Will be crossed referenced through turn it in and course hero for plagiarism.
Readd Paragraph. Answer questions.
Question 1
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of errorless teaching, prompt delay, reinforcement, and multiple exemplar training on the acquisition, generalization, maintenance, and independent use of a problem‐solving strategy that involved a textual/pictorial activity schedule with four adolescents with ASD.
Answer the following questions: SIMPLE SENTENCES
a) What is/are the independent variable(s)
b) What is/are the dependent variable(s)
c) Who are the participants
d). Write a demonstration research question
e) Write a parametric research question
Question 2 (SIMPLE SENTENCES)
1. Read Wu et al. (2019) and answer the following questions. (ATTACTHED)
a) What is/are the dependent variable(s)?
b) What is/are the independent variable(s)?
c) Who is the population?
d) Describe the IOA collection and results. Did IOA help the experimenters adjust any errors?
e) What design was used?
Comparing mand training and other instructional methods
to teach a foreign language
WAI-LING WU, SARAH A. LECHAGO AND LISA A. RETTIG
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON–CLEAR LAKE
The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of mand, tact, and native-to-foreign
(NFI) and foreign-to-native (FNI) intraverbal training on the acquisition of a foreign language.
We used a multiple-baseline design across participants with an embedded adapted alternating
treatments design to compare the effects of mand training, tact training, NFI training, and FNI
training on the acquisition rate of Chinese words in four typically developing adults. We also
examined the emergence of untrained foreign language responses for each training condition.
Data for 3 out of the 4 participants suggest that mand training was the most efficient training
procedure with respect to acquisition rate. The greatest amount of emergent responding was
observed for the mand and tact training conditions.
Key words: foreign language, mand training, emergent behavior, intraverbal, verbal behavior
Demonstrating fluency in more than one
language is valuable in an increasingly global-
ized world (European Union, 2012). Published
research suggests multiple benefits to learning a
foreign language, including superior communi-
cation skills and improved academic perfor-
mance (National Education Association, 2007).
For example, 50% of all companies globally
want applicants to be fluent in a foreign lan-
guage (Kassteen, 2014). The American Council
on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (n.d.)
has compiled multiple research studies to show
three major areas of benefits from learning a
second language. First, learning a foreign lan-
guage can improve academic achievement,
including improved performance on standard-
ized tests and higher academic performance at
the college level. Second, individuals who learn
a foreign language exhibit better cognitive per-
formance (e.g., problem solving; flexible and
effective responding in unexpected circum-
stances) compared to their monolingual coun-
terparts. Third, those who learn a foreign
language also show more positive attitudes
toward other cultures as compared to their
monolingual counterparts.
Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior
involves a functional classification of language.
Verbal behavior is categorized based on the
antecedent stimuli that influence its emission
and the consequences that maintain it. Foreign
language teaching based on Skinner’s verbal
behavior entails manipulation of environmental
variables that influence language. In a tact rela-
tion, the response is under the control of the
physical properties of the environment and a
learner names an object or a picture using the
second language. For example, a child who is
learning to speak Chinese may see an airplane
in the sky and say “fei ji,” which is the Chinese
word for airplane. With an intraverbal relation,
one may translate the native word into the
foreign-language word and vice versa. For
example, a teacher in a classroom may ask stu-
dents, “How do you say airplane in Chinese?”
to which the students would reply, “fei ji.”
Conversely, the teacher may ask the students,
“What is fei ji in English?” to which the stu-
dents would reply, “airplane.” When a learner
identifies (points to or physically interacts with)
an object or picture when presented with a
Address correspondence to: Sarah Lechago, Ph.D.,
BCBA-D, University of Houston-Clear Lake, 2300 Bay
Area Boulevard, Houston TX, 77058. Email:
lechago@uhcl.edu
doi: 10.1002/jaba.564
JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS 2019, 52,
652
–666 NUMBER 3 (SUMMER)
© 2019 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
652
foreign word, this relation would be described
as listener behavior. For example, a student
would point to a toy airplane when the teacher
asks them to find “fei ji.” Often times, when
teaching typically developing individuals, when
one relation is directly trained (e.g., tact),
another relation may emerge in the absence of
direct training (e.g., intraverbal; Petursdottir &
Haflidadottir, 2009). Emergence of untrained
responses leads to the acquisition of more tar-
gets with fewer resources and less time
required. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior
and contemporary analyses of generative
responding (Miguel, 2016) have much to offer
regarding the teaching of a foreign language.
