Autistic Response Patterns to Wh- Questions across Explicit and Derived Intraverbal Relations

We extend the use of functional analysis technology to examine explicit and derived stimulus relations controlling the intraverbal behavior of speakers with autism spectrum disorder. First, we describe a pilot study designed to evaluate the relative control of reflexive, symmetrical, and transitive stimuli over the intraverbal repertoire of speakers with autism. We compared responding across intraverbal fill-ins and Wh- questions, but results were difficult to interpret due to methodological limitations and confounding variables. We then explain how we modified our procedures to enhance the validity of our primary experiment, a relational operant analysis conducted with 18 participants with autism. The aggregated results of these analyses show no meaningful differences across Wh- questions, while statistically significant differences were found across explicit and derived stimulus relations. These findings suggest that relational operant analyses can enhance the assessment of intraverbal responding through experimental manipulation. Implications for teaching Wh- questions and future areas of research are discussed.