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Rodriguez et al. (2022) discovered that teaching four component skills was sufficient to facilitate the emergence of intraverbal tacts across four applications with three participants. Our study replicated and evaluated an extension of this procedure that was directed at facilitating intraverbal tacts when a child learns the component skills but continues to fail to produce intraverbal tacts. The extension consisted of procedures to enhance the divergent control exerted by the auditory stimulus (i.e., the question) and the discriminability of joint control. Intraverbal tacts emerged for all three participants after undergoing the extension procedures. These results are discussed in the context of a conceptual analysis of intraverbal tacts and the potential role of joint control.

Autoclitics are secondary verbal operants that are controlled by a feature of the conditions that occasion or evoke a primary verbal operant such as a tact or mand. Qualifying autoclitics extend, negate, or assert a speaker's primary verbal response and modify the intensity or direction of the listener's behavior. Howard and Rice (1988) established autoclitics that indicated weak stimulus control (e.g., "like a [primary tact]") with four neurotypical preschool children. However, generalization to newly acquired tacts was limited. In Experiment 1, we addressed similar behavior as in Howard and Rice but with autistic children while using simultaneous teaching procedures, and we observed generalization across sets and with newly acquired tacts. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the effects of multiple-exemplar training on generalization of autoclitics across sets of naturalistic stimuli. Across participants, gradual increases in the frequency of autoclitics occurred with untaught stimuli after teaching with one or more sets.

High-impact experiences, such as service-learning opportunities or hands-on laboratories, have been shown to enhance student learning, course satisfaction, and attitudes and behaviors. Thus, it is essential to incorporate these experiences into psychology curriculums when possible. However, it is also critical to analyze the impact of these experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate student opinions of a service-learning laboratory experience to determine how impactful it was. Twenty-three psychology master's students who completed an operant conditioning laboratory at a local animal shelter were surveyed about the experience. Although students did have recommendations for improvement, the laboratory was viewed as effective and impactful. Students highlighted many aspects of the laboratory and indicated that it was educational and enjoyable. Service-learning experiences such as these can impact student learning and personal growth while also impacting the community. Instructors should consider offering these experiences but should be aware of challenges in implementing a laboratory such as this one.

Teachers need knowledge about operant conditioning as an important way to prevent student misbehavior. In an experiment with 181 student teachers, we investigated how the acquisition of conceptual knowledge about operant conditioning can be promoted through case comparisons. Our results showed that case comparison effectively supported the acquisition of knowledge about operant conditioning. Knowledge acquisition was higher with more guidance during case comparison by providing key features to be used to compare the cases. Furthermore, with more guidance student teachers learned more efficiently. In addition, higher germane load and lower extraneous load were found to mediate the effect of instructional guidance on learning. The case comparison was also associated with a shift in student teachers' beliefs, with more appropriate beliefs about operant conditioning afterwards. Thus, the results indicate that case comparison is an effective approach to promoting the acquisition of conceptual knowledge and positive beliefs about operant conditioning.

The use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in the child's natural setting is critical for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to improve communication skills and promote generalization. Yet, to implement EBPs effectively, caregivers often require training. The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy of behavior skills training (BST) to teach a caregiver to implement a parent-implemented discrete trial training (DTT) intervention in their home. Using a multiple baseline design, one caregiver was taught to implement the intervention focused on three verbal behavior operants. Results demonstrated a functional relation between the BST and caregiver implementation. This study provides a model for therapists and educators working with caregivers to implement communication interventions in the home.

The autoclitic is among the least studied and most complex verbal operant named and described by Skinner. The descriptive autoclitic is one subtype, which among other functions can describe the strength of the response. If the clarity of the stimulus is one source of response strength for tacts, manipulating stimulus clarity should evoke different frequencies of descriptive autoclitics. In an experiment with adults, digitally distorting pictures of common objects predicted the relative frequency of descriptive autoclitics that accompanied tacts. The most distorted images evoked twice as many autoclitics as moderately distorted images, and low-distortion images evoked no autoclitics. We encourage other researchers to interpret Skinner's conceptualization of the autoclitic and its various forms and test them empirically to evaluate how their functional definitions can be clarified, refined, or altered.

