ABA Verbal Behavior and Language 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, a mand is a verbal operant that:
- Specifies its own reinforcer and is maintained by that specific reinforcement (Correct answer)
- Is controlled by a non-verbal discriminative stimulus
- Is evoked by the verbal behavior of another person
- Is maintained by generalized conditioned reinforcement
Correct answer: Specifies its own reinforcer and is maintained by that specific reinforcement
A mand is a verbal operant whose form specifies the reinforcer, and it is maintained by the specific reinforcer it requests (e.g., asking for water to get water).
Question 2: A tact is a verbal operant that is primarily under the control of:
- A non-verbal antecedent stimulus in the environment (Correct answer)
- A motivating operation
- Another person's verbal behavior
- Generalized conditioned reinforcement only
Correct answer: A non-verbal antecedent stimulus in the environment
A tact is a verbal response under the control of a non-verbal discriminative stimulus (an object, event, or property) and is maintained by generalized conditioned reinforcement.
Question 3: An echoic is a verbal operant that:
- Repeats the verbal stimulus of a speaker with point-to-point correspondence (Correct answer)
- Labels a non-verbal stimulus
- Requests a specific reinforcer
- Responds to written text
Correct answer: Repeats the verbal stimulus of a speaker with point-to-point correspondence
An echoic involves repeating another person's verbal behavior with formal similarity (sound-by-sound match) and is maintained by generalized conditioned reinforcement.
Question 4: What term describes a verbal operant that is controlled by verbal antecedents and has point-to-point correspondence with those antecedents?
- Intraverbal
- Tact
- Mand
- Echoic (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Echoic
Echoics involve point-to-point correspondence between the verbal stimulus and the verbal response, distinguishing them from intraverbals which lack this correspondence.
Question 5: Which verbal operant is controlled by a verbal antecedent WITHOUT point-to-point correspondence?
- Intraverbal (Correct answer)
- Echoic
- Textual
- Transcription
Correct answer: Intraverbal
Intraverbals are controlled by another person's verbal behavior but the response does not match the form of the antecedent (e.g., answering 'What do you eat with?' with 'Fork').
Question 6: A motivating operation (MO) affects verbal behavior by:
- Altering the reinforcing value of a stimulus and the frequency of behavior related to that stimulus (Correct answer)
- Providing a discriminative stimulus for a specific response
- Removing all consequences for the verbal response
- Establishing a new conditioned reinforcer
Correct answer: Altering the reinforcing value of a stimulus and the frequency of behavior related to that stimulus
MOs have two effects: they alter how reinforcing a consequence is (value-altering effect) and they change the current frequency of behaviors that produce that consequence (behavior-altering effect).
ABA Verbal Behavior and Language 1
According to Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, a mand is a verbal operant that: