2/10/2010. A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment. A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment

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1 Applications of Verbal Behavior: Language Assessment Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA ( A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment B. F. Skinner began his work on verbal behavior in 1934 Skinner published the book Verbal Behavior in 1957 Skinner, along with his long-time colleague Fred Keller were the primary founders of the branch of psychology known as Behavior Analysis A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment 1983 Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (1957) Jack Michael, teacher of Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (starting in 1955) Jack taught behavior analysis at the University of Kansas ( ), the University of Houston ( ), Arizona State University ( ), and Western Michigan University ( ) Jack Michael has been considered by many as one of the main founders of the field of Applied Behavior Analysis A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (1957) Jack Michael, teacher of Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (starting in 1955) Lee Meyerson got Jack Michael involved in rehabilitation and developmental disabilities at Arizona State University Meyerson and Michael published several research papers together during the 1950s and 1960s Meyerson developed the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) 1

2 A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (1957) Jack Michael, teacher of Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (starting in 1955) Lee Meyerson got Jack Michael involved in rehabilitation and developmental disabilities at Arizona State University. They published several papers together Montrose Wolf was Jack Michael s second Ph.D. student at Arizona State University, and along with Don Baer and Todd Risley provided the foundation for modern Applied Behavior Analysis (Baer, Wolf, Risley, 1968), and behavioral autism treatment (Wolf, Risley, & Mees, 1964), later called DTT/ABA. Montrose Wolf founded JABA and was the first Editor of that journal Don Baer, Mont Wolf, & Todd Risley A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (1957) Jack Michael, teacher of Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (starting in 1955) Lee Meyerson got Jack Michael involved in rehabilitation and developmental disabilities at Arizona State University. They published several papers together Montrose Wolf was Jack Michael s second Ph.D. student at Arizona State University, and along with Don Baer and Todd Risley provided the foundation for modern Applied Behavior Analysis Joseph Spradlin, was the first to systematically apply Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior to language assessment (and intervention) The Parsons Language Sample (1963) Joe Spradlin at the 1979 ABA Convention (Poster on the Intraverbal by Steve Braam, et al.) 2

3 A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment The Purpose of a Language Assessment The Parsons Language Sample (1963) by Joe Spradlin The Purpose of a Language Assessment The Purpose of a Language Assessment The Purpose of a Language Assessment A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment During the 1960s and 1970s there were 100s of people who contributed to the development of Applied dbehavior Analysis and dlanguage assessment and intervention for the developmentally disabled (e.g., Baer, Bailey, Bijou, Englemann, Guess, Hart, Kent, Lovaas, Lutzker, Risley, Sailor, Sherman, Spradlin, Terrace, Touchette, Wolf ) 3

4 A Brief History of a Verbal Behavior Assessment There was also a number of behavior analysts focusing on Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior (e.g., Catania, Cook, Day, Ferster, Holland, Knapp, MacCorquodale, Michael, Moore, Pear, Salzinger, Spradlin, Sloane, Vargas, Wood ) During the 1970s approximately 50 VB research projects were conducted at the Kalamazoo Valley Multihandicap Center (KVMC) under the direction of Jack Michael, Mark Sundberg, and Jerry Shook Most of these projects were WMU Masters theses and Doctoral dissertations, and were also presented at MABA and ABA conventions Jack Michael, Ivar Lovaas, & Mark Sundberg, ABA Convention, 1979 (Poster on automatic reinforcement) First version of the ABLLS & VB-MAPP Steve Braam, Cassie Braam, Mark Stafford, Tom Rueber, Dave Ray, & Mark Sundberg at the ABA Convention, 1979 (workshop) Th 1983 The ABLLS by Partington & Sundberg, The earlier Sundberg books were split into two books, one on assessment and one on intervention. Sundberg 1987 VB Assessment and Intervention Manual Sundberg 1990 VB Assessment and Intervention Manual First version 4

5 VB-MAPP by Mark Sundberg, 2008 ASR #1 ASR #2 The university professor who has been the primary teacher of Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior over the past 50 years is: 1. Murray Sidman 2. Nate Azrin 3. Ogden Lindsey 4. Jack Michael The clinical researcher who was the first to apply Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior to language assessment for the developmentally disabled was: 1. Joseph Spradlin 2. Don Baer 3. Jerry Shook 4. Montrose Wolf ASR #3 During the 1970s Jack Michael was the research advisor for over 50 verbal behavior research projects conducted at: 1. Parsons State Hospital 2. Juniper Gardens 3. The New England Center for Autism 4. The Kalamazoo Valley Multihandicap Center Applications of Verbal Behavior: Language Assessment Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA ( 5

6 The Purpose of a Language Assessment Determine the operant level of a child s verbal (and related) skills Compare to typical language development data Identify language acquisition and learning barriers If and where to begin intervention (placement) Establish IEP goals Design an individualized curriculum/intervention program Teaching strategies (e.g., AC, DTT-NET, inclusion, in-home) Is the intervention program working? Why or why not? A tool to demonstrate learning, track progress, make changes, provide outcome measures Traditional Language Assessment Cognitive and/or biological variables seen as the primary sources of control for verbal responses Based on the expressive-receptive distinction, mediated by cognitive processors Norm referenced and standardized assessments Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Expressive One-word Vocabulary Test Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool Language Scales Behavioral Language Assessment The verbal operant is the functional unit (form and function) Environmental variables are viewed as the relevant sources of control for verbal responses, rather than cognitive or biological variables Each verbal operants involves separate sources of control (independent variables), thus each must be assessed Most verbal responses are under multiple sources of control More complex verbal behavior is comprised of various combinations of the verbal operants Speaker and listener as separate repertoires Criterion-referenced assessment ASR #4 The application of Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior to language assessment suggests that: 1. Language should be assessed by accepted ABA procedures 2. Language should be assessed by its functional properties 3. Language should be assessed in terms of its form and function 4. Language should be assessed in the natural environment ASR #5 ASR #6 Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior proposes that the unit of analysis in the measurement of language should be: 1. The mean length of utterance 2. The phrase structure 3. The antecedent-behavior-consequence relation 4. Reinforcement and punishment In addition to assessing the elementary verbal operants, it is also important to analyze and assess: 1. All cognitive variables related to language development 2. The linguistic barriers that may be preventing verbal development 3. The intraverbal repertoire in great detail 4. The mand repertoire in great detail 6

7 ASR #7 ASR #8 The problem with assessment based on the traditional distinction between expressive and receptive language is that: 1. It takes too long to assess all the skills 2. The categories of expressive and receptive blend important distinctions between mand, tact, intraverbal, and listener skills 3. There is no distinction between expressive and receptive language 4. Expressive and receptive language do not account for sign language and picture systems The focus of traditional language assessment is on: 1. Response form, mean-length-of utterance, and age equivalents 2. Speech only 3. Cognitive growth 4. Articulation and communication errors ASR #9 A standardized language assessment is: 1. Criterion referenced 2. Both norm referenced and criterion referenced 3. Norm referenced 4. Neither norm referenced or criterion referenced Behavioral Language Assessment The verbal operant is the functional unit (form and function) Environmental variables are viewed as the relevant sources of control for verbal responses, rather than cognitive or biological variables Each verbal operants involves separate sources of control (independent variables), thus each must be assessed Most verbal responses are under multiple sources of control More complex verbal behavior is comprised of various combinations of the verbal operants Speaker and listener as separate repertoires Criterion-referenced assessment The Importance of Language and Social Behavior The primary focus of an intervention program for children with autism should be on the development of effective language and social skills There clearly are several other areas in need, such self-care, visual motor skills, academics, fine and gross motor, etc., but language and social skills are typically the most significant deficits for children with autism, and careful training is the key to the most significant gains The failure to conduct an appropriate assessment results in one of the biggest problems in programs that serve children with autism or other developmental disabilities: An inappropriate curriculum The Behavioral Classification of Language (Skinner, 1957) Mand: Asking for reinforcers. Asking for shoes because you want your shoes Tact: Naming or identifying objects, actions, events, etc. Saying shoes because you see your shoes Listener: Following instructions or complying with the mands of others. Touching a picture of shoes when asked Touch the shoes Echoic: Repeating what is heard. Saying shoes after someone else says shoes 7

8 The Behavioral Classification of Language Imitation: Copying someone s motor movements (as they relate to sign language) Copying-a-text: Writing shoes because someone else writes shoes Intraverbal: Answering questions or having conversations where your words are controlled by other words. Saying shoes because someone else says What do you need to put on your feet? Textual: Reading words. Saying shoes because you see the written word shoes Transcription: Writing and spelling words spoken to you. Writing shoes because you hear shoes spoken Problems with the ABLLS (Partington & Sundberg, 1998) A significant improvement over Spradlin, 1963; Sundberg, et al, 1979; Sundberg, 1983, 1987, 1990 Too many skills to assess (476, over 1500 cells with the 1-4 criteria) Steps in the cells were too small for IEP goals (Milestones are better) Skills not developmentally balanced out on the grids Much of it is out of developmental sequence (as I see it now) Core sequence of verbal skills is 26 years old (Sundberg, 1983) Just a listing of skills with examples, and a scoring criteria Confusing progression of skills; up or out? No content on what constitutes mands, tacts, intraverbals, etc. No content/text on how to conduct a verbal behavior analysis ASR #10 ASR #11 An assessment based on verbal behavior assesses: 1. All of the elementary verbal operants and other language related skills such as matching, social behavior, play skills, and listener skills 2. Only the verbal operants 3. The linguistic structure of English 4. Expressive and receptive language The failure to adequately assess a child s language and related skills, and his language and learning barriers often results in: 1. Self-injurious or aggressive behavior 2. An inappropriate language and social skills curriculum 3. The need for more extensive services 4. A less expensive program Problems with the ABLLS (Partington & Sundberg, 1998) Not a curriculum for language intervention: curriculum guide Originally, the ABLLS was designed to accompany the Teaching Language to Children with Autism book (The ABLLS was not designed to serve as a stand alone product) Not enough information in the individual cells to explain the skill being assessed and the relevant sources of control (e.g., noun-verb tacting, mands for information, multiply controlled intraverbal behavior) No verbal behavior analysis of language and learning barriers (a major component of assessment) No placement system (e.g., when to start IV) No transition assessment The VB-MAPP Based on Skinner s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior Based on typical language development milestones An assessment should probe a representative sample of a repertoire Typical verbal milestones provide the frame for the sample By identifying milestones, as opposed to a whole task analysis, the focus can be sharper, the direction clearer Milestones can help to avoid focusing on minor steps, and targeting skills for intervention that are developmentally inappropriate 8

