Behavioural Approach to Language

8/6/2019 Behavioural Approach to Language

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A Behavioral Approach to LanguageAssessment and Intervention for

Children With Autism

Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA

[email protected]



Language

� The primary focus of an intervention program

for children with autism should be on thedevelopment of effective language and social

skills



What is Language?

� How do we talk about it?

� How do we measure it?� What are its parts?

� How do we assess it?

� How do we teach it?� What theory of language should we use for

children with autism?



Theories of Language� Linguistic theory can be classified into three separate, but often

overlapping views: biological, cognitive, and environmental

�

Proponents of the biological view (e.g., Chomsky, 1965; Pinker,1994) argue that language is innate to humans and primarily aresult of physiological processes and functions, and language haslittle to do with environmental variables, such as reinforcementand stimulus control

� Brain------->Words� No significant applications of Chomsky or Pinker to autism



Theories of Language� Cognitive psychologists argue that language is controlled by internal

cognitive processing systems that accept, classify, code, decode, andstore verbal information (e.g., Brown, 1973; Piaget, 1926; Slobin,1973), and language has little to do with environmental variables,such as reinforcement and stimulus control

� Language is viewed as expressive and receptive, and the two arereferred to as communicative behavior that is controlled by cognitive

processors

� Cognition------>Words

� Cognitive theory, and the resulting expressive-receptive framework dominates the current language intervention programs for childrenwith autism, including many behavioral programs



How is Language Measured in a

Traditional Linguistic Analysis?

� The focus is on response forms, topography, and structure

� Phonemes

� Morphemes� Lexicon

� Syntax

� Grammar

� Semantics� Mean length of utterances (MLU); words, phrases, sentences

� Classification system: nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives,adverbs, etc.





A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior:

The Basic Principles of Operant Behavior

Stimulus Control (SD) Response Reinforcement

Motivating Operation (MO/EO) Punishment

Extinction

Conditioned reinforcementConditioned punishment

Intermittent reinforcement



How is Language Measured in a

Behavioral Analysis?

The verbal operant is the unit of analysis

(e.g., mands, tacts, & intraverbals)

MO/SD Response Consequence

Form and function is measured



A Behavioral Approach

to Language� What does behavioral psychology have to offer to

parents and professionals who work with children

with autism?� Basic teaching procedures and methodology derived

from Applied Behavior Analysis

� These procedures and methods have a solid research

foundation that can be easily found in over 1500

empirical studies that have been conducted over the

past 60 years



Behavioral Procedures� Reinforcement

� Prompting

� Fading� Modeling

� Shaping

� Chaining

� Pairing� Differential reinforcement procedures (e.g., DRO, DRI, DRL)

� Intermittent reinforcement procedures (e.g., FR, VR, FI, VI)



Behavioral Procedures� Extinction procedures (e.g., planned ignoring)

� Punishment procedures (e.g., reprimands, time out)

� Generalization and maintenance� Discrimination training

� Errorless learning

� Transfer of stimulus control

� Task analysis� Fluency procedures

� Contingency contracting

� Token economies



Additional Behavioral

Procedures and Methods� Individualized assessment and intervention program

� Frequent opportunities to respond

� Use of discrete trial teaching procedures� Incidental & natural environment teaching procedures

� Data collection

� Interspersal techniques

� Behavioral momentum techniques� Peer and social interaction training

� Parent and staff training in behavior analysis

� Functional analyses of problem behavior (Iwata, et al. 1982)




to Language

� What else does behavioral psychology have to offer?

� In addition to the use of specific procedures (e.g., prompting,

fading, and differential reinforcement), a second and criticalcontribution of behavioral psychology involves the ³analysis´ of the effects of those procedures on behavior

� It is not enough to simply immediately deliver an edible to a childafter a particular behavior, but an analysis of the effects of that

edible on behavior is essential to determining if the edible isindeed a form of reinforcement

� The same can be said for all of the behavioral procedures




to Language

� What else can a behavioral approach offer?

� Skinner¶s analysis of language found in the book VerbalBehavior (Skinner, 1957)

� Language is learned behavior under the functionalcontrol of environmental variables (Skinner, 1957), justlike a tantrum



Skinner¶s Analysis of

Verbal Behavior � The traditional linguistic classification of words, phrases and sentences, as

expressive and receptive language blends important functional distinctions amongtypes of operant behavior, and appeals to cognitive explanations for the causes of

language behavior (Skinner, 1957, Chapter 1)� At the core of Skinner¶s analysis of language is the distinction between the mand,

tact, and intraverbal (traditionally all classified as ³expressive language´)

� Skinner identified three separate sources of antecedent control for these verbaloperants

� EO/MO control------->Mand

� Nonverbal SD--------->Tact

� Verbal SD-------------->Intraverbal

� There is an established body of empirical support for this distinction (for a reviewof the research, see Sautter & LeBlanc, 2006)



