Verbal Behavior Programming for Advanced Learners

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Verbal Behavior Programming for Advanced Learners

• Amy McGinnis, M.S., OTR
• May 2007
• POAC of PA

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Advanced Learner

• Mands for information (asking questions)
• Answers novel WH- questions about past events
• Begins to initiate and maintain conversation with
  others
• Tells stories
• Describes steps of activities
• Follows multi-step directions

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Advanced Learner ABLLS
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NET vs. ITT

• Advanced learners typically need to spend most or
  all of their session time working on
  pre-conversation/conversation skills in the
  natural environment
• Once learners become conversational, the emphasis
  is shifted to more intensive teaching, in the
  form of academic instruction

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Natural Environment Training

• Learner initiated choice of activities
  (motivation is naturally strong)
• Tasks and activities vary frequently
• The preferred items and activities chosen by the
  learner serve as the basis for the
  teacher/learner interaction
• Reinforcement is direct and specific to the
  activity
• Loose structure and many examples of concepts
  support generalization of language

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Manding for Information

• Why do we ask questions?
• To obtain information that leads us to other
  reinforcers (direct reinforcement)
• To obtain or maintain the attention of another
  person (social reinforcement)
• When first teaching mands for information, we
  will initially need to contrive situations where
  the information leads to an already established
  reinforcer

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Typical Sequence for Teaching Mands for
Information

• Mands for info that lead to direct reinforcement,
  where therapist does NOT speak first to prime
  motivation
• Mands for info that lead to direct reinforcement,
  where therapist speaks first to prime motivation
• Mands for information that lead to social
  reinforcement, where therapist speaks first to
  prime motivation

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Reinforcement for Mands for Information

• The reinforcer for all of the learners mands for
  information should be the information itself.
• Do not deliver a tangible reinforcer or behavior
  specific praise.
• For example, if the learner asks what is inside a
  wrapped package, reinforce by giving the correct
  information (Its a coloring book!) and allow
  the learner to unwrap it him/herself.

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Teaching Manding For Information

• Initially, therapist should avoid speaking to the
  learner to contrive motivation to prevent
  developing responses under intraverbal control
• Gradually fade in these primers

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Manding for Info WHAT

• To teach the learner to mand using what, the
  learner must have an MO for information regarding
  the name of a novel item, the name/source of a
  sound, or an ongoing event.
• What is it?
• What do you have?
• What are you doing/eating/etc.?

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Manding for Info WHERE

• Learner must have an MO for information regarding
  the location of a valuable item or activity

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Manding for Info WHO

• The learner must have an MO for information
  regarding a person or character.
• It will be easiest to teach this mand for
  information when there are several other people
  present.
• Whos here?
• Who is it?
• Who has my cars?

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Manding for Info HOW

• When contriving MOs for this mand, be certain
  that the learner will be able to independently be
  able to complete the task him/herself without
  assistance once given the information. We do not
  want the learner to mand for information (How do
  you do this?) when s/he really needs to mand for
  assistance (I need help.)
• Note that once you use a contrived situation to
  get the learner to ask How?, you will not be
  able to use the same situation again

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Manding for Info WHY

• The learner must have an MO for information
  regarding the reason for something that is going
  on or something that you are asking him to do.
• Try to do things that are out of the ordinary
  routine to contrive an MO for this mand. For
  example, put objects where they do not normally
  belong, or do something that the learner might
  find funny or odd.

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Manding for Info WHEN

• One of the common errors that occurs when
  therapists try to teach this mand for information
  is that they always speak first and say something
  like not now or later to the learner to
  contrive an MO before prompting the learner to
  ask, When?
• If the therapist always speaks first, the
  response When? may actually be taught as a rote
  intraverbal response rather than as a mand for
  information.

