Abstract
Axe (2008) speculated that some instances of intraverbal responding might be associated with limited or delayed acquisition because they require discrimination of multiple components of verbal stimuli. Past studies suggest that acquisition of responses under control of complex, multicomponent antecedent stimuli (e.g., conditional or compound stimulus control) can be facilitated with the introduction of a differential observing response (DOR; Dube & McIlvane, 1999; Gutowski, Geren, Stromer, & Mackay, 1995). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of a DOR (i.e., repeating the question) on intraverbal responding with six neurotypical preschool children. Findings included that (a) accuracy of intraverbal performance increased when the experimenter prompted a DOR; (b) 1 of 6 participants overtly emitted the DOR for a second relation in the absence of prompts, which was correlated with increased accuracy; and (c) following mastery, response accuracy was variable for 3 participants. Based on these findings, prompted DORs may offer an effective, if temporary, aid to intraverbal instruction for neurotypical preschool children.
References
Axe, J. B. (2008). Conditional discrimination in the intraverbal relation: A review and recommendations for future research. The Analysis of Verbal behavior, 24, 159–174.
Braam, S. J., & Poling, A. (1983). Development of intraverbal behavior in mentally retarded individuals through transfer of stimulus control procedures: Classification of verbal responses. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 4, 279–302.
Dube, W. V., & McIlvane, W. J. (1999). Reduction of stimulus overselectivity with nonverbal differential observing responses. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32, 25–33.
Dunn, L. M. & Dunn, D. M. (2007). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (PPVT-4). Bloomington, MN: Pearson.
Fjellstrom, G. G., Born, D. B., & Baer, D. M. (1988). Some effects of telling preschool children to self-question in a matching task. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 46, 419–437.
Gutowski, S. J., Geren, M., Stromer, R., & Mackay, H. A. (1995). Restricted stimulus control in delayed matching to complex samples: A preliminary analysis of the role of naming. Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin, 13, 18–24.
Kisamore, A. N., Carr, J. E., & LeBlanc, L. A. (2011). Training preschool children to use visual imagining as a problemsolving strategy for complex categorization tasks. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 255–278.
Litrownik, A. J., McInnis, E. T., Wetzel-Pritchard, A. M., & Filipelli, D. L. (1978). Restricted stimulus control and inferred attentional deficits in autistic and retarded children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 554–562.
Martin, N. A. & Brownell, R. (2011). Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (EOWPVT-4). Multi-Health Systems.
Palmer, D. C. (1991). A behavioral interpretation of memory. In L. J. Hayes & P. N. Chase (Eds.), Dialogues on verbal behavior (. 261–279). Reno, NV: Context Press.
Partington, J. W., & Bailey, J. S. (1993). Teaching intraverbal behavior to preschool children. The Analysis of Verbal behavior, 11, 9–18.
Saunders, K. J., & Spradlin, J. E. (1990). Conditional discrimination in mentally retarded adults: The development of generalized skills. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of behavior, 54, 239–250.
Sautter, R. A., LeBlanc, L. A., Jay, A. A., Goldsmith, T. R., & Carr, J. E. (2011). The role of problem solving in complex intraverbal repertoires. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 227–244.
Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Sundberg, M. L., & Michael, J. (2001). The benefits of Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior for children with autism. Behavior Modification, 25, 698–724.
Sundberg, M. L., & Sundberg, C. A. (2011). Intraverbal behavior and verbal conditional discriminations in typically developing children and children with autism. The Analysis of Verbal behavior, 27, 23–43.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kisamore, A.N., Karsten, A.M., Mann, C.C. et al. Effects of a Differential Observing Response on Intraverbal Performance of Preschool Children: A Preliminary Investigation. Analysis Verbal Behav 29, 101–108 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393127
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393127