Development of naming in two-year-old children

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how the bidirectional components of naming (listener to speaker and speaker to listener) affect the acquisition of naming in typical two-year old children. The dependent variable consisted of the children's listener (matching and pointing) and speaker (tact) responses to target stimuli during probe sessions. The independent variable consisted of learn units sequenced to teach the children separate listener and speaker repertoires. Experiment I investigated possible sequences to teach naming to generative behavior with a multiple probe design. Following multiple exemplar instruction, naming emerged for Child J and Child L for novel stimuli. Child J and Child L acquired the transformation of stimulus function from listener to speaker. They were then able to respond correctly to a group of novel stimuli, and data showed that the experience was able to produce the response. Child B had the repertoire for naming prior to the teaching procedure. Experiment II investigated the effects of multiple exemplar instruction as a tactic to produce naming. An experimental control matched sample with a nested multiple probe design within each group was used. Data showed the transformation of stimulus function and also stimulus generalization followed the experience of multiple exemplar instruction. The responses that students did not emit following listener instruction were emitted as a result of the multiple exemplar instruction with a different set of novel stimuli. The educational significance of these experiments suggests multiple exemplar instruction as an effective tactic for the development of naming, as well as to teach children abstraction across different sets of stimuli. Findings for the two experiments were discussed in terms of instructional levels of verbal behavior (Greer, 2002), naming theory (Home & Lowe, 1996), and the theory of verbal behavior (Skinner, 1957).