Using Verbal Behavior Transfer Procedures to Increase Phonological Awareness

Verbal behavior is used when programming instruction for students with Autism to increase language repertoires and motivation to communicate. However, using verbal behavior to provide academic instruction is used less frequently. Reading is defined as the textual operant in Skinner’s 1957 analysis. The skills which lead to textual behavior such as phonological awareness have not received the attention that other non-verbal stimuli have received as an antecedent for evoking tacts. The current research uses ABAB design to determine the effectiveness of using verbal behavior transfer procedures to teach phonological awareness. · Echoic to Tact Transfer provides errorless phonological instruction.· Explicit 1:1 instruction with scheduled reinforcement was used.· Students possessed both an echoic and tact repertoire.· Sessions included target stimuli and previously mastered stimuli for instruction.