Replacing maladaptive speech with verbal labeling responses: an analysis of generalized responding.
Cues-pause-point swaps echolalia or odd speech for correct labels and the new words stick in new settings.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three students with intellectual disability kept repeating odd or off-topic words. The team used cues-pause-point training to teach correct labels instead.
The adult shows a picture, waits three seconds, then gives a cue like "What is it?" Correct answers earn praise. Wrong or repeated words get a brief "No" and the trial starts over.
What they found
All three students stopped the odd speech and said the right label during training. The new labels showed up in new rooms with new adults and new questions.
How this fits with other research
Guest et al. (2013) got the same result with tact training instead of cues-pause-point. Both studies show you can swap the prompting style and still gain clean expressive labels.
Najdowski et al. (2018) pushed the idea further. They used the same prompt-and-praise logic to teach kids with autism to label which toy a friend wants during play. The skill generalized to untrained partners, just like the 1988 labels did across rooms.
Martin et al. (1997) used a short habit-reversal package to stop self-biting. Both studies take a quick ABA plan and wipe out an oral topography—speech or biting—with strong positive results.
Why it matters
If a child keeps echoing or rattling off odd words, try cues-pause-point. Show the item, wait, prompt the label, praise the right answer, and block the old words. Then test in new places so the useful talk travels with the child.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We taught three mentally handicapped students to answer questions with verbal labels and evaluated the generalized effects of this training on their maladaptive speech (e.g., echolalia) and correct responding to untrained questions. The students received cues-pause-point training on an initial question set followed by generalization assessments on a different set in another setting. Probes were conducted on novel questions in three other settings to determine the strength and spread of the generalization effect. A multiple baseline across subjects design revealed that maladaptive speech was replaced with correct labels (answers) to questions in the training and all generalization settings. These results replicate and extend previous research that suggested that cues-pause-point procedures may be useful in replacing maladaptive speech patterns by teaching students to use their verbal labeling repertoires.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1988 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1988.21-411