Establishing derived categorical responding in children with disabilities using the PEAK‐E curriculum

Dixon et al. (2017) tested PEAK-E match-to-sample lessons with three preschoolers who had developmental disabilities. The kids learned to match pictures to spoken category names like 'animal' or 'food'.

Two of the three children started answering new questions they had never been taught. When asked 'Tell me an animal,' they named items that had only appeared in the matching games.

Dixon et al. (2021) later repeated the PEAK-E plan with autistic children and saw the same leap: kids gave untrained answers after matching practice. The 2021 study adds weight because it used a stricter design.

Rehfeldt et al. (2005) showed the idea works with adults. After picture-request training, three adults with severe disabilities could type requests they were never directly taught.

Chadwick et al. (2000) proved the skill can be shaped like any operant. Feedback alone taught college students to form new equivalence classes across four different sets.

You can use PEAK-E matching to build intraverbal gaps without extra trials. After a child masters 'picture = word' matches, probe for untrained answers like 'Name a pet.' If the derived words pop out, you just saved teaching time. If not, keep mixing the stimuli until the leap happens.