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of telehealth to provide parent training in behaviour analytic interventions and researchers have begun to focus on international demonstrations of this model. The current study assessed the efficacy of a training package focused on naturalistic teaching strategies designed to upskill parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and provide them with ready to use strategies to increase social communication behaviours across verbal operants. Two parent-child dyads were trained to increase mand, tact and intraverbals during play. Parents displayed increases in fidelity for each strategy and viewed the training favourably. Both children showed gains across verbal operants, as captured by a multiple baseline across behaviours design.

Before implementing the Competency-Based Approach (CBA) in 2003, the Algerian educational system was based on traditional teaching methods that focused mainly on acquiring the knowledge about language delivered by the teacher and the amount of information the learner could accumulate to pass the exams. Although CBA has shifted the teacher's role from a knowledge transmitter to a facilitator and the learner from a passive recipient to an active participant, the teacher-centered paradigm still prevails among secondary-school teachers. To shed light on that prevalence, the researcher attempts to explore the perceptions secondary-school teachers hold about Teacher-Centred Approach (TCA) and the reasons behind its widespread use. Therefore, the present study investigates the causes of TCA prevalence in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes using a mixed-methods approach. To reach that aim, the researcher put forward the following hypothesis. Although teachers know the various teaching approaches, they have to adopt the teacher-centered method because of several constraints. To collect the necessary data to identify those constraints, thirty English teachers from some secondary schools in the district of Mostaganem received a questionnaire. The research results confirmed the hypothesis stated above. They revealed that teachers are well-informed about the viability of various teaching approaches and methods; however, they keep adopting the teacher-centered approach. Such behavior is due to multiple constraints such as classrooms crowdedness, the traditional physical classroom environment, the baccalaureate (BAC) exam requirements, and the time restrictions due to the lengthy English programs.

Technology has been playing an increasingly important role in teaching and learning because of its capacity to increase students' motivation and provide them with opportunities to explore and acquire new knowledge and skills. However, little is known regarding the effectiveness of using the digital interactive case-based instruction (CBI) approach to support teaching and learning. Hence, this study investigated the effectiveness of digital interactive CBI in supporting learning of behaviourism among 234 preservice teachers. The results indicated that digital interactive CBI was a useful tool for enhancing learning. Preservice teachers not only found the activity engaging, but also believed that it was helpful in deepening their understanding towards operant conditioning and improving their abilities to analyse and solve real-world problems. The detailed findings will provide helpful insights to teacher educators who are considering implementing CBI in teacher education programmes.

The use of autoclitics can influence the behavior of individuals making choices when responding to a survey (e.g., checking or unchecking a box). In two studies, we investigated the effects of autoclitics as "nudges" on choice by manipulating different frames (opt-in and opt-out) and default options (i.e., unchecked and checked boxes). Undergraduate students recruited from behavioral science courses engaged with materials in the study. In study 1, we used an online survey at the beginning of the semester offering the choice of whether to enroll in extra-academic activities (i.e., practice tests) available via the online course platform, Blackboard. We randomly assigned students into one of four groups: (1) option to enroll with an unchecked box, (2) option to not enroll with an unchecked box, (3) option to enroll with a checked box, or (4) option to not enroll with a checked box. Results showed that the option to not enroll with an unchecked box produced higher enrollment to receive extra academic activities. In the middle of the semester, we conducted a within-subject arrangement wherein students who initially opted out of receiving activities had the option to accept them following exposure to the negative autoclitic frame. Most of these students opted into receiving activities. In study 2, we replicated the methods of study 1 in Canvas, a different course platform, and obtained similar results. We briefly discuss the implications of a nudge for ethical consent.