9 The VB-MAPP Field test data from approximately 75 typically developing children Field test data from over 200 children with autism Based on the body of empirical research that provides the foundation of Behavior Analysis Based on the empirical research on Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior The VB-MAPP There are five components of the VB-MAPP The VB-MAPP: Milestones Assessment contains 170 verbal behavior milestones across 3 developmental levels (0-18 months, months, months) and 16 different verbal operants and related skills The VB MAPP: Barriers Assessment examines 24 common learning and language barriers faced by children with autism The VB MAPP: Transition Assessment evaluates a child s ability to learn in a less restrictive educational environment across 18 different skills The VB-MAPP The VB-MAPP: Skills Task Analysis and Tracking provides a further breakdown of the different skill areas in the form of a checklist for skills tracking The VB-MAPP: Placement and IEP Goals provides recommendations for program development for children based on their VB-MAPP profiles, and their specific scores for each of the 170 milestones and the 24 Barriers. In addition, over 200 IEP objectives directly linked to the skills and barriers assessments, and a verbal behavior intervention program are provided ASR #12 The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Progress Program (VB- MAPP) is based on: 1. The linguistic framework developed by Dr. Roger Brown 2. Discrete trial and ABA instructional methodology 3. Developmental linguistics 4. Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior and typical language development milestones ASR #13 ASR #14 The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Progress Program (VB- MAPP) is designed to: 1. Assess language and social skills, and assess learning, language, and social impairments 2. Assess language skills 3. Assess behavior problems 4. Assess linguistic structure The VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment covers the language skills of a typically developing child: 1. Between 0 to 10 years old 2. Between 0 to 4 years old 3. Between 0 to 2 years old 4. Between 4 to 6 years old 9

10 ASR #15 By using milestones as a measure in assessment rather than individual skills from a task analysis, the intervention program 1. Does not require reliability and validity measures 2. Requires more data collection 3. Takes longer to implement 4. Can be better focused on long-term goals and a clearer direction for the overall intervention program The VB-MAPP The VB-MAPP: Skills Task Analysis and Tracking provides a further breakdown of the different skill areas in the form of a checklist for skills tracking The VB-MAPP: Placement and IEP Goals provides recommendations for program development for children based on their VB-MAPP profiles, and their specific scores for each of the 170 milestones and the 24 Barriers. In addition, over 200 IEP objectives directly linked to the skills and barriers assessments, and a verbal behavior intervention program are provided The VB-MAPP Skills Assessment The 16 skills assessed on the VB-MAPP include: The elementary verbal operants (e.g., echoic, mand, tact, intraverbal) The listener skills Vocal output Independent play Social skills and social play Visual perceptual skills and matching-to-sample Grammatical and syntactical skills Group and classroom skills Beginning academic skills The VB-MAPP Skills Assessment The milestones are broken into three developmental levels (see Skills Form) Level 1: 0-18 months Level 2: months Level 3: months The scores for each skill are approximately balanced across each level There are 5 items and 5 possible points for each skill area (e.g., level 1, tact) There are three boxes in all sections for three separate administrations (See Tact Assessment Form Sample) Each of the 170 items is scored 0, 1, or 1/2 based on the criteria in the VB-MAPP instruction manual Looking for the operant level; If the skill is below the operant level score quickly and move on, if it is close to the operant level, test it 10

11 ASR #16 By balancing out the verbal operants based on typical language development: 1. You cannot tell when to start t intraverbal training i 2. It s hard to compare the rate of tact acquisition to mand and intraverbal acquisition 3. The level of each skill can be easily visually compared to the other verbal operants and the related skills 4. You cannot account for splinter skills ASR #17 Many of the early language skills emitted by typically developing children are: 1. Under one source of control 2. Hard to measure 3. Expressions of cognitive functions 4. Multiply controlled by both MOs and S D s ASR #18 When the VB-MAPP Master Scoring Form is completed, a visual review of the form: 1. Can reveal approximate verbal age levels, strengths and weaknesses, and if the skills are in balance when compared to each other 2. Can tell you a child s chronological age 3. Can identify if the child has autism 4. Can be used in litigation VB-MAPP Level 1: Tact ASR #19 The VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment should be conducted: 1. Every month 2. Once a year 3. Weekly 4. Every three years 11

