Bidirectional Naming Research Articles

The role of intraverbal bidirectional naming in the establishment of comparative relations.

The purpose of the current study was to extend the research on the possible role of verbal mediation in the establishment of comparative relations. We conducted four experiments in which 14 participants received conditional discrimination training with nonarbitrary and arbitrary stimuli, followed by derived comparative and transformation of function tests. Participants learned to select the smallest or biggest comparison across multiple exemplars in the presence of abstract samples. Next, participants learned to select arbitrary comparisons in the presence of contextual cues to establish a size ranking among comparisons. To assess verbal mediation during mutual and combinatorial entailment tests, participants were instructed to talk out loud. When they failed to perform correctly during derived relations tests, participants were trained to tact and intraverbally relate stimuli. The results suggest that relational training alone was not sufficient to establish comparative relations and that adult participants engaged in problem solving consistent with intraverbal bidirectional naming during emergent relations tests.

Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Computer-Assisted Instructional System Implemented by Teachers for Students on the Autism Spectrum With Intellectual Disabilities in China

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) implemented by special education teachers in a school setting in China. Feasibility was evaluated by procedural fidelity of teacher implementation and a social validity questionnaire. Effectiveness was measured by the acquisition of bidirectional naming through multiple exemplar instruction implemented in CAI for students on the autism spectrum with intellectual disabilities. Bidirectional naming is a key ability in early language development that allows children to expand their knowledge through incidental learning (Greer et al., 2011). Three students on the autism spectrum with intellectual disabilities (7 years of age; 1 female, 2 males) and their teachers (27–29 years of age; female) participated in this study. Using a single-case design--multiple probes across participants with pre- and post-assessments, all three students demonstrated improvements at post-instruction bidirectional naming assessments. Teachers implemented CAI with a high level of fidelity; they gave it high ratings for acceptability and feasibility. They were satisfied with CAI and student learning outcomes. All three students reported that they enjoyed learning with CAI. The implications and potential utilities of incorporating CAI in special education classrooms in China are discussed.

A Preliminary Analysis of Incidental Bidirectional Naming and Derived Listener and Speaker Relations for Literacy Responses

In the realm of behavioral research, significant contributions have greatly advanced reading studies, influencing educational practices. We explored the relationship between the degrees of incidental bidirectional naming (Inc-BiN) capabilities and children's derived relations for literacy responses. Inc-BiN is a repertoire whereby a child acquires listener and speaker responses from observation alone. Incidental unidirectional naming (Inc-UniN) occurs when observation of object-names produces listener, but not speaker behavior. Students who did not demonstrate listener and speaker components were classified as having No Incidental Naming (NiN). Across two studies, we evaluated how component skills involved in Inc-BiN are connected to emergent literacy responses in preschoolers with a disability. In Study 1, participants completed two conditions: (1) directly reinforcing speaker responses and testing for the emergence of listener responses, and (2) directly reinforcing listener responses and testing for the emergence of speaker responses. Results suggested that participants with Inc-BiN readily derived both speaker and listener responses, participants with Inc-UniN readily derived listener, but not speaker responses, and participants with NiN had difficulty acquiring directly reinforced responses and deriving responses. In Study 2, we established Inc-BiN with participants and readministered Study 1 tests. Our results suggest overlap between incidental bidirectional naming and derived responses and point to how one can incorporate derived relations instruction and differentiate instruction for children with varying repertoires.

The Effect of Stimulus Control During Pairing on the Emergence of Bidirectional Naming

