Horne, P. J., Lowe, C. F., & Randle, V. R. L. (2004).
Naming and categorization in young children: II. Listener behavior training.
Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
81, 267-288.
Following pretraining with everyday objects, 1- to 4-year-old children
received listener training with three pairs of arbitrary stimuli of
differing shapes. For each pair, 9 children were trained to select
one stimulus in response to the spoken word /zog/ and the other to
the spoken word /vek/. Next, in the look-at-sample category match-to-sample
test, none categorized the six stimuli correctly when asked to look at the
sample before selecting from five comparisons. Seven of these children
failed a subsequent test of corresponding speaker behavior (tact test);
following tact training, 5 of them passed either a repeat of the look-at-sample
category test (2 subjects) or an alternative category test (3 subjects) in
which they were required to tact the sample before selecting comparisons.
The remaining 2 failed both category tests. Of the 2 who passed the tact
test, 1 passed the tact-sample category test; the other failed to complete
category testing. Two children were next given a second stimulus set. One
passed the look-at-sample category test and the tact test; the other failed
both tests but passed the tact-sample category test after tact training.
The results show that 1- to 4-year-old children may learn listener behavior
without corresponding speaker behavior. The results also show that common
listener behavior is not sufficient to establish arbitrary stimulus classes,
and they are consistent with the proposition that naming may be necessary for
categorization of such stimuli.
Key words: naming, listener behavior, categorization, stimulus
classes, tacting, category match to sample, children