There is a limited, but growing, body of
behavior analytic research on teaching foreign
languages. Petursdottir, Olafsdottir, and
Aradottir (2008) conducted a study with four
typically developing children, whose native lan-
guage was Icelandic. The experimenters taught
two participants to tact objects in Spanish and
two other participants to identify stimuli when
dictated a word in Spanish (listener training).
After training, intraverbal relations were probed
for all four participants. One intraverbal assess-
ment involved the participants translating a
word from Icelandic to Spanish (e.g., saying
[Spanish word], when hearing “What is [Icelan-
dic word] in Spanish?”), and the other
intraverbal probe involved the participants
translating Spanish to Icelandic (e.g. saying
[Icelandic word] when hearing “What is [Span-
ish word] in Icelandic?”). One participant, who
received listener training, consistently emitted
more foreign-to-native intraverbals (Spanish-
Icelandic; FNI) than native-to-foreign intra-
verbals (Icelandic-Spanish; NFI). Another par-
ticipant, who received tact training, emitted
more NFI intraverbals than FNI intraverbals.
The two other participants responded similarly
using both types of intraverbals. Overall, the
results indicated that tact training required
more trials to reach mastery as compared to lis-
tener training. However, tact training resulted
in a greater emergence of intraverbal
responding as compared to listener training.
In a subsequent study, Petursdottir and
Haflidadottir (2009) directly compared the four
teaching strategies previously examined, namely
listener training, tact training, FNI training,
and NFI training with two typically developing
children as participants. The experimenters
employed a multiple-baseline design across par-
ticipants with an embedded adapted alternating
treatments design. Prior to training a particular
relation (e.g., tact), the experimenters also
assessed participants’ performance on the three
nontraining relations (e.g., listener responses,
NFI, and FNI). After directly training one rela-
tion, the experimenters conducted posttests for
the emergence of the three remaining untrained
relations. For example, after completing tact
training with Set B, they conducted listener
and both types of intraverbal posttests with Set
B. The authors also included a control set of
target words, for which no training was con-
ducted. The results demonstrated that the rate
of acquisition was lowest during the NFI train-
ing condition. The tact and listener training
conditions resulted in the greatest amount of
emergent responding (largest number of
untrained responses); however, during many of
these probe sessions, responding did not reach
the 80% mastery criterion. There were a couple
of limitations to this study. For one of the par-
ticipants, responding during the two intraverbal
conditions was not trained to mastery before
posttests were conducted. This may be one rea-
son why there was a lack of emergence of other
relations (tact, listener, and untrained
intraverbal) for the sets that were trained using
intraverbal relations. Second, only two partici-
pants were included in the study and the results
were variable, which limited the number of rep-
lications. Despite these limitations, this study
did much to advance a behavior analytic
approach to foreign language training.
More recently, Dounavi (2014) compared
the effects of tact training, NFI, and FNI, with
653MAND TRAINING TO TEACH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
two typically developing adults. Each partici-
pant received tact training for two sets of words
and intraverbal training for two different sets.
Dounavi used pre- and posttests to examine the
emergence of untrained responses. Tact train-
ing, in which participants emitted the foreign
word in the presence of a picture, and NFI
training, in which participants emitted the for-
eign word after its native equivalent was dic-
tated, resulted in emergent responding of the
untrained operants to the mastery criterion. For
example, if tact training was conducted, emer-
gent responding to the mastery criterion for
both types of intraverbal responding (NFI and
FNI) was observed, and if NFI training was
conducted, emergent responding to the mastery
criterion for tacts and FNI was observed. For
both participants, tact and NFI responding did
not emerge to criteria after FNI training. The
results of this study indicate that the NFI train-
ing was the most efficient method of training
in terms of acquisition rate. However, only
FNI relations were probed during pretests.
Thus, there was no direct comparison between
pre- and posttests for NFI for any of the
training sets.
