Establishing a generalized autoclitic repertoire in preschool children

Skinner's (1957) analysis of language presents the notion of secondary verbal behavior, some of which is termed "autoclitic." These kinds of verbal responses are dependent upon primary verbal behavior and are controlled by some feature of the primary verbal relationship (e.g., mand, tact, etc.). In this study preschool children were trained to make autoclitic responses evoked by the weakness of the relation controlling a primary tact response. A method for training tacting of private events known as "public accompaniment" was utilized. Theoretical issues related to the nature of autoclitic behavior as well as practical concerns for training are discussed.