El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar el efecto del control de estímulo en un procedimiento de observación de emparejamiento en las respuestas que emergían en pruebas de tacto y selección como componentes del naming bidireccional, en función de la coherencia del control de estímulo entre el emparejamiento y las pruebas. En el Experimento 1 se expuso a ocho adultos a una fase de emparejamiento de figuras-palabras habladas y posteriormente a pruebas de tacto y selección. En el emparejamiento y prueba de tacto se manipuló el número de estímulos presentados en cada ensayo (de uno en uno -sucesivo- o de cuatro en cuatro -simultáneo-) en cuatro condiciones experimentales (con coherencia: sucesivo-sucesivo y simultáneo-simultáneo; sin coherencia: sucesivo-simultáneo y simultáneo-sucesivo). Con cada participante se usaron cuatro conjuntos aleatorizados por condición formados por 16 figuras y 16 palabras agrupadas en cuatro pares por conjunto. En todos los participantes emergió el tacto y la selección, independientemente del control de estímulo. La mediana de respuestas correctas de selección fue mayor en las condiciones sin coherencia (23.5; prueba de Wilcoxon) y en las condiciones con emparejamiento simultáneo. En el Experimento 2, el procedimiento fue idéntico al Experimento 1, excepto que participaron ocho adultos diferentes y se emparejaron sonidos de animales-palabras habladas. La respuesta de tacto y selección emergió con los ocho participantes y se obtuvieron mejores resultados en el tacto en las condiciones con emparejamiento simultáneo.

Effects of Serial Multiple Exemplar Training on Bidirectional Naming in Children with Autism

This study examined the effect of a serial multiple exemplar training (S-MET) procedure on bidirectional naming (BiN) in four preschool children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of training listener and speaker behavior for one stimulus at a time until BiN occurred. When BiN occurred, probes were conducted to measure whether generalization occurred across settings and people. Three out of four participants’ responding met the mastery criterion for BiN, while the fourth participant improved her performance. The results of this study suggest that S-MET may be a promising intervention and contribute to our knowledge about learning histories required for BiN.

More complex incidental bidirectional naming results from exposure alone.

Incidental bidirectional naming (Inc-BiN) has been defined as a verbal developmental cusp whereby children demonstrate learning the names of things as listener and speaker as a function of observation alone. Stimulus characteristics have been found to affect performance in tests for Inc-BiN. To further explore this effect, Experiment 1 compared untaught listener and speaker responses for novel familiar-type versus novel nonfamiliar-type stimuli with 20 first-grade students following naming experiences in which the participants observed each visual stimulus five times while hearing its name. Participants performed significantly better with familiar-type than with nonfamiliar-type stimuli. Experiment 2 examined the effects of a repeated-probe intervention to induce Inc-BiN with nonfamiliar-type stimuli. Participants were six first-grade students who demonstrated incidental unidirectional naming (i.e., acquired names as listener from exposure alone). Implementation of the intervention was staggered across dyads of participants in a multiple-probe, simultaneous-treatments design. One participant in each dyad received the intervention with nonfamiliar-type stimuli only and the other with both nonfamiliar- and familiar-type stimuli. Pre- and postintervention Inc-BiN probes with stimuli not included in the intervention suggested both conditions were effective in establishing Inc-BiN for nonfamiliar-type stimuli. These findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying Inc-BiN.

The Establishment of Incidental Bidirectional Naming through Multiple Exemplar Instruction: a Systematic Replication.

Although many neurotypical children acquire untaught word-object relations incidentally from naturally occurring environmental experiences, many children with and without developmental disabilities require specific intervention. This study examined the effects of rotating listener (match and point) and speaker (tact and intraverbal-tact) responses with added echoics during multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) with training sets of stimuli on the acquisition of Incidental Bidirectional Naming (Inc-BiN). Listener-speaker MEI procedures reported in Hawkins et al.European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 10(2), 265-273, (2009) were replicated with procedural modification, new instructors, and new participants (four preschoolers with and without disabilities). The listener-speaker MEI with added echoics consisted of rotating across four response operants: match-with-echoics, point-with-echoics, tact, and intraverbal-tact responses. We measured the establishment of Inc-BiN through the number of the correct untaught listener (point) and untaught speaker (intraverbal-tact) responses for untaught stimuli during the listener-speaker MEI with added echoics. We found that listener-speaker MEI with added echoics was effective in establishing Inc-BiN for 3 of 4 participants.

Emergence of auditory-visual discrimination and tacts through exclusionary responding.