The Behavioral Classification

of Language

Mand: Asking for reinforcers. Asking for ³Mommy´ because

you want mommy

Tact: Naming or identifying objects, actions, events, etc. Saying

³Mommy´ because you see Mommy

Intraverbal: Answering questions or having conversations where

your words are controlled by other words. Saying ³Mommy´

because someone else says ³Daddy and...´




of LanguageEchoic: Repeating what is heard. Saying ³Mommy´ after someone else

says ³Mommy´

Imitation: Copying someone¶s motor movements (as they relate to signlanguage). Placing a ³5´ hand on the chin after someone else placestheir ³5´ hand on their chin

Copying-a-text: Writing ³Mommy´ because someone else writes³Mommy´

Textual: Reading words. Saying ³Mommy´ because you see thewritten word ³Mommy´

Transcription: Writing and spelling words spoken to you. Writing³Mommy´ because you hear ³Mommy´ spoken

Listener: Following instructions or complying with the mands of

others. Touching a picture of mommy when asked ³Touch mommy´




of Language

� Skinner (1957) calls this collection of language skills ³TheElementary Verbal Operants´

� The elementary verbal operants are separate repertoires andfunctionally independent at the time of acquisition, and eachmust be taught

� Speaker and listener skills are separate repertoires and each

must be taught� More complex language, such as conversations and language

related to social skills, is comprised of these basic elements





The Application of Skinner¶s Analysis of

Verbal Behavior

� Language Assessment

� Traditional assessments

� Based on the expressive-receptive distinction (e.g., PeabodyPicture Vocabulary Test, Expressive One-word VocabularyTest).

� Standardized vs. criterion referenced assessments

� Verbal behavior assessment

� Based on the elementary verbal operants

� Based on a functional analysis of verbal behavior and other related behaviors




Verbal Behavior

� Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program:The VB-MAPP (Sundberg, 2007)

� The VB-MAPP contains 150 verbal behavior milestones across3 developmental levels and 14 different verbal operants andrelated skills

� In addition, the program includes an assessment for languageacquisition barriers

� A detailed task analysis of each verbal operant and related skill� A curriculum placement system

� An IEP guide, and progress scoring system for each verbaloperant and related skill




Verbal Behavior

� Language Intervention

� The focus is on the verbal operants and related skills, rather thanon the expressive-receptive distinction

� The verbal operants provide a behavioral framework for dailylanguage training, IEP development, skill tracking, etc.

� Mand training

� Role of motivating operations (MO/EO) in verbal behavior

� Intraverbal training

� Role of verbal conditional discriminations in verbal behavior

� Multiple control and joint control

� Automatic reinforcement




Verbal Behavior

� A descriptive functional analysis of verbal behavior

� A behavioral analysis of words, phrases, and sentences emitted bychildren with autism

� Same basic principles of behavior as nonverbal behavior

� What is the source of control?

� Might not be the same source of control observed in a typicallydeveloping child (e.g., I have a red shirt on)

� Each verbal operant can be susceptible to unwanted sources of control

� Defective mands (I want candy. What¶s that?)




Verbal Behavior

� A descriptive functional analysis of verbal behavior

� Defective tacts ( Bounce ball, Black car, Under table)

� Defective intraverbal responses ( Poopies evoked by What do you smell in the oven?)

� The task for the behavior analyst is to determine what the correctsource of control should be, and how that source can beestablished

� The functional analysis of verbal behavior is on-going� The failure to conduct such an analysis may not only result in rote

or defective verbal repertoires, but unchecked, these repertoiresmay become difficult to change



Verbal Behavior Teaching

Strategies

� Early mand training

� Frequent opportunities to mand

� Use of the MO to teach the other operants

� Contriving and capturing MOs

� Use of multiple control procedures






Strategies

� Interspersal techniques (mixing the verbal operants in training

³Mixed VB´)

� VB modules

� Behavioral momentum procedures

� Errorless learning procedures

� Using transfer of stimulus control procedures to teach new

operants




Strategies

� Minimal use of punishment

� First trial data and probe data

� Variation in intonation, pitch, prosody, pacing, etc.

� Augmentative communication

� Discrete trial as well as natural environment training

� The child¶s daily schedule and IEPs are driven by the

elementary verbal operants





Conclusions

� 4) the use of the verbal operants as a basis for language

intervention

� 5) the use of a functional analysis of verbal behavior to

analyze all aspects of verbal development, including

language barriers

� 6) the use of a variety of teaching strategies that are

suggested in part by a verbal behavior analysis of language



Conclusions� Behavior analysis in general, has provided a powerful

conceptual and methodological treatment strategy for children with autism

� Skinner¶s behavioral analysis of language can only improvethe gains already accomplished

� In 1978 B. F. Skinner wrote «

� ³Verbal Behavior«will, I believe, prove to be my most

important work´ (p. 122)� Perhaps this is because language is the most important aspect

of human behavior

� Language is the most important aspect of the treatment of children with autism



Thank You!

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Behavioural Approach to Language