1. Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA marksundberg@astound.net
A Behavioral Approach to Language Assessment and Intervention for Children With Autism
Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA

2. Language
The primary focus of an intervention program for children with autism should be on the development of effective language and social skills

3. 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?

4. 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 a result of physiological processes and functions, and language has little to do with environmental variables, such as reinforcement and stimulus control
Brain >Words
No significant applications of Chomsky or Pinker to autism

5. Theories of Language
Cognitive psychologists argue that language is controlled by internal cognitive processing systems that accept, classify, code, decode, and store 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 are referred 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 children with autism, including many behavioral programs

6. 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.

7. An Environmental Analysis of Language: Skinner’s Book Verbal Behavior
Language is learned behavior under the functional control of environmental contingencies
“What happens when a man speaks or responds to speech is clearly a question about human behavior and hence a question to be answered with the concepts and techniques of psychology as an experimental science of behavior” (Skinner, 1957, p. 5)
The analysis of verbal behavior involves the same behavioral principles and concepts that make up the analysis of nonverbal behavior. No new principles of behavior are required
Chapter 1 of Verbal Behavior is titled “A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior”

8. A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior: The Basic Principles of Operant Behavior
Stimulus Control (SD) Response Reinforcement
Motivating Operation (MO/EO) Punishment
Extinction
Conditioned reinforcement Conditioned punishment Intermittent reinforcement

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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)

12. 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

13. 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)

14. A Behavioral Approach 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 critical contribution of behavioral psychology involves the “analysis” of the effects of those procedures on behavior
It is not enough to simply immediately deliver an edible to a child after a particular behavior, but an analysis of the effects of that edible on behavior is essential to determining if the edible is indeed a form of reinforcement
The same can be said for all of the behavioral procedures

15. A Behavioral Approach to Language
What else can a behavioral approach offer?
Skinner’s analysis of language found in the book Verbal Behavior (Skinner, 1957)
Language is learned behavior under the functional control of environmental variables (Skinner, 1957), just like a tantrum

16. Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior
The traditional linguistic classification of words, phrases and sentences, as expressive and receptive language blends important functional distinctions among types 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 “expressive language”)
Skinner identified three separate sources of antecedent control for these verbal operants
EO/MO control >Mand
Nonverbal SD >Tact
Verbal SD >Intraverbal
There is an established body of empirical support for this distinction (for a review of the research, see Sautter & LeBlanc, 2006)

17. The Behavioral Classification of Language
Mand: Asking for reinforcers. Asking for “Mommy” because you want mommy
Tact: Naming or identifying objects, actions, events, etc. Saying “Mommy” because you see Mommy
Intraverbal: Answering questions or having conversations where your words are controlled by other words. Saying “Mommy” because someone else says “Daddy and...”

18. The Behavioral Classification of Language
Echoic: Repeating what is heard. Saying “Mommy” after someone else says “Mommy”
Imitation: Copying someone’s motor movements (as they relate to sign language). Placing a “5” hand on the chin after someone else places their “5” hand on their chin
Copying-a-text: Writing “Mommy” because someone else writes “Mommy”
Textual: Reading words. Saying “Mommy” because you see the written word “Mommy”
Transcription: Writing and spelling words spoken to you. Writing “Mommy” because you hear “Mommy” spoken
Listener: Following instructions or complying with the mands of others. Touching a picture of mommy when asked “Touch mommy”

19. The Behavioral Classification of Language
Skinner (1957) calls this collection of language skills “The Elementary Verbal Operants”
The elementary verbal operants are separate repertoires and functionally independent at the time of acquisition, and each must 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

20. The Application of Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior
Language Assessment
Determine the operant levels of verbal (and related) skills
Identify language acquisition/learning barriers
Obtain developmental comparison data
Where to begin intervention (placement)
Establish IEP goals
Curriculum design
Teaching strategies (e.g., augmentative communication, DTT-NET)
Track progress, make changes

21. The Application of Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior
Language Assessment
Traditional assessments
Based on the expressive-receptive distinction (e.g., Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Expressive One-word Vocabulary Test).
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

22. The Application of Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior
Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program: The VB-MAPP (Sundberg, 2007)
The VB-MAPP contains 150 verbal behavior milestones across 3 developmental levels and 14 different verbal operants and related skills
In addition, the program includes an assessment for language acquisition 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 verbal operant and related skill

23. The Application of Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior
Language Intervention
The focus is on the verbal operants and related skills, rather than on the expressive-receptive distinction
The verbal operants provide a behavioral framework for daily language 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

24. The Application of Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior
A descriptive functional analysis of verbal behavior
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?
Might not be the same source of control observed in a typically developing 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?)

25. The Application of Skinner’s Analysis of 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 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 not only result in rote or defective verbal repertoires, but unchecked, these repertoires may become difficult to change

26. 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

27. Verbal Behavior Teaching Strategies
Establishing verbal stimulus control and verbal conditional discriminations
Listener responding by function, feature, and class(LRFFC)
Typical language development as a curriculum guide
Stimulus-stimulus pairing procedures
Automatic reinforcement

28. Verbal Behavior Teaching Strategies
Interspersal techniques (mixing the verbal operants in training “Mixed VB”)
VB modules
Behavioral momentum procedures
Errorless learning procedures
Using transfer of stimulus control procedures to teach new operants

29. Verbal Behavior Teaching 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

30. Conclusions
A behavioral approach to language intervention for children with autism consists of six components
1) the use of the basic teaching procedures and methodology derived from applied behavior analysis
2) the use of a conceptual analysis of language based on Skinner’s functional analysis of verbal behavior
3) the use of the verbal operants as a basis for language assessment

31. 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

32. 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 improve the gains already accomplished
In 1978 B. F. Skinner wrote …
“Verbal 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

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