In the aforementioned studies, tact training,
listener response training, and two types of
intraverbal training were compared in terms of
efficiency and efficacy. To date, mand training
has not been included in any foreign language
acquisition study. Mands are verbal relations
whose form is under the control of motivating
operations (MO), and which typically specify
the reinforcer (Skinner, 1957). In 2001,
Sundberg and Michael recommended initiating
verbal behavior training with individuals with
autism by teaching mands due to the multiple
benefits it brings to the speaker. Some of the
benefits include obtaining desired items, having
the speaker’s needs met by a listener, and mak-
ing language immediately relevant to the
speaker. Additionally, research with individuals
with autism has shown that mand training pro-
duces a greater emergence of tacts and other
verbal operants, as compared to the emergence
of untrained mands after teaching a different
verbal operant (Lamarre & Holland, 1985).
Based on this recommendation, the present
study examined the effects of mand training on
the acquisition of foreign language words. The
mand training condition of the current study
sought to approximate real-life scenarios. We
were interested in employing a practical
approach to training that considered contextu-
ally relevant variables (e.g., asking for food and
targeting common items), as current research
has been supporting the use of real-life or con-
textually relevant scenarios when teaching a for-
eign language (Balcikanli, 2017; Ho, Hsieh,
Sun, & Chen, 2017).
In the current study, we compared the
effects of mand training, tact training, FNI
training, and NFI training, as described by Pet-
ursdottir and Haflidadottir (2009), on the
acquisition of Chinese words in typically devel-
oping adults. Additionally, we assessed for the
emergence of the three untrained operants
across all four training conditions.
METHOD
Participants and Setting
Four native English speaking adults partici-
pated in this study. Jesus was a 26-year-old
man with a high school diploma, and Eobard
and Kip were both 26-year-old men with bach-
elor’s degrees. Lily was a 23-year-old woman
who held a bachelor’s degree. Participants were
recruited from college campuses and the local
community. None of the participants had a his-
tory of receiving formal instruction in Manda-
rin Chinese, nor did they hear Mandarin
Chinese on a regular basis. Participants were
monolingual, meaning they could communi-
cate fluently in only one language. Participants
reported that they did not have any language or
developmental delays.
All experimental sessions were conducted at
a table with two chairs. Jesus’ and Lily’s
WAI-LING WU et al.654
sessions were conducted at the university-based
clinic, and Eobard’s and Kip’s sessions were
conducted in their homes. Clinic rooms were
approximately 5 m by 3 m, and only materials
required to complete the session were available.
In the participants’ homes, all objects within
1.5 m of the table and not used for sessions
were cleared away, and only required materials
remained within 1.5 m of the table. Only the
participant and the first author were present
during sessions. Sessions lasted approximately
5 min each, with 10-12 sessions conducted per
day, at least one time per week for 3-5 weeks
per participant. All sessions were videotaped for
data collection purposes.
Materials
The experimenter used five sets of stimuli
for each participant. Each set included three
target words (e.g., Xing Pian [chips], La Jiang
[salsa], and Cha Zi [fork]). Each set was
assigned to an experimental condition (mand,
tact, NFI, FNI, and control), for a total of
15 targets per participant. Please refer to
Table 1 for the assignments of words to each
experimental condition for all four participants.
Stimuli were selected based on a questionnaire
and an informal interview that were adminis-
tered to the participant prior to the experimen-
tal sessions. The questionnaire instructed the
participant to list preferred foods. In an effort
to control for response effort across the training
conditions, each Chinese word contained the
same number of syllables within and across
stimuli sets for each participant, and the sylla-
bles were audibly distinct from each other.
Other materials included corresponding items,
which are listed in Table 1.
