Teaching generalized question‐discrimination skills to children with autism: Conceptual and applied considerations
Teach kids to notice the question itself, not just the item in front of them, by mixing verbal and non-verbal cues during intraverbal-tacting drills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The author maps out how to teach kids with autism to tell the difference between questions. The paper is conceptual, not a data study.
It uses Skinner’s verbal operants to explain why some kids answer “apple” when you ask “What color?” instead of saying “red.”
What they found
No new numbers are given. The paper gives a lesson plan: mix verbal and non-verbal cues so the child learns to answer the question you actually asked.
The goal is to stop over-generalized answers like naming the object for every “wh-” question.
How this fits with other research
Kisamore et al. (2016) already tested the same idea. They used prompt delay plus error correction and got good intraverbal gains. The new paper adds the why behind their procedure.
Tassé et al. (2013) took the opposite road: they taught tacts first and let intraverbals emerge. The target article says that can work, but direct intraverbal-tacting training gives you tighter control.
Dixon et al. (2017) and Dixon et al. (2021) used PEAK equivalence to create derived intraverbals. The target method skips equivalence and instead builds multiple stimulus control during regular trials.
Why it matters
If a child says “car” when you ask “Where did you go?” you now have a map. Blend color, function, and location cues in the same lesson. Watch which cue the child actually answers. Fade extra cues only after the child responds to the right question form. This keeps rote answers from taking over.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractNeuro‐typically developing children demonstrate accurate, discriminated responding to a variety of questions in the presence of nonverbal stimuli. For children diagnosed with autism, however, such question discrimination skills can be significantly impaired. An error frequently observed in clinical practice is that of the child who, despite previous mastery of the relevant color tacts, says “Ball” when presented with a blue ball and the question “What color?” This paper explores the role of multiple verbal and nonverbal control in early intraverbal‐tacting as a basis for clinical intervention. The paper first presents a theoretical analysis based on multiply‐controlled verbal behavior (Skinner, 1957). Second, it provides clinical recommendations derived from recent research for establishing generalized intraverbal‐tacting in children diagnosed with autism.
Behavioral Interventions, 2022 · doi:10.1002/bin.1825