ABA ABA Verbal Behavior & Language Development 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which verbal operant involves reading written text aloud where the response formally resembles the written stimulus?
- Intraverbal
- Tact
- Textual (Correct answer)
- Echoic
Correct answer: Textual
A textual response is controlled by a written verbal SD and formally resembles it in spoken form, such as reading a word printed on a flashcard.
Question 2: A child says 'juice' every time she sees the juice box on the counter. This is MOST likely an example of:
- Mand
- Tact (Correct answer)
- Echoic
- Intraverbal
Correct answer: Tact
Seeing the juice box (a nonverbal SD) controls the vocal response 'juice,' which is the defining feature of a tact.
Question 3: Multiple control over a verbal response occurs when:
- Two different speakers emit the same verbal response
- Both motivating operations and discriminative stimuli jointly influence the same verbal response (Correct answer)
- A learner uses augmentative communication devices exclusively
- An echoic and tact share the same response topography
Correct answer: Both motivating operations and discriminative stimuli jointly influence the same verbal response
Multiple control (convergent or divergent) happens when more than one variable (e.g., an EO and an SD) affects the strength or form of a verbal response.
Question 4: In verbal behavior therapy, 'pure mands' are characterized by:
- Being controlled solely by the relevant establishing operation and specifying the reinforcer (Correct answer)
- Occurring only during discrete trial training sessions
- Requiring a vocal response that matches the therapist's model
- Being reinforced by attention rather than tangible items
Correct answer: Being controlled solely by the relevant establishing operation and specifying the reinforcer
A pure mand is solely under the control of the establishing operation with no additional SD influence, and the reinforcer is the specific item or action requested.
Question 5: Listener responding in verbal behavior analysis refers to:
- Producing vocal verbal behavior in the presence of listeners
- Behaving in response to the verbal behavior of others (e.g., following instructions) (Correct answer)
- Imitating the prosody of another speaker's voice
- Transcribing the verbal behavior of a speaker
Correct answer: Behaving in response to the verbal behavior of others (e.g., following instructions)
Listener responding (also called 'hearing' by Skinner) involves non-vocal behavior that is controlled by the verbal behavior of another person, such as pointing to a named object.
Question 6: Which of the following BEST describes 'autoclitic' behavior in Skinner's verbal behavior analysis?
- Verbal behavior that modifies the effects of other verbal behavior on the listener (Correct answer)
- A form of mand that automatically produces its own reinforcer
- Repeating one's own verbal behavior to strengthen it
- Verbal behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement
Correct answer: Verbal behavior that modifies the effects of other verbal behavior on the listener
Autoclitics are secondary verbal operants that comment on, qualify, or modify a speaker's own primary verbal behavior, influencing how listeners respond.
ABA ABA Verbal Behavior & Language Development 2
Which verbal operant involves reading written text aloud where the response formally resembles the written stimulus?