Abstract
This report describes the use of food reinforcement to develop verbal imitative behavior in a mute profoundly retarded 14-yr-old girl. The study comprised nine phases (99 sessions). The first four phases alternated conditions of non-contigent and contigent reinforcement, bringing the subject's vocalizations under the control of experimenter-vocalizations. The remaining phases aimed at developing correct imitation of five training sounds. All sounds were presented within each session but reinforcement contigent upon imitation was introduced for one sound at a time in a multiple baseline design. Correct imitation of training sounds developed rapidly with some evidence of generalized imitative responding. Results are discussed in light of previous research with other populations and the implications of the present paradigm for further research on language development in the profoundly retarded child.
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