12 VB-MAPP Level 1: Tact The VB-MAPP Skills Assessment The total for the five items is marked on the top of each skill area The totals for each skill area are added for all three levels and placed on the VB-MAPP Scoring Form The total score on the Echoic sub-test is converted to a milestone score on the VB-MAPP form The specific items on the VB-MAPP have been adjusted many times based on the field-test data (See VB-MAPP Assessment Forms) The Early Echoic Skills Assessment The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment It is important to find out what a child can do (The VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment), but also important to know what they can t do, and analyze why they can t do it The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment is a tool that is designed to identify and score 24 different learning and language acquisition barriers Once a specific barrier has been identified, a more detailed descriptive and/or functional analysis of that problem is required There are many ways that a verbal repertoire or related skill can become defective, and an individualized analysis will be necessary to determine what the nature of the problem is for a specific child, and what intervention program might be appropriate The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Defective Verbal Behavior A descriptive functional analysis of verbal behavior (Skinner, Chap 1) A behavioral analysis of words, phrases, and sentences emitted by children with autism Same basic principles of behavior as nonverbal behavior What is the source of control? These sources of control will often reveal that what appears to be a correct response in form is actually incorrect in function Might not be the same source of control observed in a typically developing child (e.g., What s your name?) Each verbal operant can be susceptible to unwanted sources of control The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Defective mands (I want candy. What s that?) Defective tacts (Bounce ball, Black car, Under table) Defective intraverbal responses (Poopies evoked by What do you smell in the oven?) The behavior analyst must determine what the correct source of control should be, and how that source can be established The functional analysis of verbal behavior is on-going The failure to conduct such an analysis may result in rote or defective verbal repertoires that can become difficult to change This is how behavior analysis is different, this is what we do as behavior analysts 12

13 The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Common Learning and Language Acquisition Barriers Instructional control (Escape/avoidance) Bh Behavior problems Defective mand Defective tact Defective motor imitation Defective echoic (e.g., echolalia) Defective matching-to-sample Defective listener repertoires (e.g., LD, LRFFC) The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Common Learning and Language Acquisition Barriers Defective intraverbal Defective play and social skills Prompt dependent, long latencies Scrolling responses Defective scanning skills Failure to make conditional discriminations (C D s) Failure to generalize Hyperactivity The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Common Learning and Language Acquisition Barriers Weak or atypical MOs Response requirements weakens the MO Self-stimulation Articulation problems Obsessive-compulsive behavior Reinforcement dependent Does not make eye contact Sensory defensiveness The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Scoring the VB-MAPP Barriers Form Rate the child on the VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment Form using a Likert-type scale of 0 to 4 A score of 0 or 1 would indicate that there are no significant barriers, and a formal intervention plan may not be required. A score of 2, 3, or 4 would indicate that there is a barrier, that probably should be addressed as part of the intervention program For some children the immediate focus of the intervention program is on removing a particular barrier, rather than language instruction The most common immediate barriers to remove involve instructional control problems, or other behavior problems 13

14 The VB-MAPP: Transition Assessment A common goal for many educators and parents of children with special needs is to integrate the child into a mainstream setting There are many different levels of integration and the Transition Assessment was designed to identify the skills that increase the probability that a child will be successful in a less restrictive setting No single skill will be a good determiner of success, but a collective body of skills can help educators and parents make decisions The VB-MAPP Transition Assessment provides a tool to help determine if a child has the necessary prerequisite skills to learn in a less restrictive classroom environment There are 18 skill areas on the Transition Assessment 14

15 ASR #20 The Early Echoic Skills Assessment (EESA) was developed by: 1. Jack Michael, Ph.D 2. Jose Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D. 3. Barbara Esch, Ph.D., CCC-SLP 4. Mark Sundberg, Ph.D. ASR #21 The scores from the Early Echoic Skills Assessment (EESA): 1. Should be added together and converted according to the formula described in the echoic section of the Milestones Assessment 2. Are not included in the child s overall score 3. Can tell you the child s age 4. Help to identify the need for mand training ASR #22 ASR #23 A child with ASD might emit a response that has the same form as that of a typically developing child (e.g., asking What s your name? ), but: 1. The response may be echolalic 2. The response may be a mand and a tact 3. The response may be prompted 4. The response may occur for the wrong function If a child meets a particular milestone: 1. Begin taking baseline data on the next milestone 2. Begin an intervention program on that milestone 3. The related box on the VB-MAPP Master Scoring Form should be shaded in 4. The assessment is finished ASR #24 If a child meets a particular milestone he is given: points 2. 1 point 3. ½ point 4. No points ASR #25 Points are added together for each skill area then: 1. Points from all the skill areas are added together and placed in the score box on the VB-MAPP Master Scoring Form 2. Points are not used in any significant manner 3. Points for the verbal skills are doubled and added to the other areas 4. Points for each skill area should be graphed using a cumulative recording system 15

16 ASR #26 If a child fails to obtain any points on three milestones in a row in a specific skill area: 1. Go back and re-test each skill 2. End the assessment on that skill area 3. Obtain a reliability measure 4. Begin the intervention program ASR #27 The best results from a VB-MAPP Assessment are obtained by someone who: 1. Knows the child well 2. Is formally trained in behavior analysis, Skinner s analysis of verbal behavior, and has a working knowledge of basic linguistic structure and grammar 3. Any professional who is responsible for developing and monitoring the educational program for a particular child 4. Is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst ASR #28 ASR #29 The VB-MAPP Barriers Assessment uses a Likert scale designed to identify: 1. Potential language and learning problems that are preventing a child from making greater gains 2. How long it takes to acquire new skills 3. Expressive and receptive language barriers 4. How to transition a child to a less restrictive environment Once a barrier has been identified on the Likert scale the next step is to: 1. Write a report 2. Conduct the VB-MAPP transition Assessment 3. Design a punishment procedure for the most intrusive barrier 4. Conduct a descriptive or functional analysis of the problem ASR #30 ASR #31 Many children with autism: 1. Are affected by 1 or 2 barriers 2. Are not affected by barriers 3. May be affected by 5 or more barriers 4. Are affected by all the barriers The main task in identifying the nature of a barrier is to: 1. Determine the child s intentions 2. Conduct a psychological test 3. Identify the sources of antecedent and consequent control 4. Obtain content for a written report 16

