1. Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Why Children With Autism Often Fail to Acquire a Functional Intraverbal Repertoire and What to do About it
Mark L. Sundberg, Ph.D., BCBA-D (

2. Intraverbal Behavior
The most significant aspects of human behavior involve intraverbal behavior
language acquisition
education
social behavior and relationships
knowledge, thinking, and intellectual behavior
literature, poetry, stories, novels
understanding
employment
beliefs, views, & opinions
religion
international relations
facts of history....

3. 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 controlled (e.g., MOs)
But intraverbal behavior soon becomes quite complex and a significant part of a developing child’s daily verbal behavior 3

4. 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 (SD) 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...” 4

5. How is the Intraverbal Different from the Mand, Tact, & Echoic?
Antecedent Behavior Consequence
Motivation (MO) Mand Specific reinforcement
Nonverbal SD Tact Generalized reinforcement
Verbal SD Echoic Generalized reinforcement
(w/ a match)
Verbal SD Intraverbal Generalized reinforcement
(w/o a match)
These are all called “expressive language” in traditional treatments

6. 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 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

7. 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, 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

8. Special Problems Related to Teaching Intraverbal Behavior
There are many complexities involved in the intraverbal. Here are a few...
Verbal stimulus control vs. nonverbal stimulus control
Transitory and constantly changing SDs 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

9. Conditional Discriminations
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 (SD) or motivational operation (MO) alters the evocative effect of a second stimulus, and establishes the second stimulus as an SD or MO, and they collectively evoke a response 9

10. Verbal Conditional Discriminations (VCD)
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 SD1 + Verbal SD Intraverbal Response 10

11. Verbal Conditional Discriminations (VCD)
Examples...
Antecedent (Verbal SD1 + Verbal SD2) Intraverbal Response
Big animal Lion
Little animal Mouse
Big vehicle Boeing 747
Little vehicle A toy bike
VCD=VSD1 alters the evocative effect of VSD2 or vice versa
A correct response is dependent on VCD between words, if individual words are the source of control errors will occur 11

12. 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 VCDs.
For example...
“What’s your cat’s name”
“What’s my cat’s name?”
“What did the cat chase?”
“What did the dog chase?”

13. Current Study
Is there a general sequence of increasingly complex verbal stimuli and VCDs 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 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

14. Current Study 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 14

15. Acknowledgments for the People who Conducted the Field Testing
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 15

16. Intraverbal Assessment: Level 7: Multiple SDs with Prepositions, Adverbs, & Negation

18. Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children
1½-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 VCDs
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

19. 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 VCDs
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”

20. 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)

21. Results and Error Analysis for the Typically Developing Children
3-year-olds (cont.)
Problems with prepositions, adjectives, adverbs in VCDs
“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: VCDs, complexity of the different parts of speech, and meanings of individual words (e.g., “clothing” evoked echoic responses for many 3 year olds) 21

22. 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 VCDs
Still problems with time concepts
Still emitted echoic responses when no intraverbal occurred

23. 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 VCDs 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 VCDs continued to be a problem for many children
Specific words and concepts like “different,” “between,” “take” “how,” & “why” caused problems

24. 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 VCDs.
“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?”

25. 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

28. Error Analysis for the Children with Autism
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 28

29. 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) 29

30. Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level
IV Assessment Score of 20-29
Samples Typical Autism
What can fly? “All gone shirt” “Water”
What can you sing? “Yes” No Response
What’s outside? “Outside” “Outside” 30

31. Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level
IV Assessment Score of 30-39
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” 31

32. Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level
IV Assessment Score of 40-49
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” 32

33. Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level
IV Assessment Score of 50-59
Samples Typical Autism
What color are wheels? “Circle” “Red”
What do you eat with? “Cheese” “Pizza”
Name some clothing “Clothing” “Clothing” 33

34. Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level
IV Assessment Score of 60-69
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” 34

35. Errors Made by Typical Children and Children with Autism Scoring at the Same Level
IV Assessment Score of 70-80
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” 35

36. 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)

37. 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 37

38. Implication for Intraverbal Intervention Programs
Respect the complexity of verbal conditional discriminations (VCDs)
Establish a strong repertoire of simple intraverbal relations prior to moving to VCDs 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 VCDs 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 VCDs task (e.g., “grows” “head” “garden” individually evoke a variety of intraverbal responses) 38

39. 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 VCDs 39

40. Conclusions
There is very little behavioral research on VCDs and their relation to intraverbal behavior (for a review see Axe, 2008)
Existing conditional discrimination research can serve as a guide for VCD intraverbal research (e.g., Saunders & Spradlin, 1989) 40

41. 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
What can you kick? … We only kick balls
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
Twinkle, twinkle, little Starbucks

42. Thank You! For an electronic version of this presentation visit:
marksundberg.com/ABAI
For a copy of VB-MAPP intraverbal subtest visit:
Avbpress.com
Click on “Updates and downloads” 42