Verbal Behavior Analysis on Pronoun Use by a Child with Autism

Abstract

There are limited studies that outline prompt-based methods in teaching pronouns to children with autism. The Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) approach is a good fit for teaching pronouns because of its emphasis on the acquisition and correct usage of verbal operants used in social exchanges. This study investigated the effects of a VBA-based multicomponent package treatment (i.e., contingent reinforcement and textual and echoic prompts) on correct pronoun use by a child with autism using a multiple baseline across four stimulus sets design. The results demonstrated that the child's responses among four stimulus sets were variable, indicating the lack of confidence in effectiveness of the intervention. Evidence of the reliability of the dependent and independent variables was not demonstrated, and made conclusions very limited. However, the intervention possesses face and social validity, in light of social cognition problems faced by children with autism. Replication with adequate internal controls is suggested for future research.