17 ASR #32 ASR #33 Barriers are common for children with language delays and often: 1. Only the tact is affected by barriers 2. Only matching-to-sample is affected by barriers 3. Removing the barrier should be the immediate focus of the intervention program 4. The barrier will go away by itself An impaired mand may be demonstrated by: 1. The same word or sign (e.g., more ) being used for all sources of motivation 2. A mand that is only controlled by motivation 3. A mand that occurs spontaneously 4. A mand that does not stop until it gets reinforced ASR #34 ASR #35 An impaired matching-to-sample repertoire may be related to: 1. Defective cognitive processing 2. A low IQ 3. Apraxia 4. The failure to scan the visual array An impaired tact repertoire may be due to: 1. Failing to teach matching-to-sample to repertoire 2. Teaching verbs, adjectives, and prepositions before tacts of nouns are well established 3. Poor cognitive processing 4. Aphasia ASR #36 ASR #37 The VB-MAPP Transition Assessment was designed to: 1. Determine if a child can move well between teaching sessions 2. Be used in litigation and fair hearings 3. Provide some data for making decisions regarding the type of educational program that might best benefit a child 4. Determine if a child needs verbal behavior training The VB-MAPP Transition Assessment covers: 1. Only the summed scores from the Milestones and the Barriers Assessment 2. Scores for 18 different skill areas 3. A summation of all assessments from a three-year evaluation 4. A functional analysis of behavior problems 17

18 The VB-MAPP Task Analysis and Skills Tracking The milestones can be considered floors in a building, and the task analysis contains the steps between each floor There are 170 milestones and approximately 900 total tasks in the VB-MAPP task analysis The task analysis form also allows for more detailed skills tracking Building a whole repertoire, not just individual skills (e.g., mand, tact, M-T-S repertoires) 18

19 ASR #38 15-b The VB-MAPP Transition Assessment is scored by using: 1. A Likert type scale 2. Converted IQ scores 3. The results of a functional analysis 4. The results of a speech and language evaluation ASR #39 The most important part of transitioning a child to a less restrictive environment is that: 1. The new environment is the least expensive 2. The new environment results in the most effective learning possible for a child 3. The new environment has the least amount of support 4. The new environment does not contain any ABA therapy ASR #40 The decision to place a child in a least restrictive setting is the sole responsibility of: 1. The classroom teacher along with a Board Certified Behavior Analyst 2. School district administrators 3. The child s parents 4. The IEP team as a whole IEP Goals and Placement The results of the VB-MAPP Skills and Barriers Assessment provide guidance for the development for an intervention program Specific IEP goals are provided for each milestone and barrier The assessment corresponds with the verbal behavior intervention program (Sundberg, in preparation; Sundberg & Partington, 1998) 19

20 Why Children With Autism Often Fail to Acquire a Functional Intraverbal Repertoire Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D ( What is Intraverbal Behavior? Intraverbal behavior is a type of verbal behavior where the form of the response (what is said, signed, written, etc.) is under the functional control of an antecedent verbal discriminative stimulus (S D ) and some type of generalized conditioned reinforcement (Skinner, 1957) The verbal stimulus and the verbal response do not match each other (i.e., no point-to-point correspondence ) Verbal stimulus control Verbal responses What s your favorite movie? Cars What s your name? Neil What kind of work do you do? I m a behavior analyst What causes autism? There are probably a variety... Intraverbal Behavior A young child s early intraverbal behavior may be relatively simple such filling in the words of songs or fun activities (e.g., Ready, set... Peek-a- ) These response may be multiply l controlled (e.g., MOs) But intraverbal behavior soon becomes quite complex and a significant part of a developing child s daily verbal behavior How is the Intraverbal Different from the Mand, Tact, & Echoic? Antecedent Behavior Consequence Motivation (MO) Mand Specific reinforcement Nonverbal S D Tact Generalized reinforcement Verbal S D Echoic Generalized reinforcement (w/ a match) Verbal S D Intraverbal Generalized reinforcement (w/o a match) These are all called expressive language in traditional treatments Common Intraverbal Problems Experienced by Children with Autism Absent or weak intraverbal behavior, despite strong mands, tacts, and listener (receptive) skills Rote intraverbal responses Difficulty answering questions--especially ill complex questions Excessive rote scripting No conversational skills Echolalia with intraverbal questions Poor peer intraverbal interaction Irrelevant intraverbal behavior Self as a listener with overt intraverbal behavior Why the Intraverbal Repertoire may be Absent, Weak, or Impaired There are many potential causes of intraverbal problems. Here are a few... The child has not received formal intraverbal training The child is given training, i but it s too early to focus on intraverbals The specific target responses are not in the child s repertoire as tacts, listener discriminations (LDs), or listener responding by function, feature, and class (LRFFCs) (e.g., What vehicle has wings? ) Single verbal stimuli and single verbal responses have been over conditioned The intraverbal curriculum is out of developmental sequence The child does not have sufficient training on verbal conditional discriminations 20

