| The intraverbal is defined as a verbal response under the control of a verbal stimulus, with no point-to-point correspondence with that stimulus (Skinner, 1957). In many intraverbal relations, the stimulus and response may be reversed, resulting in two relations; an original (e.g., English-French - responding, "camion," given the verbal stimulus, "truck") and a reversal (e.g., French-English - responding, "truck," given the verbal stimulus, "camion"). If intraverbal relations can be taught explicitly such that reversals emerge, relations may need only be taught in one direction, resulting in increased teaching efficiency. Additionally, if intraverbal training can result in emergence of other relations such as tacts and listener responses, this further enhances training efficacy. In this study, a multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effects of multiple exemplar training (MET) on the emergence of reverse intraverbals, French tacts, and French listener responses. Participants were two typically developing English-speaking preschool aged children with little history with the French language. Results suggested that MET facilitated the emergence of reverse intraverbals, French tacts, and French listener responses. Results are discussed in terms of verbal mediation, including equivalence and naming accounts (Sidman, 1994; Horne & Lowe, 1996). |