This study examined if listener behavior and responding by exclusion would emerge after training 3 participants with autism to tact stimuli. Tacts for 2 of 3 stimuli were directly trained using discrete trial training methodology and were followed by an auditory-visual discrimination probe in which auditory-visual discrimination by naming (i.e., bidirectional naming of trained tacts) and auditory-visual discrimination by exclusion were assessed; in subsequent sessions, tacting by exclusion probes were conducted in which tacts for the exclusion target (i.e., stimulus not trained as a tact) were assessed. All 3 participants demonstrated auditory-visual discrimination by naming, auditory-visual discrimination by exclusion, and tacting by exclusion across all comparisons. Results suggest that programming for learning by exclusion can provide an efficient way to enhance skill acquisition.

Brief Report: Using Computer-Assisted Multiple Exemplar Instruction to Facilitate the Development of Bidirectional Naming for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Bidirectional naming is an important ability which enables children to acquire listener and speaker behaviors through exposure to relevant word-object associations. Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or developmental delays do not demonstrate this ability and require systematic instruction. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of computer-assisted multiple exemplar instruction to facilitate bidirectional naming. Three 5-year-old Chinese boys with ASD participated in a multiple probe across three participants design. The results indicated that all three children's naming performance increased from pretest to posttest, supporting the potential practicality of the instructional system for use in applied settings.

Blocking of Stimulus Control in Children with Autism

The present study aimed to investigate the blocking of stimulus control in three children with autism. We used a go/no-go procedure in a standard blocking paradigm. In Phase 1, we established one of two sounds or colored squares as a discriminative stimulus for touching a tablet screen. In Phase 2, a colored square was added to the sound or a sound was added to the colored square in a stimulus compound. The discrimination training continued as in Phase 1. We subsequently tested discriminative control by each of the single stimuli separately and by the compounds. Finally, after testing with no programmed consequences, we reestablished the original discrimination and replicated the test of stimulus control. The results support previous experiments by demonstrating that the establishment of discriminative control by a second stimulus by adding it to a previously established discriminative stimulus in a compound was blocked by the earlier discrimination training in all three participants. We discuss procedural details that may be critical to avoid the blocking of stimulus control in the applied field, particularly with respect to the acquisition of skills that involve multiple stimuli, such as joint attention, social referencing, and bidirectional naming.

Descriptive Analyses of Relations among Bidirectional Naming, Arbitrary, and Nonarbitrary Relations

Bidirectional naming (BiN) as a verbal developmental cusp and derived relational responding as a phenomenon have been used to explain the accelerated rate in word learning that occurs within the second to third year of life; however, there has been limited research on how these repertoires may be related. In the first of two descriptive studies, we evaluated the relation between degrees of BiN and scores on tests of derived relational responding. Study I involved 31 preschool students with and without diagnoses with whom we tested the presence and strength of relations among BiN and other arbitrary and nonarbitrary relations that were mutually and combinatorially entailed. Data from the first study showed a strong significant correlation between participants’ degrees of BiN and their scores on tests of derived relations. In the second study we collected additional data on BiN and derived relations in order to compare the mean differences between the establishment of arbitrary auditory–visual and visual–visual relations for 18 preschool students selected from the participants within the first study. This subgroup consisted of six students who demonstrated BiN, six students who demonstrated unidirectional naming (listener only; UniN) and six students who demonstrated no UniN or BiN. There were significant differences for both auditory–visual and visual–visual derived relations based on the students’ degrees of BiN. The results of both studies have implications for the intersection between the verbal developmental cusp of BiN (a derived relation itself) and other derived relational responding.

Derived Relational Responding and Transformations of Function in Children: A Review of Applied Behavior-Analytic Journals.

Theoretical extensions of Skinner's verbal behavior that emphasize derived relational responding (stimulus equivalence, relational frame theory, and bidirectional naming) can improve the complexity and scope of applied behavior-analytic training models with children. We evaluated the prevalence and content of empirical research on derived relational responding in children within 8 major applied behavior-analytic journals. We identified 123 empirical articles that met all inclusion criteria (i.e., they demonstrated derived relational responding in children). Whereas prior citation analyses have shown higher rates of research with adult participants, considerable research within these journals has involved child participants. In addition, 55% of the research targeted socially relevant or culturally established verbal relations, rather than culturally arbitrary relations (e.g., unknown symbols, consonant-vowel-consonant combinations) that are unlikely to affect real-world behavior. Generalization and transformation tests were also present in 47% of articles. We also conducted a content analysis of all articles that contained culturally relevant relations and demonstrated generalization or transformation of stimulus function (21% of all articles, N = 26); we argue that studies that meet these criteria are likely to be the most immediately impactful for learners. Results suggest that future research is needed to evaluate relational frames other than coordination (e.g., distinction, opposition), as well as to extend considerably the complexity of target relational classes and transformations of stimulus function with children.

