Emergent listener responses following intraverbal training in children with autism

We examined the emergence of listener responses following intraverbal training in four children with autism. Intraverbal training consisted of a transfer-of-control procedure in which the participants were taught to answer questions in the form of “What is the state bird of [name of state]” using either picture prompts (tact-to-intraverbal transfer-of-control procedures) or vocal prompts (echoic to intraverbal transfer-of-control procedures). Prior to intraverbal training, the participants were able to tact pictures of all the birds. Following training, listener posttests showed that the participants were able to correctly point to pictures of the birds upon hearing the spoken name of the state, although those responses had not been directly taught. For one participant, the tact-to-intraverbal transfer-of-control procedure resulted in greater number of emergent listener responses.

► We taught children with autism to answer questions about state birds. ► Following training, the children could identify birds upon hearing state names. ► The state name–bird picture relation emerged without being directly taught. ► One child was more likely to identify birds that were taught with picture prompts. ► It is important to test the relation of intraverbal responses to nonverbal stimuli.