21 Special Problems Related to Teaching Intraverbal Behavior Conditional Discriminations There are many complexities involved in the intraverbal. Here are a few... Verbal stimulus control vs. nonverbal stimulus control Transitory and constantly changing S D s vs. the general static nature of tact, mand, matching-to-sample A separate curriculum is required Tact, mand, and listener (receptive) prerequisites Many words have no clear referent, but change the meaning of words in a sentence (if, but, can t, or, usually, its, for, of) Verbal stimulus and response classes must be established Verbal conditional discrimination training is usually necessary Conditional discrimination: When the nature or extent of operant control by a stimulus condition depends on some other stimulus condition (Michael, 1993, p. 14) One discriminative stimulus (S D ) or motivational operation (MO) alters the evocative effect of a second stimulus, and establishes the second stimulus as an S D or MO, and they collectively evoke a response Verbal Conditional Discriminations (VC D ) What constitutes a verbal conditional discrimination and an intraverbal response? Two components of a verbal stimulus where one verbal stimulus alters the evocative effect of the second verbal stimulus, and collectively they evoke a differential intraverbal response Skinner (1957, p. 76) calls this a compound verbal stimulus, but does not use the term verbal conditional discrimination Antecedent Response Verbal S D 1 + Verbal S D 2 Intraverbal Response Verbal Conditional Discriminations (VC D ) Examples... Antecedent (Verbal S D 1 + Verbal S D 2) Intraverbal Response Big animal Lion Little animal Mouse Big vehicle Boeing 747 Little vehicle A toy bike VC D =VS D 1 alters the evocative effect of VS D 2 or vice versa A correct response is dependent on VC D between words, if individual words are the source of control errors will occur Teaching Intraverbal Behavior to Children with Autism Many children with autism have a difficult time acquiring intraverbal behavior because beyond simple intraverbals ( A kitty says... ), most intraverbal responses are part of a VC D s. For example... What s your cat s name What s my cat s name? What did the cat chase? What did the dog chase? ASR #41 Most intraverbal behavior requires: 1. Extensive auditory processing 2. Verbal conditional discriminations 3. A strong motivative variable 4. A nonverbal environment to talk about 21

22 ASR #42 A verbal conditional discrimination involves: 1. Both a verbal stimulus and a verbal response 2. A nonverbal response that is evoked by two verbal stimuli 3. A verbal stimulus that is part of a matching to sample discrimination 4. A verbal stimulus that alters the evocative effect of another verbal stimulus ASR #43 Two main reasons why intraverbal behavior might be problematic for a child with autism are that: 1. The related tact skills are not strong in the child s repertoire, and he may not have an MO to learn intraverbals 2. There is not enough teaching time spent on intraverbal behavior, and it is incompatible with the standard DTT format 3. Intraverbal training is often not part of the intervention program, or the intraverbal curriculum used is out of a developmental sequence 4. Staff are unaware of how to teach intraverbal behavior, and the child can not learn it due to autism ASR #44 Many children with autism: 1. Fail to acquire much significant intraverbal behavior 2. Demonstrate an intraverbal repertoire commensurate with their typically developing peers 3. Acquire intraverbal behavior before manding 4. Acquire intraverbal behavior through reading ASR #45 The intraverbal needs to be assessed separately from the mand, tact, and echoic because: 1. The intraverbal is controlled by a completely different set of antecedent variables 2. The intraverbal is much harder for children with autism 3. The intraverbal is controlled by nonverbal stimuli 4. The intraverbal is controlled by motivational variables ASR #46 Typical children begin to emit intraverbal behavior when they are about: 1. 1 year old 2. 2 years old 3. 3 years old 4. 4 years old Current Study Is there a general sequence of increasingly complex verbal stimuli and VC D s that can be used for assessment and intervention? When are typically developing children successful at these tasks? A revised version (v. 5-2) of the 80-item intraverbal subtest t of the VB-MAPP was designed with increasingly complex intraverbal tasks. This version was modified as function of previous field-test data This is the 3rd large-scale administration of the VB-MAPP IV subtest 22

23 Current Study Acknowledgments for the People who Conducted the Field Testing Approximately 8,500 intraverbal responses were collected 40 typically developing children and 71 children with autism served as participants (bringing the project total to 91 typically developing children and 262 children with autism) Ages ranged from 23 months old to 15 years old Parents and professionals administered the assessment based on a set of written instructions Kristen Albert Judah Axe Vincent Carbone Lori Chamberlain Anne Cummings Carla Epps William Galbraith Rebecca Godfrey Lisa Hale Ally Labrie Heather Law Mike Miklos Paige Raetz Rikki Roden David Roth Rachael Sautter Carl Sundberg Cindy Sundberg Brenda Terzich Joel Vodovic Kaisa Weathers The VB-MAPP Intraverbal Subtest The VB-MAPP Intraverbal Subtest The VB-MAPP Intraverbal Subtest The VB-MAPP Intraverbal Subtest 23