Instructive feedback (IF) involves incorporating additional acquisition targets into skill-acquisition programs. A recent study by Frampton and Shillingsburg (2020) found that IF led to emergent verbal operants with two elementary-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study replicated Frampton and Shillingsburg with two children with ASD. Therapists conducted sessions of mastered listener-by-name trials (e.g., "Show me otter," with pictures of otter, dog, and elephant) with IF statements for features of the target stimuli (e.g., "It lives in rivers.") embedded during the consequence portion of the trial. We evaluated the acquisition of secondary targets and emergent responses using a concurrent multiple baseline across sets design. We observed increased correct responding for secondary targets and emergent responses for all three sets of stimuli with one participant. The other participant emitted correct responses for secondary targets and emergent operants with the first set but not with the other two sets of stimuli. Results suggested that IF can lead to emergent verbal operants, but the extent of emergence may be idiosyncratic.

This systematic review evaluated the effects of foreign tact training on emergent learning outcomes in ten published studies. We also conducted a meta-analysis of aggregate data from seven studies comparing outcomes of foreign tact training with other verbal operant procedures. The preliminary findings indicated foreign tact training produced criterion-level responses in 84 of 106 (79.2%) post-test probes across 37 learners and 55 evaluations of foreign tact training. The meta-analysis results revealed significantly higher within-subjects mean levels of emergent responding following foreign tact training than foreign-to-native intraverbal, native-to-foreign intraverbal, and foreign listener training. Emergent outcomes for adults were not significantly greater than for children. Finally, foreign tact training was slightly more efficient than the other verbal operant procedures, although most of the differences were not statistically significant.

Competing viewpoints on the independency or interdependency of Skinner's verbal operants have been discussed in the literature and with empirical support for both positions generated using single-case research methods. Our study provides support for the interdependency of the verbal operants using items contained in the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program as a measure of broader skill acquisition in each verbal operant category and across skill complexity levels. The result of an exploratory factor analysis conducted across 85 participants with autism suggested that items did yield factors consistent with the verbal operants, rather items appeared to cluster in terms of skill complexity producing a best-fit 2 factor model. Together with prior research showing untrained cross-operant transfers, results fail to support Skinner's verbal behavior taxonomy distinguishing between the verbal operant categories as independent constructs, with implications for how behavior scientists and analysts describe language development and assess and treat language deficits of individuals with autism.

Effective training programs for individuals with disabilities often involve the use of positive reinforcement. Social interactions have many benefits over other forms of reinforcement, but more research is needed to determine how to identify social interactions that serve as reinforcers. In the first experiment, we evaluated the use of two procedures to assess preference for social interactions: a video-presentation and a picture-presentation paired-choice preference assessment among five boys diagnosed with a developmental disability. In the second experiment, we conducted concurrent operant reinforcer assessments to validate the results of the preference assessments among three of the five participants in which at least one assessment indicated differentiated preferences. The video-presentation and picture-presentation preference assessments resulted in the identification of the same high-preferred social interactions for two of the three participants, and subsequent reinforcer assessments indicated these social interactions served as reinforcers. The results of the video- and picture-presentation preference assessments differed for the final participant. The results of a concurrent operant reinforcer assessment indicated the social interaction identified as highest preferred in the video-presentation assessment served as a relatively more effective reinforcer. Results of this study indicate that video- and picture-presentation preference assessment results in differentiate responding for some participants, but not others; however, reasons for these results remain unknown. Moreover, a video-presentation preference assessments may be more effective in identifying social reinforcers, but evidence should be considered; preliminary and future research is warranted.

Due to the increasing number of students in need of special education services and the shortages of licensed special education personnel, paraeducators have become critical in the education of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities in school settings. As a result, the training of paraeducators has become a major area of concern. An extensive body of research has demonstrated performance feedback as an effective intervention to address implementation deficiencies among school personnel. However, only a few studies have evaluated the efficiency of performance feedback to improve implementation of interventions by paraeducators. Using a concurrent multiple baseline design across four paraeducators participants, a brief performance feedback intervention consisting of vocal-verbal feedback and skill rehearsal was evaluated for training paraeducators to teaching mands to students with autism and other disabilities. Results indicated an immediate increase in the level of mand-training fidelity from baseline to intervention after implementation of the feedback intervention. In addition, all participants maintained high levels of implementation fidelity up to 4 weeks postintervention. The advantages of designing efficient and effective training interventions for paraeducators, the shortcomings of the current study, and recommendations for future research and practice are discussed.