A Parametric Analysis of a Protocol to Induce Bidirectional Naming: Effects of Protocol Intensity

Researchers have identified protocols to induce verbal behavior cusps and capabilities that put an individual’s repertoires in contact with new contingencies and allows the individual to learn in new ways; however, little is known about the relationship between different intensities (i.e., doses) of the protocols and inducing important repertoires. The Intensive Tact Instruction (ITI) has been found to reliably induce Bidirectional Naming (BiN), a capability whereby an individual is able to function simultaneously as a speaker and a listener, to acquire language incidentally after exposure to word–object relations in the environment. We matched eight participants into four dyads and participants in dyads experienced different intensities of the ITI protocol. The full intensity protocol included 100 additional tact learning opportunities each day and the accelerated intensity included 50 daily learning opportunities. We found varied results dependent on a participant’s degree of BiN at the onset of the intervention. Participants with Unidirectional Naming (UniN) acquired BiN under both intensities, but participants in the accelerated condition did so with fewer learning opportunities, suggesting the efficiency of the accelerated protocol. Students that demonstrated No-incidental Naming (NiN) demonstrated mixed results from the intervention, regardless of intervention intensity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

The Emergence of Bidirectional Naming Through Sequential Operant Instruction Following the Establishment of Conditioned Social Reinforcers.

Bidirectional naming (BiN) is the integration of speaker and listener responses, reinforced by social consequences. Unfortunately, these consequences often do not function as reinforcers for behavior in children with autism. Accordingly, the repertoire of BiN is also often limited in these children. Previous research has suggested that so-called multiple-exemplar instruction, a rotation between different speaker and listener operants, may be necessary to establish BiN. The present experiment aimed to investigate whether sequential operant instruction might also work as a successful intervention to improve BiN skills after the establishment of standard social reinforcers. Standard social reinforcers were identified and established through an operant-discrimination training procedure in 4 participating children with an autism spectrum diagnosis. In the present experiment, all participants showed increased BiN after sequential operant instruction with conditioned social reinforcers contingent on relevant operants. Two of 4 participants acquired BiN skills. Moreover, the remaining 2 participants scored within the mastery criterion on listener responses, and 1 of them also met the criterion on the tact probes. Essential characteristics of an intervention, as well as the role of the echoic in the emission of BiN, are discussed.

The importance of multiple exemplar instruction in the establishment of novel verbal behavior.

According to traditional linguistic accounts language, and its generative nature, cannot be taught. From a behavior analytic perspective, language is like any other behavior; it is learned and amenable to change. Based upon Skinner's radical behavioral analysis of verbal behavior, specific procedures have been designed to promote novel verbal relations. However, despite the strength and utility of this approach, using behavioral principles to understand the generativity of language has been challenging. Dependent upon the specific theory (e.g., stimulus equivalence, relational frame theory, bidirectional naming) within the radical behavioral orientation, researchers arrange unique procedures to evaluate the variables responsible for this phenomenon. This paper presents the commonalities and differences of two procedures (i.e., multiple exemplar training, multiple exemplar instruction) with examples of research highlighting the use of both in producing generativity. Further, it describes how multiple exemplar instruction is independent from other procedures leading to this outcome, and concludes by providing recommendations for both research and practice.

Mastery of Echoics in Chinese Establishes Bidirectional Naming in Chinese for Preschoolers with Naming in English.

