Increasing response variability of mand frames with script training and extinction.

Three preschoolers with autism first learned short mand scripts.

After each child said the script correctly, the team stopped reinforcing it. They wanted to see if the kids would invent new ways to ask for the same item.

The study used single-case design and tracked every new mand frame that appeared.

Two of the three children started saying brand-new mand frames once the old script no longer worked.

The third child kept repeating the trained line and showed little change.

Overall, the study found positive results for increasing mand variability.

Cengher et al. (2020) extends this idea to older students. They also used extinction after rehearsed responses and showed the new forms can be shaped into complex autoclitic mands while slashing aggression.

Takashima et al. (1994) did the same trick with toy play. When they stopped reinforcing one play move, kids invented new moves. That early work proved extinction naturally sparks variability.

Matson et al. (2011) looks like a contradiction at first. They saw extinction of signed mands boost vocalizations, not mand frames. The difference is what you measure: one study counted new sounds, the other counted new sentence forms. Both show extinction unlocks untrained communication.

If a child rote-mands "I want car," stop reinforcing that line. The brief pause can push the child to say "Give me the red car" or "Car, please." Try three to five trials, then reinforce any new frame. This simple twist builds flexible language without extra teaching time.