The aim of this article is to provide a concise overview of the theoretical assumptions of behaviorism, which generally informs "traditional" approaches to sport coaching. B.F. Skinner's (1904--1990) theory of operant conditioning is discussed, alongside considerations for sport coaching practice. For coaches who draw upon the principles of Skinner's theory of operant conditioning, four reflective questions are posed. This article does not attempt to present behaviorism or Skinner's work as superior or inferior to any other theory of learning. Rather, this article is founded on the belief that sport coaches would benefit from a greater understanding of their assumptions about learning, enabling them to make more informed choices and modifications to their practice.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display impairments in communication, such as limited echoic behavior, few vocal-verbal responses, and a lack of functional communication. One potential way to foster the acquisition of vocal responses in individuals with disabilities is by conditioning vocalizations as reinforcers. Conditioning procedures include stimulus-stimulus pairing, response-contingent pairing (RCP), operant discrimination training, and observational conditioning (OC). However, previous research has not evaluated whether OC can be used to condition vocalizations as reinforcers. The current study assessed whether two conditioning procedures, RCP and OC, were effective in conditioning vocalizations as a reinforcer and also evaluated their effect on the rate of vocalizations. Participants included three children with ASD, ages 5-10 years old. During the conditioning phase, rates of vocalizations during the RCP and OC conditions and a control condition were compared within an adapted alternating-treatments design. Reinforcer assessments were completed in a multielement design, pre- and postconditioning, to assess whether the target vocalizations acquired reinforcing properties. A conditioning effect and an increase in the rate of vocalizations were observed for two of the three participants; however, the conditioning effect was minor for one participant. Overall, the results of this study indicate both the RCP and OC procedures may be beneficial in increasing vocalizations for some children and could be incorporated into clinical programs and further explored in future research.

In the current investigation, we reviewed the literature on mand training for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in schools. Ninety-three studies met our inclusion criteria including 225 individual participants. Data were extracted related to participant demographics (e.g., age, disability, response form) and study variables (e.g., setting types, change agents, teaching procedures). Results indicated substantial support for the efficacy of interventions for teaching mands to individuals with IDD in schools. Limitations and implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

For most children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), manding for information is an important skill that must be systematically taught. Although previous studies have evaluated interventions for teaching other mands for information, to date no studies have demonstrated effective procedures for teaching the mand "why?" The purpose of the present study was to teach 3 children with ASD to mand "why?" under relevant establishing operation conditions in 3 distinct scenarios. A trial-unique multiple-exemplar procedure was used to promote generalization and increase the value of information provided across trials. All 3 participants learned to mand "why?" in all 3 scenarios within a mean of 18 sessions (range 14-21 sessions), demonstrated generalization to novel stimuli and settings, and maintained this skill over time. Social validity for the intervention had an overall mean of 5.88 (range 1-7).

Since Skinner's conceptualization of the mand, applied behavior analysis researchers have used the concept to develop stimulus control transfer procedures effective for addressing manding deficits. More recently, researchers have explored the clinical utility of reinforcing mand variability during mand training and functional communication training. However, limitations in the conceptual analysis of mand variability may have limited the kinds of questions addressed in this research and our understanding of the findings. The current article reconceptualizes mand variability as consisting of eight distinct dimensions and provides operational definitions of the dimensions that may be useful for more precisely characterizing the effects of reinforcement on mand variability in future research. The article concludes with a brief discussion of potential clinical and research implications.

The current study evaluated a procedure used to teach two children with autism to ask "why" questions maintained by causal information about an event. To increase the value of information as a reinforcer, the experimenter denied access to preferred items and did not provide a reason for the denial. Participants were taught to ask "why" questions and were provided with information that led them to access preferred items. To ensure that "why" questions only occurred when the information was valuable, we included a condition wherein access to preferred items was restricted but causal information was available. Both participants learned to ask "why" questions when causal information was not available and refrained from asking "why" questions when causal information was available.

This study aimed at investigating the similarities and differences between Vygotsky's perspectives on child language development with nativism and behaviorism. Proposing the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development, Vygotsky emphasized the role of collaborative interaction, scaffolding, and guided participation in language learning. Nativists, on the other hand, believe in the existence of Language Acquisition Device. They maintain that language is innate and acquisition is instantaneous. They also believe that acquisition happens in spite of inadequate input. Behaviorists claim that nurture is crucial in the process of language development. They believe that language is taught through reinforcements in the environment. Children associate certain stimuli with certain behaviors and responses.

Five reinforcing activities were presented to and interrupted for two participants with autism. An errorless teaching procedure was then introduced with two similar activities prompting the participants to request information saying "How?" in order to resume the activity. The dependent variable included both the cumulative number of times "How?" occurred and number of times he used the acquired information to access his reinforcer. Training was conducted across five clinicians to program for and determine generalization across both activities and people. Results suggest that one participant's manding for information generalized across activities and clinicians, although his utilizing the acquired information was not as apparent for 4 out of the 5 activities. The second participant's behavior suggested his manding to have generalized to 3 out of 5 activities but limited (2 out of 5) use of acquired information. A maintenance trial conducted three weeks after the study's conclusion indicated that the target behaviors were maintained.

A literature review was conducted to describe important concepts involved in functional analysis of verbal behavior as well as to evaluate empirical research findings on acquisition of picture exchange-based vs. signed mands to suggest instructional implications for teachers and therapists to teach functional communication skills to children with autism. Research findings indicate that children with autism acquire picture exchange responses to mand for reinforcing items more easily and rapidly than signed responses. There is also a strong relation between motor imitation, matching skills and sign language acquisition. It is suggested that both motor imitation and matching skills be examined to teach manual signs to children with autism. Speech is the most common response form, but writing, typing, signs, pictures, gestures, or eye gaze should also be considered for manding. A decision making process is proposed to determine a proper communicative form considering abilities and environmental conditions of a child concerned.

The current study combined equivalence-based instruction and instructive feedback (IF) with two groups of children with autism spectrum disorder. For group 1, three sets of three targets were tested, and for group 2, two sets of three targets were tested. For each target stimulus, the following verbal operants were evaluated: (1) tact name, (2) tact feature, (3) name-feature intraverbal, and (4) feature-name intraverbal. Following individual across set probes (ASP) sessions evaluating all targets in all sets, group treatment was conducted with set 1. During group treatment, tact training was provided to each participant relating to his/her assigned target and IF relating to a feature of the target was provided. Once daily probe data indicated all targets were mastered by the assigned participant, ASP were repeated. This process was repeated across all evaluated sets in the form of a multiple probe design. Results indicated robust responding for three participants, with evidence of responding to observational targets, secondary targets (related to the IF), and emergence of intraverbal responses. A fourth participant showed moderate levels of correct responding, particularly with observational targets. Overall, results suggest that group IF and stimulus equivalence are viable interventions for some children with ASD.

Tacts facilitate social interaction, and a strong tact repertoire can lead to the development of other verbal operants. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the development of a tact repertoire can reduce stereotypical and repetitive language and increase social communication, as functional language may reduce the amount of stereotypical vocal behavior that children engage in. However, teaching tact repertoires to children with ASD that maintain and generalize is difficult. The current study reviewed tact interventions for children with ASD from 2000 to 2019 to provide an overview of current tact interventions, their effectiveness, and the inclusion of intervention components that may promote maintenance and generalization of learned tacts in children with ASD. Fifty-one studies were included in the review. Of the studies that met criteria for effect size calculations 87.18% of the interventions showed excellent or high effect. Although many of the studies focused more on stimulus control to answer specific research questions, some studies implemented intervention components and procedures that could promote acquisition and generalization of learned tacts in children with ASD. We discuss implications and the need to increase research regarding tact intervention components that can increase generalization in children with ASD.