Dependent Variable and Response
Measurement
A correct response was recorded if the partic-
ipant responded within 5 s of the presentation
of a stimulus. An incorrect response was
recorded if the participant responded with the
incorrect name of an object, or if they did not
respond within 5 s of the presentation of a
stimulus. A correct mand consisted of the
appropriate topography emitted within 5 s of
contriving the MO (e.g., participant saying “pu
tao” for grape, when grape was withheld during
meal times). A correct tact consisted of the
appropriate topography emitted within 5 s of
the presentation of the object (e.g., participant
says “pu tao” within 5 s of a grape presented
on the table in front of him and the question,
“What is it?”). A correct intraverbal consisted
of emission of the corresponding word in the
native or foreign language, depending on the
condition, within 5 s of the presentation of the
Table 1
Target Words per Condition
Name Mand Tact NFI FNI Control
Jesus Bread (Mian Bao) Scissors (Jian Dao) Stirrer (Jiao Ban) Fork (Cha Zi) Juice (Guo Zhi)
PB (Hua Sheng) Spoon (Tiao Gen) Creamer (Nai Jing) Knife (Dao Zi) Straw (Xi Guan)
Plate (Pan Zi) Bowl (Xiao Wan) Sugar (Bai Tang) Syrup (Tang Jiang) Wipes (Zhi Jing)
Eobard Cracker (Bing Gan) Oreo (Jia Xing) Chips (Shu Pian) Jelly (Guo Jiang) Tortilla (Da Bing)
PB (Hua Sheng) Milk (Niu Nai) Salsa (La Jiang) Bread (Mian Bao) Fork (Cha Zi)
Honey (Feng Mi) Cup (Zhi Bei) Spoon (Tang Chi) Knife (Dao Zi) Plate (Xiao Pan)
Kip Chips (Xing Pian) Bagel (Ji Bing) Pretzels (Cui Bing) Crackers (Bing Gan) Toothpick (Ya Qian)
Salsa (La Jiang) Plate (Can Pan) Chs Dip (Lu Lao) PB (Hua Sheng) Chs C (Gan Lao)
Fork (Cha Zi) Crm Chs (Nai You) Spoon (Tang Chi) Knife (Xiao Dao) Grape (Pu Tao)
Lily Bagel (Ji Bing) Chip (Xing Pian) Apples (Ping Guo) Banana (Xiang Jiao) Cereal (Gu Pian)
Crm Chs (Nai You) Salsa (La Jiang) PB (Hua Sheng) Plate (Can Pan) Milk (Niu Nai)
Knife (Xiao Dao) Fork (Cha Zi) Spoon (Tang Chi) Bread (Mian Bao) Bowl (Da Wan)
Note. PB = Peanut Butter, Chs = Cheese, C = Cube, Crm = Cream
655MAND TRAINING TO TEACH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
question (e.g., participant saying, “pu tao”
when asked “What is the Chinese name for
grape?”). Self-corrections, such as initially
responding with the incorrect Chinese word
and then immediately following it with the cor-
rect Chinese word, were not accepted as correct
responses. The experimenter recorded correct
and incorrect responses for each trial using pen-
cil and paper.
For the purposes of this study, tonal differ-
ences in Chinese responses were not included
as a criterion in the operational definitions.
Different tones were accepted as correct as long
as the pronunciation matched the spelling of
the word and the number of syllables. Data
during all of the experimental conditions were
expressed as a percentage of correct responses
per session. The number of training trials
required to reach the mastery criterion were
also examined across training conditions.
Interobserver Agreement and Treatment
Integrity
A second data collector watched videos of
the sessions and independently collected inter-
observer and treatment integrity data on at least
40% of all pretraining probes, posttraining pro-
bes, baseline, and training sessions for each par-
ticipant. Interobserver agreement and treatment
integrity were calculated on a trial-by-trial basis,
in which the number of agreements was
divided by the number of agreements plus dis-
agreements and multiplied by 100 to obtain a
percentage. If both observers scored a trial in
the same way, it was considered an agreement.
If the observers scored a trial differently, it was
considered a disagreement. For pretests and
baseline, the interobserver agreement was
100% for all four participants. During training,
interobserver agreement was 99% (range, 89%
to 100%) for Jesus, 100% for Eobard, 100%
for Kip, and 100% for Lily. For posttraining
probes, the interobserver agreement was 100%
for all four participants. Treatment integrity
data were collected on the correct presentation
of discriminative stimuli (e.g., “Name the item
in Chinese”), the correct delivery of prompts
(e.g., echoic prompt “la jiang”), and the correct
delivery of consequences per trial per experi-
mental condition. Mean treatment integrity
across all four participants was 93% (range,
60% to 100%) during pretests, 96% (range,
60% to 100%) during baseline, 98% (range,
80% to 100%) during training, and 94%
(range, 55% to 100%) during posttraining pro-
bes. Treatment integrity scores were low during
three sessions. The experimenter asked ques-
tions in the incorrect order in one intraverbal
pretest session, removed items in the incorrect
order in one mand training session, and lost
her place and had to re-present the question in
one intraverbal posttest session.
Pre-Experimental Conditions
Tact assessment. During the tact assessment,
the experimenter held up an object in front of
the participant and asked, “What is it?” The
participant was expected to respond with the
correct name of the object in English within
5 s of the question. This assessment was con-
ducted to ensure that the participant was not
learning to tact an object in English for the first
time during the tact sessions. The experimenter
also wanted to ensure that the participant and
the experimenter tacted objects using the same
word in English. Each item was presented one
at a time and one time, only. The mastery cri-
terion was one session with independent
responding at 100% accuracy.
