Using a combined blocking procedure to teach color discrimination to a child with autism.
Tact-selection with real objects makes color naming pop out in preschoolers without extra drills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Williams et al. (2005) tested two ways to teach color names to preschoolers. They used tact-selection and pairing procedures with 3-D objects and 2-D pictures. The kids were typically developing and attended a regular preschool.
What they found
Five out of seven children started naming colors after the training. 3-D objects worked better than flat pictures. Tact-selection (say then select) worked better than simple pairing.
How this fits with other research
Oliver et al. (2002) showed similar emergent naming in toddlers three years earlier. They used tact training with shapes and got the same untaught skills. Mandel et al. (2022) later repeated the logic with kids with autism. They used exclusion trials and saw new auditory-visual tacts emerge. The 2005 study bridges these lines: it confirms the effect in neurotypical kids and sets the stage for later autism work.
Why it matters
You can save teaching time by planning for emergence. Start with 3-D objects and use tact-selection first. After a few trials, probe untaught responses before you add more direct teaching. This cuts mass trials and keeps sessions fun.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Run three tact-selection trials with a 3-D object, then immediately probe the child to name it untaught.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Naming consists of tacting an object and selecting it upon hearing its name as a result of emergence. After acquiring naming, children learn object-name relations more quickly and, hence, it is an important achievement in development. We studied the acquisition of the two skills that define naming, using two procedures, in seven typically developing 4-year-old children. The tact-selection procedure consisted of (a) teaching tacts of objects (or pictures) and probing for object selection upon hearing the objects' names, and (b) teaching object selection and probing tacts. The pairing procedure consisted of presenting objects (or pictures) at the same time that an adult said their names, without requiring from the child other response than attending. Of the seven children, five showed emergence of selection responses and tacts. Children showed more instances of emergence with the tact-selection procedure than with the pairing procedure and with three-dimensional (3-D) objects than with pictures. The results have important implications for teaching preschool children and children with learning disabilities.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2005 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2005.65-04