Name: modeling verbal behavior deficits with the stimulus control ratio equation, score
Uploaded: 2019-05-14T12:30:00.000+00:00
Duration: 6 min 57 s
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Modeling Verbal Behavior Deficits with the Stimulus Control Ratio Equation, SCoRE at JoVE.com

The authors would like to acknowledge Mtra. Mariana de los Santos for her assistance with video production.

The following procedures were carried out under the oversight of The University of Texas at San Antonio&#8217;s Institutional Review Board.
NOTE: The verbal behavior SCoRE procedure is appropriate for early childhood learners with language deficits who emit topography-based or selection-based verbal behavior. Individuals beyond the early childhood age range, as well as young speakers who emit non-communicative vocalizations are excluded from this analysis.
1. Conduct a verbal operant analysis.
<ol>
	<li>Arrange tact, mand, echoic, and sequelic conditions to establish functional relations between specific environmental variables and the behavior of the speaker.</li>
	<li>The tact relation
	<ol>
		<li>To assess the tact relation, conduct a free-operant preference assessment in the natural environment29. Allow participants to engage with preferred items of his or her choosing. These items may be any manipulative toys that are common among young children (e.g., trains, dinosaurs, bubbles, etc.). At 30 s intervals, point to the item with which the child is currently engaged, and ask them to name the object. Tally the total number of items labeled by the participant and reinforce with generalized reinforcement.</li>
		<li>Remove access to that particular item and encourage the participant to engage with another stimulus. Repeat the procedures a total of 10 times to evoke up to 10 different labels from the participant.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>The mand relation
	<ol>
		<li>To assess the mand relation, conduct a paired stimulus preference assessment in a controlled setting30. Select any two of the 10 target items identified in the tact condition and offer them to the participant, asking them to, &#8220;Pick one&#8221;. Allow the participant to play with the selected item for 30 s, then remove the item by placing it out of sight and prompt for a mand. Score whether or not the participant says the name of the stimulus and reinforce with access to the preferred item.</li>
		<li>Select two more remaining target items and ask the participant to, &#8220;Pick one&#8221;. Repeat the procedures a total of 10 times to evoke up to 10 different requests from the participant.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>The echoic relation
	<ol>
		<li>To assess the echoic relation, engage the participant in a task unrelated to the any of the target items. At 30 s intervals, provide an echoic stimulus for one of the response targets identified in the above conditions. The echoic stimulus may be either the common name of the item, or the label provided by the child during the tact condition. Score whether or not the participant echoes the target response and reinforce with generalized reinforcement.</li>
		<li>Repeat the procedures a total of 10 times to evoke up to 10 different imitations from the participant.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>The sequelic relation
	<ol>
		<li>To assess the sequelic relation, engage the participant in a task unrelated to the any of the target items. At 30 s intervals, provide a fill-in-the-blank stimulus for one of the response targets identified in the above conditions. The fill-in-the-blank frame is specific to how the child played with the item during the tact condition (e.g., You roll the &#8230;). Score whether or not the participant fills in the blank with the target response and reinforce with generalized reinforcement.</li>
		<li>Repeat the procedures a total of 10 times to evoke up to 10 different replies from the participant.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Repeat all four conditions (sections 1.2&#8722;1.5) twice more, each time arranging for 10 new response targets to assess a total of 30 novel responses within each of the four conditions at the end of the verbal operant analysis (VOA). This response population provides sufficient power for further statistical analysis. 
	NOTE: Verbal operant analyses have been shown to have moderate construct validity (r2 = 0.75), strong test-retest reliability (rs = 0.97), and high inter-rater reliability (98%)31.</li>
</ol>
2. Calculate the verbal behavior stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE).
<ol>
	<li>Sum the frequencies obtained for each verbal operant class across all three repetitions of the VOA (Table 1).</li>
</ol>
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Trials</td>
			<td>Tact</td>
			<td>Mand</td>
			<td>Echoic</td>
			<td>Sequelic</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1 - 10</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>2</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>11 - 20</td>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>2</td>
			<td>10</td>
			<td>0</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>21 - 30</td>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>4</td>
			<td>6</td>
			<td>2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Totals</td>
			<td>14</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>22</td>
			<td>4</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 1: The sum of responses across all three rounds of the assessment provide a sufficient response population for conducting further statistical analyses. Analyzing the variance across operants leads to an individualized prompt hierarchy for errorless language learning.
<ol start="2">
	<li>Divide the total frequency for each operant by the total frequency for all operants (Table 2).</li>
</ol>
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Operation</td>
			<td>Tact</td>
			<td>Mand</td>
			<td>Echoic</td>
			<td>Sequelic</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sum</td>
			<td>14</td>
			<td>8</td>
			<td>22</td>
			<td>4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Divide</td>
			<td>48</td>
			<td>48</td>
			<td>48</td>
			<td>48</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Equals</td>
			<td>0.29</td>
			<td>0.17</td>
			<td>0.46</td>
			<td>0.08</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 2: The mathematical operations used to determine the relative strength of each of the four verbal operants. The number of responses for each operant is divided by the sum of responses across all operants to yield a relative value for each operant.
<ol start="3">
	<li>Multiply the relative strength obtained in step 2.2 by 100 to convert each decimal to a percentage (Figure 1), the sum of which constitutes the complete verbal repertoire (i.e., 100%).</li>
</ol>
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: A model of an autistic verbal repertoire demonstrating disproportionate levels of strength across tacts (29.2%), mands (16.7%), echoics (45.8%), and sequelics (8.3%). The four operants combine to account for 100% of the environmental variables that control verbal behavior. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig1large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<ol start="4">
	<li>Compare the assessed verbal repertoire against the null repertoire, in which all four operants are equivalent at 25% apiece (Figure 2).</li>
</ol>
<img alt="Figure 2" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig2.jpg" /> 
Figure 2: A model of the null verbal repertoire demonstrating proportionate strength across all four verbal operants at 25% each. Typically developing speakers show no variation in strength across tacts, mands, echoics, and sequelics. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig2large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
