacts effectively for autistic children. Research on tacts should continue and address generality prior to and after tact instruction, multiple stimulus and response exemplars, non-visual tacts, the three facets of social validity, and involving natural agents and settings when teaching tacts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The data included in this manuscript are based on the articles listed in Table 1.

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

  1. Horne PJ, Lowe CF. On the origins of naming and other symbolic behavior. J Exp Anal Behav. 1996;65(1):185–241. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1996.65-185.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Lowe CF, Horne PJ, Harris FD, Randle VR. Naming and categorization in young children: vocal tact training. J Exp Anal Behav. 2002;78(3):527–49. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2002.78-527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. • Skinner B. Verbal behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts. 1957.  In this book, the psychologist B.F. Skinner presented his own analysis of verbal behavior (traditionally called language/linguistics) and its functional units (e.g., mand, tact, intraverbal).

  4. Sundberg ML. The most important verbal operant. VB News. 2015;14:3–5.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Fiorile CA, Greer RD. The induction of naming in children with no prior tact responses as a function of multiple exemplar histories of instruction. Anal Verbal Behav. 2007;23(1):71–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393048.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Olaff HS, Ona HN, Holth P. Establishment of naming in children with autism through multiple response-exemplar training. Behav Dev Bull. 2017;22:67–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/bdb0000044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Sullivan K, Stone WL, Dawson G. Potential neural mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder. Res Dev Disabil. 2014;35(11):2921–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.07.027.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Landa RJ. Efficacy of early interventions for infants and young children with, and at risk for, autism spectrum disorders. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2018;30(1):25–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2018.1432574.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. LeBlanc LA, Dillon CM, Sauter RA. Establishing mand and tact repertoires. In: Rehfeldt RA, Barnes-Holmes Y, editors. Derived relational responding: applications for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities. New Harbinger; 2009. p. 79–110.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Guzinski EM, Cihon TM, Eshleman J. The effects of tact training on stereotypic vocalizations in children with autism. Anal Verbal Behav. 2012;28(1):101–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393110.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Karmali I, Greer RD, Nuzzolo-Gomez R, Ross DE, Rivera-Valdes C. Reducing palilalia by presenting tact corrections to young children with autism. Anal Verbal Behav. 2005;21:145–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393016.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Wallace MD, Iwata BA, Hanley GP. Establishment of mands following tact training as a function of reinforcer strength. J Appl Behav Anal. 2006;39(1):17–24. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2006.119-04.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. • Conine DE, Vollmer TR, Dela Rosa CM, Slanzi CM. The effects of listener and tact training on the emergence of intraverbals among children with autism. Behav Anal: Res Pract. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/bar0000201. The findings of this study indicate that more intraverbals can emerge after tact training than listener training. The findings do not agree with Skinner’s assumption that verbal operants are functionally independent.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Miguel CF, Kobari-Wright VV. The effects of tact training on the emergence of categorization and listener behavior in children with autism. J Appl Behav Anal. 2013;46(3):669–73. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Axe JB, Laprime AP. The effects of contingent pairing on establishing praise as a reinforcer with children with autism. J Dev Phys Disabil. 2017;29(2):325–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-016-9526-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Baer DM, Wolf MM, Risley TR. Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. J Appl Behav Anal. 1968;1(1):91–7. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Stokes TF, Baer DM. An implicit technology of generalization. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977;10(2):349–67. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1977.10-349.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Gunning C, Holloway J, Fee B, Breathnach O, Bergin CM, Greene I, Ni Bheolain R. A systematic review of generalization and maintenance outcomes of social skills intervention for preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Rev J Autism Dev Disord. 2019;6(2):172–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-019-00162-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Neely L, Ganz J, Davis J, Boles MB, Hong E, Ninci J, Gilliland W. Generalization and maintenance of functional living skills for individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a review and meta-analysis. Rev J Autism Dev Disord. 2016;3:37–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. •• Bak MS, Dueñas AD, Avendaño SM, Graham AC, Stanley T. Tact instruction for children with autism spectrum disorder: A review. Autism Dev Lang Impair. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/2396941521999010. The researchers reviewed 51 studies on teaching tacts and found that most interventions yielded high outcomes. Interestingly, most research teams used structured rather than naturalistic interventions.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Dueñas AD, Plavnick JB, Maher CE. Embedding tact instruction during play for preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. Educ Treat Child. 2019;42(3):361–84. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2019.0017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Pisman MD, Luczynski KC. Caregivers can implement play-based instruction without disrupting child preference. J Appl Behav Anal. 2020;53(3):1702–25. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.705.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Lydon H, Healy O, Leader G, Keohane D-D. The effects of intensive tact instruction on three verbal operants in non-instructional settings for two children with autism. J Speech Lang Pathol Appl Behav Anal. 2009;3(2–3):173–84. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Pistoljevic N, Greer RD. The effects of daily intensive tact instruction on preschool students’ emission of pure tacts and mands in non-instructional setting. J Early Intensive Behav Interv. 2006;3(1):103–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. LaLonde KB, Dueñas AD, Neil N, Wawrzonek A, Plavnick JB. An evaluation of two tact-training procedures on acquired tacts and tacting during play. Anal Verbal Behav. 2020;36(2):180–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-020-00131-4.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Hanney NM, Carr JE, LeBlanc LA. Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to tact auditory stimuli. J Appl Behav Anal. 2019;52(3):733–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.605.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Cengher M, Fienup DM. Presession attention affects the acquisition of tacts and intraverbals. J Appl Behav Anal. 2020;53(3):1742–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.657.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Davis BJ, Kahng S, Coryat K. Manipulating motivating operations to facilitate the emergence of mands for a child with autism. Anal Verbal Behav. 2012;28(1):145–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393116.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Mitteer DR, Luczynski KC, McKeown CA, Cohrs VL. A comparison of teaching tacts with and without background stimuli on acquisition and generality. Behav Interv. 2020;35(1):3–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kelly L, Holloway J. An investigation of the effectiveness of behavioral momentum on the acquisition and fluency outcomes of tacts in three children with autism spectrum disorder. Res Autism Spectr Disord. 2015;9:182–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2014.10.007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Kodak T, Clements A. Acquisition of mands and tacts with concurrent echoic training. J Appl Behav Anal. 2009;42(4):839–43. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2009.42-839.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Sidener TM, Carr JE, Karsten AM, Severtson JM, Cornelius CE, Heinicke MR. Evaluation of single and mixed verbal operant arrangements for teaching mands and tacts. Anal Verbal Behav. 2010;26:15–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393079.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Dell’Aringa AR, Juanico JF, Harrison KL. Using transfer trials to teach tacting to children with autism spectrum disorder. Behav Anal Pract. 2021;14(1):120–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00507-x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Ferris KJ, Fabrizio MA. Comparison of error correction procedures involving a speech-generating device to teach a child with autism new tacts. J Speech Lang Pathol Appl Behav Anal. 2009;3(2–3):185–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Lorah ER, Parnell A. Acquisition of tacting using a speech-generating device in group learning environments for preschoolers with autism. J Dev Phys Disabil. 2017;29(4):597–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-017-9543-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Eby CM, Greer RD. Effects of social reinforcement on the emission of tacts by preschoolers. Behav Dev Bull. 2017;22(1):23–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/bdb0000043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Jimenez-Gomez C, Rajagopal S, Nastri R, Chong IM. Matrix training for expanding the communication of toddlers and preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Behav Anal Pract. 2019;12(2):375–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-019-00346-5.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Rush KS, Mortenson BP, Birch SE. Evaluation of preference assessment procedures for use with infants and toddlers. Int J Behav Consult Ther. 2010;6(1):2–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. • Sundberg ML, Partington JW. Teaching language to children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Behav Anal Inc. 1998. In this book, Sundberg & Partington presented methods for assessment and teaching language to educators and parents of children with autism and other developmental disabilities. The methods presented in the book are based on Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior and the research on this area.

