Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1984 Winter;17(4):453–460. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1984.17-453

Establishing generative yes/no responses in developmentally disabled children.

N A Neef, J Walters, A L Egel
PMCID: PMC1307967  PMID: 6526766

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of two procedures for teaching four developmentally disabled children to respond yes/no appropriately. During baseline, tutoring was conducted in which five known items were individually presented with the question, "Is this a ----?", followed either by access to requested items or by remedial prompting contingent on responding. When tutoring did not improve performance, instruction was embedded in the regular classroom activities. In this condition, items requested by students were either presented or withheld on the basis of their response to the question, "Do you want ----?". Increases in correct responding were confirmed by a multiple-baseline design across all four students and were maintained with the introduction of new items. However, generalization to "Is this a ----?" questions did not occur in the tutoring setting until specifically programmed. Subsequently, students also demonstrated appropriate yes/no responding to questions involving actions, possession, and spatial relations.

Full text

PDF
453

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baer D. M., Wolf M. M., Risley T. R. Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. J Appl Behav Anal. 1968 Spring;1(1):91–97. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Campbell C. R., Stremel-Campbell K. Programming "loose training" as a strategy to facilitate language generalization. J Appl Behav Anal. 1982 Summer;15(2):295–301. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1982.15-295. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Goetz L., Schuler A., Sailor W. Teaching functional speech to the severely handicapped: current issues. J Autism Dev Disord. 1979 Dec;9(4):325–343. doi: 10.1007/BF01531443. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Halle J. W., Baer D. M., Spradlin J. E. Teachers' generalized use of delay as a stimulus control procedure to increase language use in handicapped children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1981 Winter;14(4):389–409. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1981.14-389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Halle J. W., Marshall A. M., Spradlin J. E. Time delay: a technique to increase language use and facilitate generalization in retarded children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1979 Fall;12(3):431–439. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1979.12-431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Harris S. L. Teaching language to nonverbal children--with emphasis on problems of generalization. Psychol Bull. 1975 Jul;82(4):565–580. doi: 10.1037/h0076903. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hart B. M., Risley T. R. Establishing use of descriptive adjectives in the spontaneous speech of disadvantaged preschool children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1968 Summer;1(2):109–120. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1968.1-109. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hart B., Risley T. R. In vivo language intervention: unanticipated general effects. J Appl Behav Anal. 1980 Fall;13(3):407–432. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1980.13-407. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hart B., Risley T. R. Incidental teaching of language in the preschool. J Appl Behav Anal. 1975 Winter;8(4):411–420. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1975.8-411. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hart B., Risley T. R. Using preschool materials to modify the language of disadvantaged children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1974 Summer;7(2):243–256. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1974.7-243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hung D. W. Training and generalization of yes and no as mands in two autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord. 1980 Jun;10(2):139–152. doi: 10.1007/BF02408465. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. McGee G. G., Krantz P. J., Mason D., McClannahan L. E. A modified incidental-teaching procedure for autistic youth: acquisition and generalization of receptive object labels. J Appl Behav Anal. 1983 Fall;16(3):329–338. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1983.16-329. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. National Society for Autistic Children definition of the syndrome of autism. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1978 Jun;8(2):162–169. doi: 10.1007/BF01537864. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Peterson R. F. Some experiments on the organization of a class of imitative behaviors. J Appl Behav Anal. 1968 Fall;1(3):225–235. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1968.1-225. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sailor W. Reinforcement and generalization of productive plural allomorphs in two retarded children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1971 Winter;4(4):305–310. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1971.4-305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Schreibman L., Carr E. G. Elimination of echolalic responding to questions through the training of a generalized verbal response. J Appl Behav Anal. 1978 Winter;11(4):453–463. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1978.11-453. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Schumaker J., Sherman J. A. Training generative verb usage by imitation and reinforcement procedures. J Appl Behav Anal. 1970 Winter;3(4):273–287. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1970.3-273. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Simic J., Bucher B. Development of spontaneous manding in language deficient children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1980 Fall;13(3):523–528. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1980.13-523. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Spradlin J. E., Siegel G. M. Language training in natural and clinical environments. J Speech Hear Disord. 1982 Feb;47(1):2–6. doi: 10.1044/jshd.4701.02. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wheeler A. J., Sulzer B. Operant training and generalization of a verbal response form in a speech-deficient child. J Appl Behav Anal. 1970 Summer;3(2):139–147. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1970.3-139. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Williams J. A., Koegel R. L., Egel A. L. Response-reinforcer relationships and improved learning in autistic children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1981 Spring;14(1):53–60. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1981.14-53. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES