If I say I'll talk more, then I will. Correspondence training to increase peer-directed talk by socially withdrawn children.

Two quiet preschoolers said, "I will talk to friends today." Teachers praised them when their play-time words matched the plan.

The study used a multiple-baseline design across the two children. Baseline showed almost no peer talk.

Peer-directed talk jumped as soon as correspondence training started. The gains stayed high after praise was faded.

Both kids kept talking weeks later with no adult reminders.

Lord et al. (1986) got the same boost with preschoolers, but for any plan the child named, not just talking. The pattern shows correspondence training works across behaviors.

Iwata (1988) seems to disagree. That study found the child's own promise added nothing; only the adult prompt mattered. The clash is real: G et al. credit the child's verbal goal, while Iwata (1988) calls it fluff. The difference is measurement. G et al. praised only after the child met the stated talk level, so the goal acted like a contract. Iwata (1988) praised for play time whether the child restated the plan or not, so the promise had no teeth.

Hall (1992) later stretched the same idea to elementary boys with ADHD. Instead of raising talk, reinforcing what the boys said they would do cut hyperactivity. One method, two opposite outcomes: more social words or less problem behavior.

You can use a 30-second goal statement to pull withdrawn preschoolers into peer play. State, reinforce, fade, and the social boost sticks without extra toys or tokens. Check that your praise is tied to the exact level the child named; that small step turns the promise into power.