  40. • Cooper J, Heron T, Heward W. Applied behavior analysis. 2nd ed. Pearson. 2007. This book is widely recognized in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) as a comprehensive textbook that presents an in-depth analysis of ABA, its principles, and its uses in changing socially significant behaviors.

  41. Schwartz IS, Baer DM. Social validity assessments: is current practice state of the art? J Appl Behav Anal. 1991;24(2):189–204. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1991.24-189.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Wolf MM. Social validity: the case for subjective measurement or how applied behavior analysis is finding its heart. J Appl Behav Anal. 1978;11(2):203–14. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1978.11-203.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Burrell TL, Borrego J. Parents’ involvement in ASD treatment: what is their role? Cogn Behav Pract. 2012;19(3):423–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.04.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. • Koegel RL, Koegel LK. Pivotal response treatments for autism: communication, social, & academic development. Paul H Brookes Publishing. 2006. In this book, Koegel and Koegel guided educators and therapists on implementing Pivotal Response Training (PRT) in the natural environments to improve communication, social skills, and behavior of young learners with autism.

  45. Symon JB. Parent education for autism: issues in providing services at a distance. J Posit Behav Interv. 2001;3(3):160–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/109830070100300304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education, University of Nevada, College of Education, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Box #453001, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA

    Hazim Aal Ismail & Joshua Baker

  2. College of Education, American University in the Emirates, Dubai Intl. Academic City, P.O. Box: 503000, Dubai, UAE

    Hazim Aal Ismail

Authors
  1. Hazim Aal Ismail
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joshua Baker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

This article is based on doctoral dissertation completed by the first author who was supervised by the second author.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hazim Aal Ismail.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

Not applicable as the ethical approval is not needed to conduct the literature review and no human subjects were recruited.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Authenticity

This manuscript is authentic. It is based on a dissertation completed by the first author who was supervised by the second author. This manuscript has not been submitted to another journal for consideration.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is based on doctoral dissertation completed by the first author who was supervised by the second author.

Glossary

Generalization

To transfer the target behavior (e.g., tacting) across settings in which the intervention was not implemented, people not involved in intervention, and responses not used in intervention (e.g., to say aircraft instead of airplane).

Impure tact

Those elicited by combining non-verbal and verbal (e.g., what is this?) stimuli.

Maintenance

To continue exhibiting the target behavior (e.g., tacting) for an extended period after the removal of intervention.

Pure tact

Those elicited by presenting the non-verbal stimulus (e.g., picture and object) alone.

Social validity

The degree to which target behavior, the intervention, and the outcomes are socially significant from the perspective of the direct (e.g., practitioners, families, and children) and indirect (e.g., researchers) consumers of interventions.

Tact

It is a verbal operant evoked by a non-verbal stimulus (e.g., picture and object) and maintained by social reinforcement by others (e.g., acknowledgement and praise).

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ismail, H.A., Baker, J. Interventions Used to Teach Tacts to Young Children with Autism: a Narrative Review of the Literature. Curr Dev Disord Rep 10, 175–189 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-023-00279-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-023-00279-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation