Intraverbal acquisition in autistic children: effects of stimulus pairing and echoic responses

Abstract

Intraverbals have been taught to individuals with autism primarily through procedures involving differential reinforcement. Recently, Stimulus Pairing Observation Procedure (SPOP) emerged as an alternative to verify the emergence of verbal repertoires. The SPOP consists in the simultaneous presentation of two stimuli and requires only the observation response by the participant. The echoic behavior had been pointed out as a mediator in the emergence of verbal operants. This study compared the efficacy of the SPOP and of a contiguous stimulus presentation procedure with an echoic response requirement in emergence of intraverbals in three children with autism by using a concurrent multiple probe design with an adapted alternating treatment. The results showed the SPOP’s efficacy for intraverbals induction and suggested a facilitating role of the echoic. A possible carry-over effect between treatments, extinction in the experimental context and the use of conditioned reinforcers in SPOP are discussed.

Keywords:
stimulus pairing observation procedure; intraverbal; echoic; autism