<ol start="5">
	<li>Divide the sum of agreements (A; the smaller of the two numbers) by the sum of agreements and disagreements (A + D; the larger of the two numbers) (Figure 3) using the equation below. The quotient is a statistic reflecting the relative strength of the speaker&#8217;s verbal repertoire at the time of the VOA. 
	<img alt="Equation 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793eq1.jpg" /></li>
</ol>
<img alt="Figure 3" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig3.jpg" /> 
Figure 3: A demonstration of agreement between the observed response strength and the null hypothesis. A primary assumption in the SCoRE calculation is that any overlap between the observed repertoire (a) and null repertoire (25%; b) represents agreement, while nonoverlap represents disagreement. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig3large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
3. Abstract stimulus control.
<ol>
	<li>Calculate the strength for all bivergent (mand + tact, mand + echoic, mand + sequelic, tact + echoic, tact + sequelic, echoic + sequelic) and trivergent (mand + tact + echoic, mand + tact + sequelic, mand + echoic + sequelic, tact + echoic + sequelic) sources of multiple control by summing the percentages for each individual operant.</li>
	<li>Starting with the sum of all four verbal operants, rank order the level of stimulus control from greatest to least (Table 3).</li>
</ol>
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Environmental Variable(s)</td>
			<td>Environmental Control (%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>METS</td>
			<td>100</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MET</td>
			<td>91.67</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ETS</td>
			<td>83.33</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ET</td>
			<td>75</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MES</td>
			<td>70.83</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ME</td>
			<td>62.5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MTS</td>
			<td>54.17</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ES</td>
			<td>54.17</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MT</td>
			<td>45.83</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>E</td>
			<td>45.83</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TS</td>
			<td>37.5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>T</td>
			<td>29.17</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MS</td>
			<td>25</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M</td>
			<td>16.67</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>S</td>
			<td>8.33</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 3: The strength of each verbal operant is converged with one another in all possible combinations to provide a rank order of strength from greatest to least. By converging various operants we can control a greater amount of the speaker&#8217;s environment. M = mand, E = echoic, T = tact, S = sequelic.
<ol start="3">
	<li>Once the operant strength has been rank ordered across singular and multiple sources of control, extract the fading steps (Table 4) that pertain to each verbal operant while preserving the response strength hierarchy.</li>
</ol>
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Tact</td>
			<td>Mand</td>
			<td>Echoic</td>
			<td>Sequelic</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>METS (100%)</td>
			<td>METS (100%)</td>
			<td>METS (100%)</td>
			<td>METS (100%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MET (91.67%)</td>
			<td>MET (91.67%)</td>
			<td>MET (91.67%)</td>
			<td>ETS (83.33%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ETS (83.33%)</td>
			<td>MES (70.83%)</td>
			<td>ETS (83.33%)</td>
			<td>MES (70.83%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ET (75.00%)</td>
			<td>ME (62.50%)</td>
			<td>ET (75.00%)</td>
			<td>MTS (54.17%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MTS (54.17%)</td>
			<td>MTS (54.17%)</td>
			<td>MES (70.83%)</td>
			<td>ES (54.17%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MT (45.83%)</td>
			<td>MT (45.83%)</td>
			<td>ME (62.50%)</td>
			<td>TS (37.50%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TS (37.50%)</td>
			<td>MS (25.00%)</td>
			<td>ES (54.17%)</td>
			<td>MS (25.00%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>T (29.17%)</td>
			<td>M (16.67%)</td>
			<td>E (45.83%)</td>
			<td>S (8.33%)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 4: To condition each individual operant, mands, echoics, tacts, and sequelics are systematically converged and diverged with one another to provide a framework for most-to-least prompting. Relational flexibility is established by varying the irrelevant variables that help support each of the individual operants. M = mand, E = echoic, T = tact, S = sequelic.
<ol start="4">
	<li>Condition relational flexibility with referent-based instruction34, carefully ensuring not to omit any steps of prompt fading.
	<ol>
		<li>Converge mand, tact, echoic, and sequelic relata (100%). For example, while engaged with a ball, restrict access to the reinforcer while showing it to the participant. Provide target response followed by intraverbal frame: &#8220;You roll the ball. You roll the ____.&#8221; Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>When responding is stable with simultaneous mand, echoic, tact, and sequelic control, fade to the subsequent prompt level by converging mand, tact, and echoic relata (91.7%). For example, while engaged with a ball, restrict access to the reinforcer while showing it to the participant. Provide target response: &#8220;Say, &#8216;ball.&#8217;&#8221; Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>When responding is stable with simultaneous mand, echoic, and tact control, fade to the subsequent prompt level by converging mand, echoic, and sequelic relata (70.8%). For example, while engaged with a ball, hide the reinforcer and provide the target response along with an intraverbal frame: &#8220;You roll the ball. You roll the ____.&#8221; Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>When responding is stable with simultaneous mand, echoic, and sequelic control, fade to the subsequent prompt level by converging mand and echoic relata (62.5%). For example, while engaged with a ball, hide the reinforcer and provide the target response: &#8220;Say, &#8216;ball.&#8217;&#8221; Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>When responding is stable with simultaneous mand and echoic control, fade to the subsequent prompt level by converging mand, tact, and sequelic relata (54.2%). For example, while engaged with a ball, restrict access to the reinforcer while showing it to the participant. Provide intraverbal frame: &#8220;You roll the ____.&#8221; Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>When responding is stable with simultaneous mand, tact, and sequelic control, fade to the subsequent prompt level by converging mand and tact relata (45.8%). For example, while engaged with a ball, restrict access to the reinforcer while showing it to the participant. Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>When responding is stable with simultaneous mand and tact control, fade to the subsequent prompt level by converging mand and sequelic relata (25.0%). For example, while engaged with a ball, hide to the reinforcer and provide an intraverbal frame: &#8220;You roll the ____.&#8221; Reinforce correct responding with access to the ball and verbal praise.</li>
		<li>Finally, when responding is stable with simultaneous mand and sequelic control, isolate mand function (16.7%). For example, while engaged with the ball, hide the reinforcer. Reinforce correct responding with access to the specified reinforcer.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