24 80 70 Intraverbal Score Typically Developing Children Intraverbal Scores Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children Age in Months and Intraverbal Score Age in Months Participants 3-years-old ½-year-olds (20-30 mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: Less than 5 Generally no IV behavior 2-year-olds ( mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: range Some intraverbal behavior, but no VC D s Can do song fill-ins and fun IVs, some associations, animal sounds, common fill-ins; limited WH answers (e.g., name, or one word answers); lots of echoic responses Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children 2 ½ -year-olds ( mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: range Some simple intraverbal behavior, getting some easy WH questions, minimal VC D s Frequent echoic responding, or What? I don t know Things When some intraverbal control was demonstrated, often simple IV relation, minimal verbal conditional discriminations, the last, or prominent word was usually the source of stimulus control What do you smell with?... Poopies What grows on your head?... Shoulders What animal moves real slow?... Drink water slow? What helps a flower grow? Up Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children 3-year-olds ( mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: range Well established basic intraverbal repertoire, 100s of IV relations But verbal conditional discrimination errors were prevalent What grows on your head?... Plants Many WH questions cause problems Why do people wear glasses?... Because they do When do we set the table?... So we don t make a mess of food Why do you use a Band-Aid?... A rainbow Where do you eat?... Food Rote responses were evident What day is today?... Rainy (it was sunny) Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children 3-year-olds (cont.) Problems with prepositions, adjectives, adverbs in VC D s What s under a house?... roof What something that is sharp?... Giraffe Trouble with negation, time, personal information (except first name) What s something you can t wear?... Shirt Tell me something that is not a food... We don t throw food. What day is today?... Sunny What is your last name?... Noah Jon Sofia Neil Three causes of errors: VC D s, complexity of the different parts of speech, and meanings of individual words (e.g., clothing evoked echoic responses for many 3 year olds) Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children 3½-year-olds ( mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: range Verbal conditional discrimination errors were still common What grows on your head?... Hat Name some clothing... For the body Negation still a major major problem Still having problems with, prepositions, adjectives, adverbs in VC D s Still problems with time concepts Still emitted echoic responses when no intraverbal occurred 24

25 Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children 4-year-olds ( mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: range Verbal conditional discrimination errors were still common What do you smell with?... A skunk But VC D s are clearly getting stronger What s above a house?... An airplane, and stuff that s on the roof Negation, time concepts, prepositions, and adjectives in a VC D s continued to be a problem for many children Specific words and concepts like different, between, take how, & why caused problems Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children 5-year-olds ( mands and tacts) IV Assessment scores: range They get it! They are much better at VC D s. What s in a balloon?... Helium Air However, they still have problems with negation, time concepts, and prepositions Many children missed What day is today? What day is before Tuesday What s your last name. How is a car different from a bike? What number is between 6 and 8? Results and Error Analysis for the Children with Autism 71 children served as participants Ages ranged from 35 months old to 15 years old Consultants, classroom staff, and in-home providers administered the assessment Age in Months and Intraverbal Score 190 Children with Autism Intraverbal Scores Age in Months Intraverbal Score Participants Typically Developing Children Intraverbal Scores Error Analysis for the Children with Autism Intraverbal Score Age in Months and Intraverbal Score Age in Months 3-years-old The children with autism made the same types of errors as typical children who scored at their level Verbal conditional discriminations were hard for all children especially those involving WH questions and the different parts of speech Rote responding was more obvious, and more firmly established Echoic responses were more frequent Negative behavior was higher with increasing complexity of the verbal stimulus Participants 25

26 ASR #47 ASR #48 The VB-MAPP intraverbal subtest contains: questions that all begin with WH words 2. The core part of most IQ tests 3. A cognitive processing probe 4. A sample of 80 intraverbal tasks that are developmentally sequenced The primary goal of the VB-MAPP intraverbal subtest is to: 1. Meet the requirements for standardized tests 2. Trick the child with hard questions 3. Determine a child s intraverbal level as compared to typically developing children in order to develop an appropriate intraverbal intervention program 4. Determine a child auditory processing errors ASR #49 The grids on the VB-MAPP Task Analysis: 1. Puts all the skills from a specific skill area together on a single bar chart 2. Breaks up the skills into three developmental levels, and frames them by the Milestones 3. Cannot provide any visual information on the balance of the skills 4. Do not allow for developmental comparisons across skills Errors Made by Typically Developing Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level IV Assessment Score of 0-19 Typically developing children and children with autism who scored at this level emitted similar errors Gave an echoic response to the question Gave no answer Gave a standard single answer like yeah, or yes Pointed at something or pointed in some location (listener behavior) Negative behavior was higher for children with autism (avoidance and escape) Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level IV Assessment Score of Samples Typical Autism What can fly? All gone shirt Water What can you sing? Yes No Response What s outside? Outside Outside IV Assessment Score of Samples Typical Autism What are some colors? 1, 2, 3 Coloring Why do you use a Band-Aid? On my finger Happens Where do you take a bath? Mommy and daddy With toys 26