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Manding for Info WHEN

• Try to get learner excited about an item or
  activity by talking about it or showing him
  pictures. When s/he appears interested, then
  prompt him/her to ask, When can we go?
• Try to give an answer that is concrete and will
  allow the learner to come into contact with his
  desired reinforcer very quickly
• When the learner first mands for information
  using When? spontaneously, it is recommended
  that the therapist make every effort to
  reinforce immediately

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Manding for Info WHICH

• We often use this mand following another mand for
  information
• In English, we all frequently scroll between What
  and Which (What color? vs. Which color?)
• It may be helpful to teach the other mands for
  information prior to attempting to teach this one

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Direct Reinforcement Primers

• Once learner has mastered manding for information
  without the therapist speaking first, begin to
  speak first to prime the motivation for more
  mands
• I have something for you!
• What?
• I saw someone eating popcorn downstairs.
• Who?
• Come on, lets go for a ride in the car.
• Where?

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Social Primers

• After teaching mands that lead to direct
  reinforcement, try to prime the motivation for
  learner to ask questions where the answer does
  not directly benefit him/her
• I went out to eat last night
• Where?
• Im going to the mall with one of my friends.
• Who?
• Im really excited!
• Why?
• Learner must have a very strong MO for attention
  for this to occur

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Teaching Intraverbal Responses to WH- Questions

• Challenge Teaching the learner to answer NOVEL
  questions about past events/experiences, rather
  than rote responses
• How do we answer questions about past events?
• We tact what is happening during the activity
• When someone asks us a question later, we respond
  intraverbally, even though the stimuli is no
  longer present

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Intraverbal Responses to WH- Questions

• Teach approximately two WH- questions at a time
  (i.e. what where)
• These should NOT be the same targets as your
  manding for information targets
• For example, dont try to teach answering
  what/where at the same time as asking what/where
• Ask different questions every time, to prevent
  teaching rote responses

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Intraverbal Responses to WH- Questions

• Ask at least 5 exemplars of each question per day
  (i.e. 5 what questions and 5 where questions)
• Take trial-by-trial data on each question you ask
• Model appropriate grammar, but do not expect the
  learner to respond in full, grammatically correct
  sentences

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Steps to Teaching Intraverbal Responses

• Tacting the answer to the WH- question during
  the activity
• Tact to intraverbal transfer (0-second delay)
• Tact to intraverbal transfer (extended delay, up
  to 24 hours)
• Intraverbal responding to WH- question, up to 24
  hours after the activity occurred

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Example Tacting during the activity

• (Learner has an MO for watching a movie)
• Therapist What is Elmo wearing?
• Learner Hat

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Tact to intraverbal transfer (0-second delay)

• (Learner has an MO to color)
• Therapist What are you coloring?
• Learner Fish
• Therapist quickly removes objects from sight
• Therapist What did you color?
• Learner Fish

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Tact to intraverbal transfer(extended delay)

• (Learner has an MO to make chocolate milk)
• Therapist What are we making?
• Learner Chocolate milk
• (Therapist waits set increment of time)
• Therapist What did we make at snack time?
• Learner Chocolate milk (intraverbal)

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Intraverbal response to WH- question

• (Learner has an MO to sit on a blanket while
  therapist pulls him across the floor. Therapist
  does not comment on what the learner is doing
  during the activity.)
• (Therapist waits set increment of time, objects
  are out of sight)
• Therapist When we were in the hallway, what did
  you ride on?
• Learner Blanket (intraverbal)

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Tips for Teaching Intraverbal What Where

• What and Where are typically the easiest
  questions for many children to learn to answer
• Some learners may already have experience with
  answering these types of questions, due to
  teaching of previous skills

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Tips for Teaching Intraverbal Who

• Be sure to use a variety of people/characters
  when teaching this skill, to prevent rote
  responses

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Tips for Teaching Intraverbal How

• Prior to teaching this skill, make sure that the
  learner can tact many different actions
• Use a variety of actions when teaching this skill
• Allow the learner to provide a simple, 1-step
  response, rather than detailed multi-step
  directions

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Tips for Teaching Intraverbal Why

• Ask questions regarding age-appropriate
  cause/effect situations, not abstract concepts
• If you have already taught intraverbal responses
  to How questions, you can use a reversal to teach
  the response to the Why question
• How do you turn the movie on? Push play
• Why did you push play? To turn the movie on

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Tips for Teaching Intraverbal When

