The Effect of Preference on the Acquisition of Echoics and Transfer Across Verbal Operants

Previous studies have shown that participants' preferences for stimuli can affect the acquisition of mands and tacts. However, no studies have evaluated the effect of preference on echoics. In the current study, three preschoolers with autism were taught to echo words associated with preferred and neutral stimuli. We also conducted mand and tact probes to test for transfer of echoic responses across verbal operants. Participants demonstrated correct echoic responding under both preferred and neutral stimulus conditions, though responding met the mastery criterion sooner under the preferred condition for two of the three participants. The mand and tact probe results did not differ across conditions-tacts emerged across conditions, while mands did not. These findings extend prior research assessing the effect of preference on verbal behavior acquisition and transfer across verbal operants. We provide recommendations on the selection of stimuli for teaching echoics to children with autism.