The onset of the verbal behavior developmental cusp of bidirectional naming (BiN) in a second language makes it possible for monolingual English-speaking children to learn names of things in a second language incidentally. We conducted 2 experiments to identify why monolingual English-speaking children cannot demonstrate BiN in another language when they demonstrated BiN in their native language. In Experiment I, using a group design (n = 32 preschoolers), we identified Chinese speech sounds that monolingual English-speaking children with BiN in English for familiar stimuli could not echo. In Experiment II, using a multiple-probe design, we investigated if mastery of echoics with the speech sounds identified in Experiment I would result in BiN in Chinese with 6 participants from Experiment I. The dependent variable was untaught responses to the probe stimuli presented following the naming experience based on the echoic stimuli from Experiment I. The results showed that echoic training was functionally related to the establishment of BiN in the second language. It appeared that the emission of accurate echoics might be the key to second-language BiN and that emergent correspondence between producing and hearing that occurs with the mastery of the echoic responding may be the source of reinforcement.

Problem-solving, bidirectional naming, and the development of verbal repertoires.

We often solve problems by engaging in mediating strategies, such as talking to ourselves. In order to accurately use and respond to these strategies, we must “understand” or react appropriately to the products of our own verbal behavior. The term bidirectional naming has been used to describe the i

Deconstructing Common Bidirectional Naming: A Proposed Classification Framework.

Conceptually, the use of the technical term naming appears to be a broad term that describes several subtypes of emergent verbal behavior. Miguel (The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 32, 125-138, Miguel, 2016) introduces the concept of subtypes of naming, specifically common bidirectional naming and intraverbal bidirectional naming. He defines common bidirectional naming as "the process of different stimuli evoking the same speaker and listener behaviour and becoming members of the same class" (p. 130). A review of the literature on common bidirectional naming yielded some ambiguities related to differences in how researchers in the field defined naming. This article suggests that common bidirectional naming may be further dissected to yield six subtypes of naming. We aligned previous research on emergent verbal behavior with a unified taxonomy as part of a larger proposed classification framework on naming. The impact of identifying the subtypes of common bidirectional naming on skill acquisition and curriculum design is discussed. Finally, recommendations are made for future research based on this framework.

Transitivity as Skinnerian problem solving controlled by self-constructed relational stimuli.

In tests of the derivation of complex relations such as transitivity, extant cues might fail to evoke effective responding, necessitating the construction of supplemental stimuli prior to their solution. The significance of this process was investigated by within-subject manipulation of an instructional variable designed to produce different levels of construction of supplemental stimulation concerning relationships among stimulus elements of concatenated conditional discriminations. In two experimental sessions, serial training of three 5-member stimulus classes occurred, either with the instruction to simply name the component stimuli or to both name them and generate a tale serially linking the stimuli named; such constructed stimuli might be spontaneously reconstructed by precurrent acts in subsequent tests of "emergent" relations. Participants whose supplemental stimulus construction at the first session was limited to name-giving derived significantly more relations when, in training at session two, they generated tales linking stimulus elements; this same near-errorless derivation was obtained at the first session whenever relational stimuli beyond bidirectional naming were constructed. In some cases the uninstructed construction of supplementary relational stimuli occurred at the first session, to equivalent effect; such construction might constitute a typically unobserved component of the derivation of relations among stimulus elements entailed in multiple conditional discriminations.

Emergência de nomeação bidirecional em criança com implante coclear via Instrução com Múltiplos Exemplares (MEI)

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar o número de exposições necessárias ao procedimento de Instrução com Múltiplos exemplares (MEI) para a emergência do repertório de nomeação bidirecional em uma menina de 13 anos com implante coclear há 1 ano. O estudo foi delineado com três conjuntos de cinco figuras como estímulos visuais e seus respectivos nomes como estímulos auditivos em quatro fases: 1) avaliação dos repertórios de falante e ouvinte; 2) treino de ouvinte e teste de nomeação bidirecional; 3) treino de MEI; 4) novo teste de nomeação bidirecional. Com os conjuntos de estímulos 1 e 2, o treino de ouvinte não garantiu a emergência de tato; o tato somente foi obtido após o MEI, que, ao longo de sucessivas sessões, sobrepôs as porcentagens de acertos de ouvinte (mais altas) com as de tato (mais baixas) após duas exposições. O treino de ouvinte foi suficiente para a emergência de tato com o conjunto 3 após a exposição ao MEI com dois conjuntos de estímulos. Discute-se que o MEI favoreceu o controle compartilhado de estímulos e a emergência da nomeação bidirecional (ouvir e apontar figura; nomear a figura com topografia vocal com correspondência pontual à ouvida).