Acquisition of mands and tacts with concurrent echoic training.

Tiffany Kodak & Andrea Clements. (2009) Acquisition of mands and tacts with concurrent echoic training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 839-843.

Previous studies have identified a number of effective teaching procedures to increase verbal behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. However, few studies have evaluated modifications of treatment procedures when children fail to acquire communication skills. In the present investigation, a 4-year-old boy with autism failed to acquire unprompted mands and tacts during mand-only and tact-only training. Results indicated that combining echoic training with mand or tact training increased unprompted manding and tacting.

DESCRIPTORS: echoic training, language acquisition, mand, tact, verbal behavior