27 Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level IV Assessment Score of Samples Typical Autism What grows outside? Sand Playground What shape are wheels? Triangle Cars What do you wear on your head? A ear Boo boo Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level IV Assessment Score of Samples Typical Autism What color are wheels? Circle Red What do you eat with? Cheese Pizza Name some clothing. Clothing Clothing Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level IV Assessment Score of Samples Typical Autism What s in a balloon? It pops String What makes you sad? Cry Cry What grows on your head? Hats A plant IV Assessment Score of Samples Typical Autism What day comes before Tuesday? Wednesday Wednesday What s your last name? Gave full name Gave full name What number is between 6 and 8? 9 9 Implication for Intraverbal Intervention Programs Use the acquisition of intraverbal behavior of typically developing children as a guide for an intraverbal curriculum Assess a target child s existing intraverbal repertoire using a tool like the one presented here Look for balance across the scores of the VB-MAPP (Is the child ready for intraverbal training?) Assess the corresponding mand, tact, and listener repertoires and be assured they are present prior to intraverbal training (e.g., big and little as tacts and LDs) Carefully sequence the intraverbal tasks (e.g., the VB-MAPP intraverbal task analysis) Implication for Intraverbal Intervention Programs Typically developing 3-year-olds emit 1000s of intraverbal responses a day, thus there needs to be many trials for language delayed children. Don t move from the nonverbal context too quickly Don t be in a rush to move up the curriculum There is a need for massive verbal stimulus and response generalization Use LRFFC as a stepping stone to IV Always analyze errors and the sources of control. Back down the curriculum sequence if necessary Mixed and rotated VB trials on one topic mimic general conversation and provide a bridge to the natural use of the skill 27

28 Implication for Intraverbal Intervention Programs Respect the complexity of verbal conditional discriminations (VC D s) Establish a strong repertoire of simple intraverbal relations prior to moving to VC D s and WH questions (100s of IVs from Group 1 and 2) Be aware that a (rote) correct answer to a question may occur when the VC D s element is removed (e.g., all What color questions, or all What shape questions, or all Where questions). Mixed and rotated VB trials can solve that problem Be assured that the individual words evoke generalized intraverbal responses prior to combining them in a VC D s task (e.g., grows head garden individually evoke a variety of intraverbal responses) Conclusions The intraverbal behavior of typically developing children can serve as an important guide for an intraverbal curriculum for children with autism or other developmental disabilities The primary behavioral relation relevant to intraverbal behavior almost always involves a verbal conditional discrimination Children with autism made the same intraverbal errors as typical children who scored at their level A behavioral analysis of these verbal errors can help us better understand the errors made by children with autism and avoid those errors by better sequencing the curriculum tasks, and by providing the necessary instruction, especially on VC D s Conclusions There is very little behavioral research on VC D s and their relation to intraverbal behavior (for a review see Axe, 2008) Existing conditional discrimination research can serve as a guide for VC D intraverbal research (e.g., Saunders & Spradlin, 1989) Funny Intraverbal Responses: Kids say the darnedest things Why do people wear glasses?... Because they are old and tired What s something you can t wear?... I can t wear my Halloween shirt What do you write on?... Not on the wall Where do you put dirty clothes?... In the dishwasher Who drives a car?... Daddy slept in the car You sit on a... Time-out chair Where do you eat?... Costco Twinkle, twinkle, little... Starbucks ASR #50 ASR #51 The research on the intraverbal subtest study (Sundberg, et al. 2009) showed that: 1. There was no relation between the errors of typical children and those with autism 2. Children with autism were unable to acquire intraverbal behavior 3. Children with autism made the same intraverbal errors made by typical children who scored around the same level on the subtest Children with autism did not acquire intraverbal behavior until 4 years of age the VB-MAPP Task Analysis: 1. Provides a further breakdown of each milestone, as well as several additional skills that could be part of developing the target repertoire 2. Identifies the importance of focusing on many different small steps 3. Should be used to develop specific IEP goals 4. Is the primary tool for the initial assessment of a child with autism 28

29 ASR #52 ASR #53 The VB-MAPP Placement and IEP Goals provide: 1. Descriptions of specific teaching procedures for each skill in the task analysis 2. Information regarding the child s IQ score 3. A data collection system for each Milestone 4. Suggestions for programming direction on each of the 170 Milestones The VB-MAPP Placement and IEP Goals contains sample IEP goals that: 1. CanbedirectlycopiedontoanIEP copied on to 2. Cannot be used in a real IEP 3. Should be tailored for an individual child 4. Are designed to cover a 3 month period of DTT/ABA intervention ASR #54 ASR #55 The VB-MAPP Placement and IEP Goals incorporate: 1. IQ scores to provide direction for a program 2. Milestones, barriers, and developmental sequences to provide direction for a program 3. Age equivalent scores with Peabody scores to provide direction for a program 4. Funding sources All five parts of the VB-MAPP can: 1. Provide a complete picture of a child, and clear direction for a language g and social skills intervention program 2. Be found on most standardized language assessments 3. Can be completed by anyone interested in the child 4. Be combined for a total point score 29