B. F. Skinner is the most eminent psychologist of the twentieth century, and it is no exaggeration to say that his discovery of operant learning (conditioning) has influenced the broader field of psychology, as well as other disciplines, including education, neuroscience, and philosophy. Skinner's discovery and elucidation of operant learning has also had an immeasurable impact on our understanding of behavioural changes in infancy and childhood and on the treatment of behavioural disorders in children. In this article, I present the case that Skinner's discoveries and inventions have not only contributed to a scientific understanding of typical child development, but have also led to significant advances in the education, treatment, and care of children. In that regard, it could be argued that Skinner was an early childhood pioneer.

Previous research has investigated generalized intraverbal-tacting by teaching children with autism to respond using autoclitic frames. The present study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of a Frame and a No Frame procedure across counterbalanced stimulus sets with 4 children with autism. In the Frame condition, children were taught to respond using autoclitic frames (e.g., "Shape square," "Number two," "Color green," "It's mummy," "S/he is drinking") corresponding to the verbal antecedent ("What shape?", "What number?", "What color?", "Who is it?", "What is s/he doing?"). In the No Frame condition, intraverbal-tacting was established without the autoclitic frame. Irrespective of stimuli employed, 2 children acquired intraverbal-tacting only in the Frame condition. The other 2 children acquired intraverbal-tacting in both conditions, with the Frame procedure requiring fewer teaching trials for 1 child and producing greater generalization for the other. Implications for clinical practice and the role of additive intraverbal stimulus control of autoclitic frames are discussed.

A goal of behavior-analytic interventions is to produce behavior that is maintained under naturalistic conditions. In this experiment, we studied the effects of a speaker immersion protocol (SIP) on the number of speaker responses (tacts and mands) emitted by 3 preschool students under naturalistic, not directly targeted, conditions. During the SIP, the researchers provided 100 daily opportunities for the participants to emit mands using the target mand form by contriving establishing operations (EOs) throughout the school day. The effects of the intervention were evaluated using a multiple-probe design by measuring target mands during EO probe sessions and the number of mands and tacts emitted during noninstructional-setting probe sessions. The researchers found that the SIP produced increases in both targeted and generalized verbal behavior.

We examined emergent tact control following stimulus pairing, using 2 different stimulus presentation arrangements. In the word-first condition, presentation of the auditory stimulus preceded the visual stimulus, and in the image-first condition, the visual stimulus preceded the auditory stimulus. Eight children (2-5 years old) participated. In Experiment 1, 4 children were exposed to 3 sessions in each condition with a new set of stimuli in each session. In Experiment 2, 2 of the same children received repeated exposure to the same stimulus sets. Experiment 3, with new participants, was identical to Experiment 1, except visual and auditory stimuli overlapped during the presentation. Postsession probes documented emergent stimulus control over 1 or more vocal responses for 7 of the 8 participants. Participants were more likely to make echoic responses with the visual stimulus present in the word-first condition; however, emergent tact control was unaffected by the order of the stimulus presentation. Additional research is needed on stimulus-pairing procedures and on the role of echoic responding in emergent tact control.

Access to early intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder is commonly recommended. Intervention programs may include high rates of instructional trials, which may evoke escape-maintained problem behavior. Recent research on "pairing" or "rapport-building" interventions have sought to reduce the likelihood that problem behavior occurs during instruction using antecedent manipulations. The current study evaluated a structured intervention that included differential reinforcement and demand fading to increase participants' response allocation to instructional settings without the use of physical guidance. Nine minimally verbal girls under the age of 6 years with autism spectrum disorder enrolled in the study. The protocol was effective for seven of the nine participants. One participant did not complete the protocol due to competing behavior and an additional participant did not require the intervention. Our findings suggest that the structured intervention was effective in increasing appropriate behavioral repertoires that are necessary for children with autism spectrum disorder to effectively benefit from early educational programs.

