Manding
Contents
- Teaching Mands Using a Pivotal Response Procedure
- Pivotal Response Training to Increase Manding
- A Comparison of Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing to Increase Functional Mands
- Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing
- Vocal Manding
- Contriving Motivation to Increase Mands for Missing Items
- Mand Training with Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent
- Pivotal Response Training to Increase Vocal Manding
Teaching Mands Using a Pivotal Response Procedure
Mindy Newhouse (2012)
Abstract
This project consists of a two-part procedure based on a pivotal response training model. The first part focuses on shaping vocalizations into words. The child is brought into a preferred area and is allowed to approach any one of a variety of reinforcers. Once the child approaches a preferred item, the tutor blocks access to the item and says, “What do you want?” The tutor then says the name of the item five times in a row. Access to the preferred item is contingents on the child’s vocalization. Initially, any vocalization results in access to the item. The tutor reinforces successive approximations to the target vocalizations to shape whole words. One the child begins vocalizing whole words or whole word-approximations then the second part of the procedure begins. The second part involves systematically fading the numbers of prompts until the child is independently vocally manding for reinforcers.
Keywords
manding, social language, pivotal response training, vocalizations
Materials
Pivotal Response Training to Increase Manding
Alyssa (McElroy) Jewett (2013)
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to increase independent manding and motivation for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders by implementing a pivotal response model used by Koegel and Koegel. Manding is a behavior analytic term for a verbal request made by a person. The outcome of this behavior is receiving the requested item. Manding is identified as a pivotal behavior because an improvement in this behavior will positively affect a variety of other behaviors (Koegel & Koegel, 1999). The procedure took place in a naturalistic environment to increase the child’s motivation and used a shaping method to increase successive vocal approximations to the mand. Vocal prompts were used and faded as the children progress through the procedure. This intervention may provide the behavior analytic community with more precise information about the pivotal response procedure that increases the pivotal behavior of independent manding as well as increased motivation so that more appropriate skills can be learned. The data showed an increase in the child’s approximations to several words that function as requests. This ultimate goal is for the child to independently use these words to request desired items and activities.
Keywords
pivotal response training, manding, social language
Materials
A Comparison of Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing to Increase Functional Mands
Colette Gillis (2014)
Abstract
Stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) procedures with a direct reinforcement (DR) component have been shown to increase functional mands for targeted items (Yoon & Bennett, 1998). This study continued to assess previous research of a modified SSP procedure with a DR component to increase independent vocal mands among children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In addition, this study compared the effects of different number of pairings during the SSP training by recording the frequency of spontaneous emissions of the target vocalizations. Two different reinforcers were used for each participant. One was paired on a 5:1 vocalization to pairing ratio and the other on a 1:1 ratio. Following each 5 minute pairing session, there was a 5-minute DR component, where any emission of the target vocalization resulted in immediate delivery of the reinforcer. The results of the procedure were that the participants achieved mastery more quickly with the reinforcers that were paired on a 5:1 ratio. These data showed that in order for SSP to be effective, a 5:1 ratio presumably should be used. The DR component continues to increase the frequency of independent mands for a particular reinforcer.
Stimulus-Stimulus Pairings
Courtney June (2013)
Abstract
Stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) has been found to increase specific vocal responding in children with developmental disabilities, while direct reinforcement (DR) consistently increases responding of behaviors that which the reinforcer follows. The combination of SSP and DR have been shown to be effective when working with children with developmental disabilities in Fronapfel’s (2012) dissertation, and the current study is a direct replication. In this replicated study, the participants included a three year old child with a speech delay enrolled in an Early Childhood Special Education classroom. Participants were included if they demonstrated certain phonemes that occurred less than 30% of the time within a 7 minute interval during daily procedures (baseline). The phonemes that occurred at a minimal frequency specified were focused on by requiring the students to mand for a reinforcer that included the specific phoneme. The reason phonemes that occurred below 30% of the time were chosen, is because there is shown to be an increase. Phonemes that already occur above the 30% mark, don’t show an increase. For example, if a child said “buh” during baseline less than 30% of the time, “buh” may be required as a vocalization in order to obtain “banana” if it was a reinforcer for that child. Results showed there was an immediate increase in vocal responding in the participants in the first training session
Keywords
Vocal mands, direct reinforcement, stimulus-stimulus pairing, phonemes
Materials
Vocal Manding
Jennifer (Bulow) Bassett (2015)
Abstract
Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder often show delays in developing a manding repertoire. Previous research has used various methods to increase manding. Some of these include the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the use of an interrupted chain procedure. The purpose of this study was to use a prompt fading procedure described by Bourret, Vollmer, and Rapp (2004) to increase independent vocal manding in a young boy diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The setting was an early intervention classroom for children with Autism and other developmental delays. The expected results of this intervention are to see an increase in vocal manding for selected highly preferred reinforcers. This study will contribute to the current knowledge of training mands in the behavior analysis community and help to provide a procedure for training vocal mands for children in the early intervention classroom.
Contriving Motivation to Increase Mands for Missing Items
Jeremy Walker (2014)
Abstract
The concept of transitive conditioned motivating operations (Michael, 1988) has demonstrated significant utility in teaching mands, or requests, to individuals with developmental disabilities. In the present study, an interrupted chain procedure was used to teach independent mands for missing items to children with autism. Two four-year-old boys with autism participated in the study. Motivation was contrived by removing items needed to complete reinforcing activities. During the training phase, mands were taught for missing items at the point of interruption using an echoic-to-mand transfer protocol with time delay. Following training, probes were conducted to assess independent manding for the same items under novel conditions (different technicians, settings, materials). Results suggest that independent mands for missing items were acquired during training sessions for one of the participants.
Keywords
motivation, manding, missing items
Materials
Mand Training with Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent
Joseph McDonald (2015)
Abstract
Among the greatest challenges in establishing a verbal repertoire in children diagnosed with autism is the establishment of vocal imitation. Many children never receive the intensive training and resources necessary for early intervention. This makes special research projects in echoic and mand training especially valuable. In the present study, the researchers combined the use of established strategies in order to find new information about the combined use of these strategies for early intervention in vocal imitation. Although basic mand training procedures have been shown to be an important first step in shaping vocalizations (Drash et. al., 1999), it has also been demonstrated that children with extensive fine and gross motor imitative repertoires benefit greatly from the rapid motor imitation antecedent procedure (Greer et. al., 2003). The present study integrated these proven techniques to evaluate the effects of such a treatment package on the vocal repertoires of two children with previously established motor imitation repertoires in a classroom designed for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. The following utilized a pre-post design and a discrete trial training methodology and recording format. The results indicated failure of the intervention package to significantly affect the frequency or accuracy of echoic behavior during probe sessions, though a significant increase in the frequency of independent mands was demonstrated. These findings may have implications for the way we approach the treatment of verbal delays in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Keywords
manding, motor imitation, imitation, social language
Materials
Pivotal Response Training to Increase Vocal Manding
Kelsey Murphy (2013)
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to evaluate an alternative way to increase vocal manding (i.e., requesting) in children who were previously using only the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for manding. The present study will use an AB design, combining the PECS protocol with Pivotal Response Training to teach independent vocal manding. For the purpose of this study, independent variables were as follows: independent manding, tantrums, and disruptions. The goal of this research study was to increase independent vocal manding while decreasing problem behavior following the implementation of pivotal response training. The results of the project yielded positive effect both children. One participant acquired several new words in her manding repertoire while the other acquired manding for locations that were out of sight.
Keywords
manding, pivotal response training, picture exchange, PECS