• Teach the learner to tact events in relationship
  to locations or other events that occurred during
  the day (when I was at school, after lunch,
  when I was painting) rather than reading a
  clock (at 305)

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Conversation

• From a verbal behavior perspective, most
  conversations consist of combinations of
• Mands for attention
• Mands for information
• Intraverbals

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Teaching Conversation Skills

• Start with 2-exchange conversations, then
  gradually increase
• Therapist may need to use primers to evoke the
  desired combinations of exchanges
• Try to avoid asking too many questions, as this
  may kill the value of the conversation
• Track how many conversations are initiated by the
  therapist vs. the learner
• Reinforce after the last exchange

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Two-Exchange Conversations

• Mand for info mand for info
• Mand for info mand for attention
• Mand for info intraverbal
• Mand for attention mand for attention
• Mand for attention intraverbal
• Intraverbal intraverbal

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Mand for info x 2

• Learner What are you doing? (mand for
  information)
• Therapist Baking cookies.
• Learner Why? (mand for information)
• Therapist So we can have some dessert after
  lunch.

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Mand for info, mand for attn

• Learner This is the best part of the movie!
  (mand for attention)
• Therapist This part is good, but its not my
  favorite.
• Learner Whats your favorite part? (mand for
  information)
• Therapist The part where Donkey makes a
  popping noise with his lips.

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Mand for info, intraverbal

• Learner When can we go to the playground?
  (mand for information)
• Therapist As soon as you get your socks and
  shoes on. Where are your shoes?
• Learner I left them downstairs.
  (intraverbal)
• Therapist Lets see if we can find them.

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Mand for attn x 2

• Learner Look at that plane! (mand for
  attention)
• Therapist Wow, thats cool.
• Learner Its moving really fast! (mand for
  attention)
• Therapist They must be in a hurry.

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Mand for attn, intraverbal

• Learner Look at my picture. I drew Shrek.
  (mand for attention)
• Therapist Thats great. Why is he wearing
  sunglasses?
• Learner Because hes going to play outside.
  (intraverbal)
• Therapist That sounds like fun.

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Intraverbal x 2

• Therapist What did you do today?
• Learner I went swimming. (intraverbal)
• Therapist Who did you see at the pool?
• Learner My friend Joey. (intraverbal)

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Telling Stories

• Model telling stories, with props
• Teach child to use props and tact what the props
  are doing
• Take props away (intraverbal story)
• Keep in mind age-appropriate norms (length of
  story, plot, etc.)

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Step 1 2-component story with prop
theme-specific Sd

• Model a 2-component story with a prop
• Model an additional 2 stories with 2 different
  toys
• Present child with a new toy and give a theme for
  a story idea
• Child should tell a different 2-component story
  on the theme provided

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Step 2 2-component story with prop (vague Sd)

• Present child with a new toy and give a thematic
  prompt for a story idea
• Immediately present child with a different toy,
  and give the general Sd
• Child should tell a 2-component story by
  generating his/her own theme and the prop
  provided

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Step 3 2-component story (tact to intraverbal
transfer)

• Present child with a toy, and give the general
  SD Tell me a story.
• Child should tell a 2-component story by
  generating his/her own theme and the prop
  provided.
• Immediately remove prop from sight and ask child,
  Tell me a story.
• Child should repeat the 2-component story without
  the prop.
• If child tells a different 2-component story,
  differentially reinforce!

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Step 4 2-component intraverbal story

• Present the Sd Tell me a story.
• Child should tell a 2-component story without the
  use of props.
• Repeat steps 2-4 as necessary to teach child how
  to tell 3-5 component stories
• Differentially reinforce longer or more detailed
  stories

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Describing Steps of Activities

• During NET
• Teach child to tact steps of activities as they
  occur
• Then ask them to recall the steps without the
  activity present
• During ITT
• Can teach specific sequences using total task
  presentation and fading from the end of the
  sequence (similar to backwards chaining)

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For more info

• Visit www.poacofpa.net for
• Information on future workshops other events
• Visit www.establishingoperationsinc.com for
• Teaching ideas
• Data sheets
• Workshop/consultation information