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M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+review+of+training+intraverbal+repertoires:+Can+precision+teaching+help?.">A review of training intraverbal repertoires: Can precision teaching help?.</a> The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 23 (1), 123-133 (2007).</li><li>Petursdottir, A. I., Carr, J. E., Lechago, S. A., Almason, S. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+evaluation+of+intraverbal+training+and+listener+training+for+teaching+categorization+skills.">An evaluation of intraverbal training and listener training for teaching categorization skills.</a> Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 41 (1), 53-68 (2008).</li><li>Ingvarsson, E. T., Hollobaugh, T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Acquisition+of+intraverbal+behavior:+teaching+children+with+autism+to+mand+for+answers+to+questions.">Acquisition of intraverbal behavior: teaching children with autism to mand for answers to questions.</a> Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 43 (1), 1-17 (2010).</li><li>Hall, G., Sundberg, M. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Teaching+mands+by+manipulating+conditioned+establishing+operations.">Teaching mands by manipulating conditioned establishing operations.</a> The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 5 (1), 41-53 (1987).</li><li>Fryling, M. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+functional+independence+of+Skinner's+verbal+operants:+Conceptual+and+applied+implications.">The functional independence of Skinner's verbal operants: Conceptual and applied implications.</a> Behavioral Interventions. 32 (1), 70-78 (2017).</li><li>Michael, J., Palmer, D. C., Sundberg, M. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+multiple+control+of+verbal+behavior.">The multiple control of verbal behavior.</a> The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 27, 3-22 (2011).</li><li>Skinner, B. F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Science and human behavior. , (1953).</li><li>Roane, H. S., Vollmer, T. R., Ringdahl, J. E., Marcus, B. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Evaluation+of+a+brief+preference+assessment.">Evaluation of a brief preference assessment.</a> Journal of Applied behavior Analysis. 31, 605-620 (1998).</li><li>Fisher, W. W., Piazza, C. C., Bowman, L. G., Hagopian, L. P., Owens, J. C., Slevin, I. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+comparison+of+two+approaches+for+identifying+reinforcers+with+severe+and+profound+disabilities.">A comparison of two approaches for identifying reinforcers with severe and profound disabilities.</a> Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 25, 491-498 (1992).</li><li>Mason, L. L., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+comparison+of+outcomes+from+curriculum-based+and+experimental+analyses+of+verbal+behavior.">A comparison of outcomes from curriculum-based and experimental analyses of verbal behavior.</a> Behavioral Development. 23 (2), 118-129 (2018).</li><li>Keller, F. S., Schoenfeld, W. N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Principles of psychology: A systematic text in the science of behavior. , (1950).</li><li>Lin, F. Y., Kubina, R. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Learning+channels+and+verbal+behavior.">Learning channels and verbal behavior.</a> The Behavior Analyst Today. 5, 1-14 (2004).</li><li>Kang, S., O&#8217;Reilly, M., Lancioni, G., Falcomata, T. S., Sigafoos, J., Xu, Z. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Comparison+of+the+predictive+validity+and+consistency+among+preference+assessment+procedures:+A+review+of+the+literature.">Comparison of the predictive validity and consistency among preference assessment procedures: A review of the literature.</a> Research in Developmental Disabilities. 34, 1125-1133 (2013).</li><li>Mason, L. L., Andrews, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Referent-based+verbal+behavior+instruction+for+children+with+autism.">Referent-based verbal behavior instruction for children with autism.</a> Behavior Analysis in Practice. 7, 107-111 (2014).</li><li>Wodka, E. L., Mathy, P., Kalb, L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Predictors+of+phrase+and+fluent+speech+in+children+with+autism+and+severe+language+delay.">Predictors of phrase and fluent speech in children with autism and severe language delay.</a> Pediatrics. 131 (4), 1128-1134 (2013).</li><li>Hall, G. A., Chase, P. N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+relationship+between+stimulus+equivalence+and+verbal+behavior.">The relationship between stimulus equivalence and verbal behavior.</a> The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 9 (1), 107-119 (1991).</li></ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

It has been said that &#8220;the &#8216;meaning&#8217; for a speaker of a word or sentence is, of course, defined by the sum total of conditions under which it is emitted&#8221;32. In the natural environment, the typically developing speaker&#8217;s verbal behavior is simultaneously under multiple sources of strength. Consequently, the dysfunctional speech of individuals with autism and other verbal behavior disorders may be explained as faulty stimulus control that prohibits the convergence of environmental variables.
Functional speech is predicated on behavioral fluency across learning channels33. Typically developing speakers will respond dog in the presence of a dog as well as they will when asked what kind of pet they own. Proportionate strength over various input modalities establishes the relational flexibility of fluent language. On the other hand, a visual stimulus may have a more profound effect than an auditory stimulus on the verbal behavior of individuals with autism. The aforementioned procedures were designed to isolate controlling relations to allow for a relative comparison of verbal operant strength.
Each of the four conditions lasts approximately five minutes in duration. Within the tact condition, access to the object is not restricted, as in the mand condition; the assessor does not name the object, as in the echoic condition; and no other statements are made about the object, as in the sequelic condition.
Of critical importance to this methodology is the isolation of verbal relations during each phase of the VOA. Within the mand condition, the item is not present, as in the tact condition; the assessor does not name the object, as in the echoic condition; and no other statements are made about the object as in the sequelic condition. Notably, the type of stimulus preference assessment employed as part of the mand condition may be substituted for one more suitable to the needs of the individual participant34.
Within the echoic condition, access to the object is not restricted, as in the mand condition; the item is not present, as in the tact condition; and no other statements are made about the object, as in the sequelic condition.
Within the sequelic condition, access to the object is not restricted, as in the mand condition; the item is not present, as in the tact condition; the assessor does not name the object, as in the echoic condition.
The SCoRE assessment prescribes an individualized prompt hierarchy for conditioning proportionate response strength across mands, echoics, tacts, and sequelics. If strength is assessed for all four operants on the VOA, there will be 15 possible combinations, and fading from multiple to isolated control will consist of eight steps for each operant. If strength is assessed for three operants, there will be seven possible combinations, and fading from multiple to isolated control will consist of four steps for each of the assessed operants. If strength is assessed for two operants, there will be three possible combinations, and fading from multiple to isolated control will consist of two steps for each assessed operant. If strength is assessed for only one operant, there is only one possible combination and no fading will occur. Any operants that are not assessed with strength during the VOA may be prompted using the greatest source of multiple control, and subsequently faded using the errorless language learning procedures described above.
By measuring rates of responding against one another, the SCoRE predicts the relative control of converging variables in the natural environment. Its utility for assessing disproportionate stimulus control over the verbal behavior of children with autism has been well demonstrated35. Moreover, SCoRE has implications for idiographic progress monitoring to document the effects of verbal behavior training. Future applications of the verbal behavior SCoRE may show its utility for group comparisons, such as randomized clinical trials, for demonstrating treatment efficacy as a pre- and post-measure, and may also be used to synthesize data in meta analyses.
The primary limitation of the verbal behavior SCoRE is its restriction to participants with non-fluent verbal behavior. Approximately 30% of individuals with autism are considered nonverbal36. For this population, the SCoRE targets may be modified to assess proportionality across manded stimulus selection, motor imitation, matching to sample, and other component skills. Additionally, the verbal behavior of fluent speakers may still show disproportionate strength across levels of derivational stimulus control37. Accordingly, SCoRE targets may be modified to assess reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity.
As an alternative to the descriptive assessments generally used to measure language, the SCoRE&#8217;s experimental analysis affords the advantages of efficiency, objectivity, and quantitative precision. The SCoRE protocol can be readily implemented in a variety of settings (e.g., clinical or educational), making it ideal for use by behavior analysts, educators, and others trained in the use of functional analysis technology. As a data-based judgmental aid, the verbal behavior SCoRE offers a convenient, yet precise way of speaking about language.

Functional analyses are commonly employed as part of behavior-analytic interventions to identify the environmental variables responsible for maintaining behavioral excesses (problem behavior) and deficits (e.g., communication skills) necessary to developing appropriate and effective individualized behavior intervention plans. The functional independence of verbal operants has provided a revolutionary framework for treating autism and other language disorders1,2,3. Unlike prior attempts to analyze language as a cognitive phenomenon or structural framework, language is better described as operant behavior4, subject to the same principles of reinforcement5,6, extinction7,8, and punishment9. In doing so, six elementary verbal operants were identified, which work in various ways to extend control of the environment for the speaker.
Definitionally, the verbal behavior of a speaker is consequated by another individual as part of a social episode. Individuals who fail to develop a functional speaking repertoire are frequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, of which the core symptoms include persistent deficits in communication and social interaction, in addition to restricted, repetitive behavior patterns10.
Over the past 60 years, behavior-analytic researchers have primarily focused on four of these operants in remediating the communicative deficits of autism spectrum disorder: mands, tacts, echoics, and sequelics. Strengthening each of these four language skills has been shown to be foundational to developing a fluent verbal repertoire for children with autism11. Procedures such as functional communication training have found that increasing language can lead to a corresponding decrease in challenging behavior. Moreover, when compared to neurotypical speech, disproportionality between the four verbal operants is a characteristic of autistic speech patterns12,13.
Mands are verbal behavior under the control of restricted access to reinforcers. Accordingly, the speaker must demand or command access to these items. For instance, to obtain a glass of water, one may state &#8220;May I have some water?&#8221;, &#8220;Would you mind getting us something to drink?&#8221;, or &#8220;Water, now!&#8221;, all of which are consequated similarly, and therefore belong to the same operant class of manding. Research on mand training has demonstrated its use in functional communication training14, removing aversive stimuli5, and requesting information15.
Tacts are verbal behavior under the control of physical properties of the environment with which we come into contact. For instance, taking a bath, feeling a drop of rain, or smelling the ocean air may all occasion the response, &#8220;Water.&#8221; Verbal responses under the control of nonverbal stimuli are consequated similarly, and therefore belong to the same operant class of tacting. Research on tact training has demonstrated its use in labeling visual stimuli16, interoceptive feelings17, and parts of a whole18.
Echoics and sequelics are both verbal behavior in response to other verbal behavior (i.e., intraverbal). Echoics are verbal behavior that echoes the verbal stimulus. For instance, upon meeting some who says, &#8220;Hi,&#8221; the individual is more likely to reply, &#8220;Hi.&#8221; Upon meeting some who says, &#8220;Hello,&#8221; the individual is more likely to reply, &#8220;Hello&#8221;. Research on echoic training has demonstrated its use in increasing the mean length of utterance19, prosody20, and use of sign language21. Individuals with autism may demonstrate echolalia, in which scripted vocalizations are repeated after an extended latency. However, these vocalizations are not maintained by reinforcement from a listener, and therefore need not be considered verbal.
On the other hand, sequelics share no such correspondence with its precipitating verbal stimulus. For instance, to the colleague who says, &#8220;How are you today?&#8221;, the individual may reply, &#8220;Fine.&#8221; Research on sequelic training has demonstrated its use in conversational turns22, categorization23, and fill-in-the-blanks tasks24. While echoic intraverbals and sequelics intraverbals are consequated similarly, the different antecedent stimuli create distinct operant classes.
Having verified the functional distinction of the primary verbal operants25, verbal behavior interventions have primarily focused on treatments to address each individual operant. The success of each of these individual lines of research has likely perpetuated their narrow scope. However, researchers have recently begun to emphasize the importance of multiple control over verbal behavior. Interdependence among the verbal operants is requisite for developing fluent speech26. Moreover, those who fail to consider multiple controls are unlikely to demonstrate adequate explanations, prediction, and control over verbal behavior27.
The verbal behavior stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE)12 is a procedure for quantitively synthesizing an individual&#8217;s functional speaking repertoire and yielding a statistic comparing the relative proportionality of the four primary verbal operants. The SCoRE analyzes mand, echoic, tact, and sequelics response populations in relation to one another, and allows for idiographic and nomothetic comparisons to be drawn between autistic speech patterns and those of typically developing speakers. Additionally, the SCoRE prescribes an individualized prompt hierarchy for strengthening individual operants in proportion to one another. Accordingly, &#8220;The score may be used to predict some aspect of the larger universe of behavior from which the test is drawn&#8221;28. The SCoRE also yields a metric for differentiating the repertoire strength of verbal operants across effect sizes. The goal of the SCoRE assessment is to provide a model of language deficit that: (1) pinpoints the degree to which the autistic repertoire differs from a typical speaking repertoire, (2) identifies areas of insufficient stimulus control, and (3) provides an individualized treatment plan for remediation.