Over the past few years an increasing number of schools and community organizations have developed transformative learning spaces referred to as "MakerSpaces" for research and training purposes. MakerSpaces are organizations in which members sharing similar interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) gather to work on self-selected projects. Proponents of MakerSpaces highlight the implicit benefits arising from participants' increased engagement with complex technical content in a voluntary, authentic context. We extend the MakerSpace concept to applications of training special education teachers to address the needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has vast empirical support for treating ASD. We believe the MakerSpace model provides a platform for developing a new generation of special education teachers. However, rather than making novel products, the focus is on shaping the behavior-analytic repertoires of special education teachers. In the field of ABA, the term "shaping" describes the differential reinforcement of successive approximations to a target behavior. Accordingly, we propose the name ShaperSpace to describe a novel clinical training approach to developing special education teachers who employ research-validated interventions for individuals with ASD. The supervision model described in this article is provided, not as a recommendation, but as an exemplar that has developed over four years' contingency shaping and continues to be refined. We appeal to the reader to consider the ShaperSpace as a starting point from which skills developed through free-operant field experiences will ultimately be shaped and selected by the naturally occurring contingencies of the environment.

To benefit from the exploration of their bodies and their physical and social environments, infants need to detect sensorimotor contingencies linking their actions to sensory feedback. This ability, which seems to be present in babies from birth and even in utero, has been widely used by researchers in their study of early development. However, a careful review of the literature, particularly the recent literature, suggests that babies may not be uniformly sensitive to all sensorimotor contingencies. This literature review examines in detail sensorimotor contingency detection in infants before the age of 1 year. Four aspects of sensorimotor contingency detection are considered: characteristics of action and feedback, contingency parameters, exposure conditions, and interindividual differences. For each topic, we highlight what favors and what hinders the detection of sensorimotor contingencies in infants. Our review also demonstrates the limitations of our knowledge about sensorimotor contingency detection. We emphasize the importance of making progress in this field at a time when sensorimotor contingency detection is of major interest in developmental robotics and artificial intelligence.

More is known about how to reduce challenging behavior with functional communication training (FCT) than how to mitigate its resurgence during or following a course of treatment. Research suggests reinforcing mand variability during FCT may mitigate the resurgence of challenging behavior, but validated procedures for reinforcing mand variability are limited and poorly understood. Lag schedules can reinforce variability in verbal behavior such as manding in individuals with autism, but studies have been largely limited to nonvocal mand modalities. Therefore, in the current study, we further evaluated the effects of FCT with lag schedules on vocal mand variability and challenging behavior in children with autism. The results suggest lag schedules alone or in combination with response prompt-fading strategies during FCT can increase mand variability and expand mand response classes but may fail to produce clinically significant reductions in challenging behavior.

Members (behaviors) of a response class are equivalent in that they produce the same functional reinforcer. Oftentimes, some members of a response class occur at higher rates than others. This can be problematic when the members that occur at high rates are socially inappropriate (e.g., self-injury, aggression, or disruption). The participant in this study was a 16-year-old female diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who demonstrated aggression, one-word mands, and mands with autoclitic frames. In a series of contingency reversals, we placed 2 behaviors on extinction (e.g., aggression and one-word mands), which resulted in extinction-induced variability. Capitalizing on extinction-induced variability, we reinforced a different behavior (e.g., mands with autoclitic frames). The results confirmed that (a) the rate of responding for each topography was a function of extinction-induced response variability and differential reinforcement and (b) all response topographies belonged to the same response class. These results provide empirical support for the use of extinction-induced variability to differentially increase the rate of socially appropriate behaviors while decreasing socially inappropriate behaviors that belong to the same response class.

Bidirectional naming (BiN) is the integration of speaker and listener responses, reinforced by social consequences. Unfortunately, these consequences often do not function as reinforcers for behavior in children with autism. Accordingly, the repertoire of BiN is also often limited in these children. Previous research has suggested that so-called multiple-exemplar instruction, a rotation between different speaker and listener operants, may be necessary to establish BiN. The present experiment aimed to investigate whether sequential operant instruction might also work as a successful intervention to improve BiN skills after the establishment of standard social reinforcers. Standard social reinforcers were identified and established through an operant-discrimination training procedure in 4 participating children with an autism spectrum diagnosis. In the present experiment, all participants showed increased BiN after sequential operant instruction with conditioned social reinforcers contingent on relevant operants. Two of 4 participants acquired BiN skills. Moreover, the remaining 2 participants scored within the mastery criterion on listener responses, and 1 of them also met the criterion on the tact probes. Essential characteristics of an intervention, as well as the role of the echoic in the emission of BiN, are discussed.

Operant reward learning of feeding behavior in "Aplysia" increases the frequency and regularity of biting, as well as biases buccal motor patterns (BMPs) toward ingestion-like BMPs (iBMPs). The engram underlying this memory comprises cells that are part of a central pattern generating (CPG) circuit and includes increases in the intrinsic excitability of identified cells B30, B51, B63, and B65, and increases in B63-B30 and B63-B65 electrical synaptic coupling. To examine the ways in which sites of plasticity (individually and in combination) contribute to memory expression, a model of the CPG was developed. The model included conductance-based descriptions of cells CBI-2, B4, B8, B20, B30, B31, B34, B40, B51, B52, B63, B64, and B65, and their synaptic connections. The model generated patterned activity that resembled physiological BMPs, and implementation of the engram reproduced increases in frequency, regularity, and bias. Combined enhancement of B30, B63, and B65 excitabilities increased BMP frequency and regularity, but not bias toward iBMPs. Individually, B30 increased regularity and bias, B51 increased bias, B63 increased frequency, and B65 decreased all three BMP features. Combined synaptic plasticity contributed primarily to regularity, but also to frequency and bias. B63-B30 coupling contributed to regularity and bias, and B63-B65 coupling contributed to all BMP features. Each site of plasticity altered multiple BMP features simultaneously. Moreover, plasticity loci exhibited mutual dependence and synergism. These results indicate that the memory for operant reward learning emerged from the combinatoric engagement of multiple sites of plasticity.

Various types of augmentative and alternative communication systems have been successfully used to enable functional communication in children with developmental disabilities. The effects of such systems on natural speech production have also been investigated, but few studies have explored the effects of specific procedures aim at inducing natural speech within interventions focused on teaching functional use of augmentative and alternative communication systems. The current study investigated the effectiveness of a behavior intervention package for teaching functional use (manding) of an augmentative and alternative communication device and production of vocal mands with three children with developmental disabilities. The findings indicated that combining augmented and the behavioral intervention package facilitated the acquisition of vocalization and augmented mands. Further, one child showed generalization of the two different communication modes across communicative partners. Limitations of the study and implications are discussed.

Individuals with developmental disabilities often do not develop vocal repertoires, thus requiring the use of augmentative devices. Teaching caregivers to conduct communication training with their children may be one way to foster communication with their device in the natural environment. This study replicates Rosales, Stone and Rehfeldt (2009), but using an augmentative device. Behavioral skills training was used to teach caregivers to implement mand training procedures. Caregivers quickly learned to implement mand training with their children and independent mands increased from pretraining to posttraining observations for 2 out of 3 children.

Prompts are commonly used during discrete trial teaching for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three commonly used prompting systems include constant time delay, most-to-least prompting, and flexible prompt fading. Most of the research demonstrating the effectiveness of these three prompting strategies have been completed through the use of single subject experimental designs. Some within the field of behaviorally based approaches to ASD interventions have called for more randomized clinical trials of these approaches. The purpose of the present study was to compare these 3 prompting systems to teach tact relations for 27 individuals diagnosed with ASD through a randomized clinical trial without a control group with respect to pre-post responding, generalization, sessions to mastery, and responding during teaching. Overall, minimal differences were observed across the 3 systems. The results are discussed with respect to future research and clinical application of the methods evaluated.

Autism researchers often use mand training paired with direct trial instruction (DTI) as an effective way to increase communication skills for young children with autism. However, these methods often occur in clinical settings. In this case study, we trained a parent to complete a DTI verbal mand intervention with her son with autism. She completed the intervention in her home with high fidelity. The results showed the child increased his use of verbal requests, and maintained a similar rate of response when the intervention was removed. In a follow-up interview, the parent expressed that the intervention was feasible to implement and that the child generalized skills learned by communicating outside of the intervention sessions. This case study demonstrates the effective use of a parent as an interventionist when implementing a highly-structured intervention in the home. The authors provide a descriptive protocol for training parents to be used across multiple disciplines .