Talk-Aloud Protocols during Conditional Discrimination Training and Equivalence Class Formation

Five kids with autism looked at picture sets. One set they named out loud and got praise. Other sets they only looked at or did a blocking task.

Later the kids tried to point to the pictures they had seen. The team counted how many each child remembered.

Four of the five kids remembered more pictures when they had named them first. Saying the name helped the picture stick in memory.

Quiet viewing or the blocking task did not help recall.

Hartley et al. (2015) and Wachob et al. (2015) found no extra learning when pictures were added for autistic kids. The difference: those studies tested symbol use, not recall, and used mostly non-verbal children.

Belisle et al. (2020) also used prompting to teach tacts, but they taught kids to label feelings. Both papers show prompting tacts works for kids with autism.

Frampton et al. (2019) used matrix training to teach color-shape tacts. Their focus was new word combos, not memory. Together the papers show tact training can serve different goals.

If you want a child to remember new pictures, have them tact the item during teaching. A quick "What is it?" plus praise can double recall without extra time. Try it next time you run a picture program or teach sight words.