<table><tbody><tr><td>VB-MAPP Assessment Kit, without Manual</td><td>Different Roads</td><td>DRK 701</td><td>100+ Common Objects, Language Builder, Reinforcer Kit, Counting Bears, Wooden Beads, Peg Board, Shape &amp;amp; Form Box, Color Cubes, Block Design Cards, 3 Peg Puzzles, 4 Jigsaw Puzzles, Dressing Doll, Measuring Manipulative, Timer, Size Sort, 3 Laminated Pictures, 4 Children&#039;s Books, Writing and Art Kit, 4 Activity Workbooks, and Flashcards covering: Alphabet, Memory Matching, Shapes, Colors and Numbers, Addition, Subtraction, Community Helpers, Sight Words</td></tr><tr><td>Excel</td><td>Microsoft</td><td></td><td>Spreadsheet Program</td></tr></tbody></table>

modeling verbal behavior deficits with the stimulus control ratio equation, score

Verbal operant analyses are the extension of functional analysis technology to the field of verbal behavior, of particular relevance to autism spectrum disorders and associated developmental disabilities. Similarly, a verbal operant analysis carefully controls specific environmental factors that influence language, and measures strength of responding across four verbal operant classes: tact, mand, echoic, and sequelic. The frequency of each independent verbal operant is then measured against one another using the stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE) to summarize the relative strength of the speaker&#8217;s repertoire. The verbal behavior SCoRE yields a statistic that can be compared against itself (e.g., for the purposes of pre/post testing) or against others (e.g., for the purposes of randomized controlled trials). The results of this evaluation provide an individualized hierarchy for diverging stimulus control across the verbal operants, from which a treatment plan for errorless language learning may be prescribed.

Figure 4 shows the results of a VOA conducted with Aron, a five-year-old Hispanic male diagnosed with ASD, prior to the onset of intervention. These data confirm the utility of the VOA for assessing disproportionate levels of verbal operant strength. Echoics were found to have the greatest strength and were emitted for half of all trials (48.4%). Tacts showed the next greatest strength with responses for 1/3 of all trials (32.3%). Mands were emitted for 1/6 of all trials (16.1%), while only one sequelic response was recorded (3.2%).
<img alt="Figure 4" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig4.jpg" /> 
Figure 4: The observed verbal repertoire of a speaker diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Data for this model were obtained from a pretest VOA. Each of the four operants were assessed at disproportionate strength ranging from echoic (greatest) to sequelic (weakest). <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig4large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
The strength of each operant was compared against the null repertoire&#8217;s proportionate strength of 25% each. For each comparison, the smaller of the two numbers represents agreement and was placed in the numerator, while the larger of the two numbers represents agreement plus disagreement and was placed in the denominator.
<img alt="Equation 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793eq2.jpg" />
By comparing the observed data against the null repertoire, Aron&#8217;s pretest SCoRE was calculated as 0.53.
In addition to summarizing the verbal repertoire, the SCoRE serves as a judgmental aid for making programmatic decisions. Table 5 shows a prompt hierarchy to support Aron&#8217;s verbal repertoire across multiple and singular control.
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Controlling Variables</td>
			<td>Strength (%)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E+T+S</td>
			<td>100</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E+T</td>
			<td>96.8</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>E+T+S</td>
			<td>83.9</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>E+T</td>
			<td>80.7</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E+S</td>
			<td>67.7</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E</td>
			<td>64.5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+T+S</td>
			<td>51.6</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>E+S</td>
			<td>51.6</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+T</td>
			<td>48.4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>E</td>
			<td>48.4</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>T+S</td>
			<td>35.5</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>T</td>
			<td>32.3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+S</td>
			<td>19.3</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M</td>
			<td>16.1</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>S</td>
			<td>3.2</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 5: An individualized hierarchy of transference across multiple and singular sources of control derived from Figure 2. M = mand, E = echoic, T = tact, S = sequelic.
The results of Table 5 prescribe an individualized prompt hierarchy to strengthen the singular control of each verbal operant (see Table 6). By systematically programming for multiple arrangements of the target operant through converging combinations, verbal &#8220;[b]ehavior may be brought under the control of a single property or a special combination of properties of a stimulus while being freed from the control of all other properties&#8221;28.
<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Mand</td>
			<td>Echoic</td>
			<td>Tact</td>
			<td>Sequelic</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E+T+S</td>
			<td>M+E+T+S</td>
			<td>M+E+T+S</td>
			<td>M+E+T+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E+T</td>
			<td>M+E+T</td>
			<td>M+E+T</td>
			<td>E+T+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E+S</td>
			<td>E+T+S</td>
			<td>E+T+S</td>
			<td>M+E+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+E</td>
			<td>E+T</td>
			<td>E+T</td>
			<td>M+T+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+T+S</td>
			<td>M+E+S</td>
			<td>M+T+S</td>
			<td>E+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+T</td>
			<td>M+E</td>
			<td>M+T</td>
			<td>T+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M+S</td>
			<td>E+S</td>
			<td>T+S</td>
			<td>M+S</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>M</td>
			<td>E</td>
			<td>T</td>
			<td>S</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
Table 6: A systematic progression for abstracting functional independence across each of the verbal operants. M = mand, E = echoic, T = tact, S = sequelic.
After 13 weeks of referent-based instruction, a posttest VOA was conducted with Aron, using the same procedures described above. In comparison to the pretest, Figure 5 shows greater proportionality across each of the four operants: mand (27.1%), echoic (34.1%), tact (23.5%), and sequelic (15.3%). By comparing these results to the null hypothesis, Aron&#8217;s SCoRE was calculated as 0.80. A pre/post analysis of Aron&#8217;s verbal repertoire with the SCoRE shows that his language increased by 0.27 over the course of the intervention.
<img alt="Figure 5" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig5.jpg" /> 
Figure 5: The observed verbal repertoire of a speaker diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder after 13 weeks of referent-based verbal behavior instruction. Data for this model were obtained from a posttest VOA, illustrative of increased proportionality of the four verbal operants. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/58793/58793fig5large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>

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Modeling Verbal Behavior Deficits with the Stimulus Control Ratio Equation, SCoRE

This article describes the procedures for conducting a verbal operant analysis (VOA), calculating the stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE), and developing individualized verbal behavior treatment plans, specifically significant to address the deficits characteristic of autism.

Verbal operant analyses are the extension of functional analysis technology to the field of verbal behavior, of particular relevance to autism spectrum ...

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10.4K Views.  University of Texas at San Antonio. This article describes the procedures for conducting a verbal operant analysis (VOA), calculating the stimulus control ratio equation (SCoRE), and developing individualized verbal behavior treatment plans, specifically significant to address the deficits characteristic of autism.

Video: Modeling Verbal Behavior Deficits with the Stimulus Control Ratio Equation, SCoRE

Irrelevant Stimuli and Action Control: Analyzing the Influence of Ignored Stimuli via the Distractor-Response Binding Paradigm

Selection tasks in which simple stimuli (e.g. letters) are presented and a target stimulus has to be selected against one or more distractor stimuli are frequently used in the research on human action control. One important question in these settings is how distractor stimuli, competing with the target stimulus for a response, influence actions. The distractor-response binding paradigm can be used to investigate this influence. It is particular useful to separately analyze response retrieval and distractor inhibition effects. Computer-based experiments are used to collect the data (reaction times and error rates). In a number of sequentially presented pairs of stimulus arrays (prime-probe design), participants respond to targets while ignoring distractor stimuli. Importantly, the factors response relation in the arrays of each pair (repetition vs. change) and distractor relation (repetition vs. change) are varied orthogonally. The repetition of the same distractor then has a different effect depending on response relation (repetition vs. change) between arrays. This result pattern can be explained by response retrieval due to distractor repetition. In addition, distractor inhibition effects are indicated by a general advantage due to distractor repetition. The described paradigm has proven useful to determine relevant parameters for response retrieval effects on human action.

The distractor-response binding paradigm is described. It can be used to shed light on the influence irrelevant stimuli, competing with targets for a response, can have on human action. Both response retrieval effects and distractor inhibition effects can be analyzed within the paradigm.

Selection tasks in which simple stimuli (e.g. letters) are presented and a target stimulus has to be selected against one or more distractor stimuli are ...

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. Test day challenges, modifications to the standard task, can be used to systematically tax the neural systems controlling either attention or impulse control. Importantly, these challenges have consistent effects on behavior across laboratories in intact animals and can reveal either enhancements or deficits in cognitive function that are not apparent when rats are only tested on the standard task. The variety of behavioral measures that are collected can be used to determine if other factors (i.e., sedation, motivation deficits, locomotor impairments) are contributing to changes in performance. The versatility of the 5CSRTT is further enhanced because it is amenable to combination with pharmacological, molecular, and genetic techniques.

This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. Test day challenges, which are modifications of the standard task, increase flexibility of the task and can be combined with other manipulations to more fully characterize behavior.

This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. ...

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

In the signal attenuation rat model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), lever-pressing for food is followed by the presentation of a compound stimulus which serves as a feedback cue. This feedback is later attenuated by repeated presentations of the stimulus without food (without the rat emitting the lever-press response). In the next stage, lever-pressing is assessed under extinction conditions (i.e., no food is delivered). At this stage rats display two types of lever-presses, those that are followed by an attempt to collect a reward, and those that are not. The latter are the measure of compulsive-like behavior in the model. A control procedure in which rats do not experience the attenuation of the feedback cue serves to distinguish between the effects of signal attenuation and of extinction. The signal attenuation model is a highly validated model of OCD and differentiates between compulsive-like behaviors and behaviors that are repetitive but not compulsive. In addition the measures collected during the procedure eliminate alternative explanations for differences between the groups being tested, and are quantitative, unbiased and unaffected by inter-experimenter variability. The major disadvantages of this model are the costly equipment, the fact that it requires some technical know-how and the fact that it is time-consuming compared to other models of OCD (11 days). The model may be used for detecting the anti- or pro-compulsive effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological manipulations and for studying the neural substrate of compulsive behavior.

The goal of the protocol described in this paper is to induce compulsive-like behavior in rats for the study of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This behavior is precipitated by attenuating a signal indicating that a lever-press response was effective in producing food.

In the signal attenuation rat model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), lever-pressing for food is followed by the presentation of a compound stimulus ...

Modulating Cognition Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Cerebellum

Numerous studies have emerged recently that demonstrate the possibility of modulating, and in some cases enhancing, cognitive processes by exciting brain regions involved in working memory and attention using transcranial electrical brain stimulation. Some researchers now believe the cerebellum supports cognition, possibly via a remote neuromodulatory effect on the prefrontal cortex. This paper describes a procedure for investigating a role for the cerebellum in cognition using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and a selection of information-processing tasks of varying task difficulty, which have previously been shown to involve working memory, attention and cerebellar functioning. One task is called the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) and the other a novel variant of this task called the Paced Auditory Serial Subtraction Task (PASST). A verb generation task and its two controls (noun and verb reading) were also investigated. All five tasks were performed by three separate groups of participants, before and after the modulation of cortico-cerebellar connectivity using anodal, cathodal or sham tDCS over the right cerebellar cortex. The procedure demonstrates how performance (accuracy, verbal response latency and variability) could be selectively improved after cathodal stimulation, but only during tasks that the participants rated as difficult, and not easy. Performance was unchanged by anodal or sham stimulation. These findings demonstrate a role for the cerebellum in cognition, whereby activity in the left prefrontal cortex is likely dis-inhibited by cathodal tDCS over the right cerebellar cortex. Transcranial brain stimulation is growing in popularity in various labs and clinics. However, the after-effects of tDCS are inconsistent between individuals and not always polarity-specific, and may even be task- or load-specific, all of which requires further study. Future efforts might also be guided towards neuro-enhancement in cerebellar patients presenting with cognitive impairment once a better understanding of brain stimulation mechanisms has emerged.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the cerebellum exerts a remote effect on the prefrontal cortex, which can modulate cognition and performance. This was demonstrated using two information-processing tasks of varying complexity, whereby only cathodal tDCS improved performance when the task was difficult, but not easy.

Numerous studies have emerged recently that demonstrate the possibility of modulating, and in some cases enhancing, cognitive processes by exciting brain ...

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Collecting reliable behavioral data from toddlers and preschoolers is challenging. As a result, there are significant gaps in our understanding of human auditory development for these age groups. This paper describes an observer-based procedure for measuring hearing sensitivity with a two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. Young children are trained to perform a play-based, motor response (e.g., putting a block in a bucket) whenever they hear a target signal. An experimenter observes the child&#39;s behavior and makes a judgment about whether the signal was presented during the first or second observation interval; the experimenter is blinded to the true signal interval, so this judgment is based solely on the child&#39;s behavior. These procedures were used to test 2 to 4 year-olds (n = 33) with no known hearing problems. The signal was a 1,000 Hz warble tone presented in quiet, and the signal level was adjusted to estimate a threshold corresponding to 71%-correct detection. A valid threshold was obtained for 82% of children. These results indicate that the two-interval procedure is both feasible and reliable for use with toddlers and preschoolers. The two-interval, observer-based procedure described in this paper is a powerful tool for evaluating hearing in young children because it guards against response bias on the part of the experimenter.

This paper describes a procedure for measuring hearing sensitivity in 2 to 4 year-old children. Children are trained to perform play-based responses when they hear a target signal. Thresholds are then estimated in a two-interval, two-alternative forced-choice paradigm, based on observations of the child&#39;s behaviors.

Collecting reliable behavioral data from toddlers and preschoolers is challenging. As a result, there are significant gaps in our understanding of human ...

Use of a Video Scoring Anchor for Rapid Serial Assessment of Social Communication in Toddlers

Reciprocal social behavior (RSB), an early-emerging capacity to engage in social contingency&#8212;which is foundational for both social learning and social competency&#8212;is hypothesized to be disrupted in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The ability to quantify the full range of RSB during the toddler period, when core symptoms of ASD often arise, is pivotal for evaluating early risk for ASD, characterizing social development, and tracking response to early interventions. However, important parameters of variation in RSB&#8212;especially prior to the development of verbal language&#8212;can be nuanced and difficult to characterize using questionnaire-based methods. To address this challenge, we developed a system for measuring quantitative variation in RSB in toddlers (ages 18 - 30 months) that incorporated not only standard questionnaire data from caregivers but also a novel set of video-referenced items, through which a respondent compares the behavior of a subject to that observed in a short video of a young child manifesting a highly competent level of social communication. Testing of this measure in a general population sample of twins confirmed that both the video-referenced items and the RSB Total Score (video-referenced items plus non-video-referenced items) displayed unimodal, continuous distributions, strong internal consistency, marked preservation of individual differences, and extremely high heritability. In addition, video-referenced items were particularly sensitive to quantifying incremental changes in social communication, a major element of RSB, over the course of early childhood development. Scores on the vrRSB clearly differentiated children with and without ASD and these data comprise an initial validation of this promising method for quantifying early RSB&#8212;cross-sectionally, over time, and as a function of early intervention.

Here we present a protocol for administration of the video-referenced rating of reciprocal social behavior (vrRSB) using a paper or online version. This survey quantifies RSB, a prerequisite for social competence, in toddlers through &#34;video-referenced&#34; items whereby a subject is compared to a reference child shown in a three-minute video.

Reciprocal social behavior (RSB), an early-emerging capacity to engage in social contingency&#8212;which is foundational for both social learning and ...

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Sentence comprehension relies on the ability to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. However, there is currently a paucity of research exploring how preschool children with autism understand sentences using different types of cues. The mechanisms underlying sentence comprehension remains largely unclear. The present study presents a protocol to examine the sentence comprehension abilities of preschool children with autism. More specifically, a visual world paradigm of eye-tracking is used to explore the moment-to-moment sentence comprehension in the children. The paradigm has multiple advantages. First, it is sensitive to the time course of sentence comprehension and thus can provide rich information about how sentence comprehension unfolds over time. Second, it requires minimal task and communication demands, so it is ideal for testing children with autism. To further minimize the computational burden of children, the present study measures eye movements that arise as automatic responses to linguistic input rather than measuring eye movements that accompany conscious responses to spoken instructions.

We present a protocol to examine the use of morphological cues during real-time sentence comprehension by children with autism.

Sentence comprehension relies on the ability to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. However, there is ...

Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects

Multisensory integration research investigates how the brain processes simultaneous sensory information. Research on animals (mainly cats and primates) and humans reveal that intact multisensory integration is crucial for functioning in the real world, including both cognitive and physical activities. Much of the research conducted over the past several decades documents multisensory integration effects using diverse psychophysical, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging techniques. While its presence has been reported, the methods used to determine the magnitude of multisensory integration effects varies and typically faces much criticism. In what follows, limitations of previous behavioral studies are outlined and a step-by-step tutorial for calculating the magnitude of multisensory integration effects using robust probability models is provided.

The current study aims to provide a step-by-step tutorial for calculating the magnitude of multisensory integration effects in an effort to facilitate the production of translational research studies across diverse clinical populations.

Multisensory integration research investigates how the brain processes simultaneous sensory information. Research on animals (mainly cats and primates) ...

RBDT: A Computerized Task System based in Transposition for the Continuous Analysis of Relational Behavior Dynamics in Humans

The most extensively employed paradigm for the analysis of relational behavior is the transposition task. Nevertheless, it has two important limitations for its use in humans. The first one is the &#34;ceiling effect&#34; reported in linguistic participants. The second limitation is that the standard transposition task, being a simple choice task between two stimuli, does not include active behavioral patterns and their recording, as relevant factors in emergence of relational behavior. In the present work, a challenging multi-object task based on transposition, integrated with recording software, is presented. This paradigm requires behavioral active patterns to form stimuli compounds with a given relational criteria. The paradigm is composed of three arrangements: a) a bank of stimuli, b) sample relational compounds, and c) comparison relational compounds. The task consists of the participant constructing two comparison relational compounds by dragging figures of a bank of stimuli with the same relation shown by the sample relational compounds. These factors conform an integrated system that can be manipulated in an individual or integrative manner. The software records discrete responses (e.g., stimuli selections, placements) and continuous responses (e.g., tracking of cursor movements, figure dragging). The obtained data, data analysis and graphical representations proposed are compatible with frameworks that assume an active nature of the attentional and perceptual processes and an integrated and continuous system between the perceiver and the environment. The proposed paradigm deepens the systematic study of relational behavior in humans in the framework of the transposition paradigm and expands it to a continuous analysis of interaction between active patterns and the dynamics of relational behavior.

RBDT integrates behavioral patterns based on discrete responses (e.g., stimuli selection, placement of figures) and continuous responses (e.g., tracking of cursor movements, figure dragging) to study relational behavior with humans. RBDT is a challenging task based on transposition, in which the participant sets up stimuli compounds with a relational criterion (more/less than).

The most extensively employed paradigm for the analysis of relational behavior is the transposition task. Nevertheless, it has two important limitations ...

A Behavioral Task Modeling 'Everyday Memory' in an Event Arena to Foster Allocentric Representations for Rodents

The event arena provides an optimal platform to investigate learning and memory. The appetitive everyday memory task described in this paper provides a robust protocol for the investigation of episodic and spatial memory in rodents, which specifically fosters allocentric memory representation. Rats are trained to find and dig for food during the encoding phase and, after a time delay, rats are given a choice to find the reward food pellet in the correct location. There are two key elements that promote the use of an allocentric strategy in this protocol: 1) rats start from different start locations within and between sessions, 2) a stable home-base is deployed where rats have to carry their food to eat. By means of these modifications, we effectively encourage the rodents to use allocentric spatial representations to perform the task. In addition, the task provides a good paradigm for within-subject experimental design and allows experimenters to manipulate different conditions to reduce variability. Used in conjunction with behavioral and physiological techniques, the resulting rodent model provides an effective test-bed for future research into memory formation and retention.

The goal of this optimized 'everyday memory' protocol in an event arena was to employ a stable home-base that encourages the use of allocentric spatial representations. This animal model provides an effective test-bed for future research into the formation and retention of event memories using behavioral and physiological techniques.

The event arena provides an optimal platform to investigate learning and memory. The appetitive everyday memory task described in this paper provides a ...

Modeling Verbal Behavior Deficits with the Stimulus Control Ratio Equation, SCoRE

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