Training Intraverbal Naming to Establish Matching-to-Sample Performances

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Verbal Behavior

Background:

• Matching-to-sample (MTS) is a key task in behavioral research.
• Establishing complex stimulus control often involves visual and verbal components.
• The role of intraverbal training in establishing MTS is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if intraverbal naming training can establish visual-visual MTS performance.
• To assess if such training leads to arbitrary stimulus class formation.
• To determine if verbal behavior training alone is sufficient for MTS.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments utilized multiple-probe and multiple baseline designs.
• Participants learned to tact visual stimuli and then relate their names intraverbally.
• Trained intraverbals and visual-visual MTS performances were assessed.

Main Results:

• All participants successfully established visual-visual MTS performances post-training.
• Participants accurately emitted trained intraverbals during MTS tasks.
• The training established bi-directional intraverbals and symmetry in MTS.

Conclusions:

• Intraverbal naming training is sufficient to establish visual-visual MTS.
• Verbal behavior training can serve as a sole method for establishing complex stimulus control.
• Findings have implications for language acquisition and educational strategies.