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THE EFFECTS OF THE QUESTION “WHAT IS THIS?” ON TACT‐TRAINING OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Author(s) -
Marchese Nancy V,
Carr James E,
LeBlanc Linda A,
Rosati Tiffany C,
Conroy Samantha A
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.2012.45-539
Subject(s) - tact , psychology , autism , developmental psychology , object (grammar) , linguistics , philosophy
Tact training is a common element of many habilitative programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. A commonly recommended practice is to include a supplemental question (e.g., “What is this?”) during training trials for tacts of objects. However, the supplemental question is not a defining feature of the tact relation, and prior research suggests that its inclusion might sometimes impede tact acquisition. The present study compared tact training with and without the supplemental question in terms of acquisition and maintenance. Two of 4 children with autism acquired tacts more efficiently in the object‐only condition; the remaining 2 children acquired tacts more efficiently in the object + question condition. During maintenance tests in the absence of the supplemental question, all participants emitted tacts at end‐of‐training levels across conditions with no differential effect observed between training conditions.