Teaching intraverbal behavior to children with autism

Skinner's conceptual analysis of language has influenced one model of early and intensive behavioral intervention with children, which incorporates verbal operants including mands, tacts, intraverbals, etc. Many studies have examined the mand and tact relations, with little focus on teaching intraverbal behavior. In the present experiment, children with autism were taught intraverbals using a transfer-of-stimulus-control procedure (i.e., tact to intraverbal) in combination with errorless learning (i.e., delayed prompting). Three children were successfully taught to name items associated with preselected categories (e.g., “What are some colors?”) with limited generalization to a fourth, non-targeted category, and limited maintenance of skills.