Echoic assessment. During the echoic assess-
ment, the experimenter said, “Say [Chinese
word],” and the participant was expected to
repeat the Chinese word. This assessment was
conducted to ensure that the participant would
be able to imitate the word and that the echoic
prompts in later sessions would produce accu-
rate responding. The echoic assessment
included all the words that were targeted in the
WAI-LING WU et al.656
study. All participants were trained to respond
to the mastery criterion, as necessary. The mas-
tery criterion was one session with independent
responding at 100% accuracy.
Experimental Conditions
Pretraining probes. Pretraining probe sessions
were conducted prior to baseline. Each session
consisted of nine trials per relation, whereby
each of the three targets in a set was presented
three times. A total of 16 pretraining probe ses-
sions were conducted per participant (three ses-
sions for mand training, three sessions for tact
training, three sessions for NFI training, three
sessions for FNI training condition, and four
sessions for the control condition). Each of the
three pretraining probe sessions was only con-
ducted with the three relations that were not
targeted for training for a given set. For exam-
ple, if tact training was conducted using Set C
words, then pretraining probe sessions were
conducted for mand, NFI, and FNI responding
for Set C words. Note that pretraining probe
sessions were conducted with all four relations
(mand, tact, NFI, and FNI) for the control set.
At the end of each session, the experimenter
thanked the participant for completing the ses-
sion and provided a small token of food for
participating.
During the mand pretraining probe sessions,
objects were arranged so that the participants
had to request them in Chinese to complete a
particular action (Lechago, Carr, Grow, Love, &
Almason, 2010). At the start of the session, the
participants were provided with the following
instruction, “You must ask for the objects you
want in Chinese. If the object is back on my
side of the table, then you must ask for the
object again in order to access it again.” Partici-
pants were instructed not to eat for at least
three hours prior to all study sessions, in order
to enhance the value of food as a reinforcer and
to establish the motivation for the mand train-
ing condition. Items in the session were
presented on the table in front of the partici-
pant so that the participant could snack on
items. The experimenter manipulated the items
so that certain materials were needed to gain
access to the food. For example, chips and salsa
were placed in front of a participant, but the
salsa was in a half-filled jar with a narrow open-
ing such that a spoon was required to scoop
salsa out of the jar. The requested object was
delivered to the participant contingent upon a
correct response. Prompts were not provided
for incorrect responses. A statement of
acknowledgement was provided for incorrect or
no responses (e.g., “OK”).
At the start of the tact pretraining probe
sessions participants were given the following
instruction, “You will label in Chinese the
objects I present to you.” An object was held
at eye-level in front of the participant, and
the experimenter asked, “What is it?” There
were no programmed consequences for cor-
rect or incorrect responses, and prompts were
not provided during this condition. A state-
ment of acknowledgement was provided for
responses (e.g., “OK”).
In the NFI pretraining probe session, the
experimenter asked, “What is [English name
for object] in Chinese?” In the FNI pretraining
probe session, the experimenter asked, “What
is [Chinese name for object] in English?” There
were no programmed consequences for correct
or incorrect responses. A statement of acknowl-
edgement was provided for responses
(e.g., “OK”). Prompts were not provided dur-
ing this session. There were no objects within
the participant’s view during the intraverbal
sessions.
Baseline. Baseline sessions were procedurally
identical to the pretraining probe sessions,
except during baseline sessions, only those
words in the targeted training condition were
considered baseline probes. So, for example, if
tact training was conducted using Set C words,
then baseline testing for tacting Set C words
was conducted. Baseline sessions for each of the
657MAND TRAINING TO TEACH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
four training conditions (tact, mand, NFI,
FNI) were conducted prior to training with
each set. Each session consisted of nine trials,
whereby the three targets assigned to each
training condition were probed three times per
session. Baseline probes were randomized across
sessions such that targets were not presented in
a fixed sequence across sessions. At the end of
each condition, the experimenter thanked the
participant for completing the session and pro-
vided a small token of food, such as a chip with
salsa or a bite sized peanut butter and jelly
sandwich.
Training. All training trials were initiated in
a procedurally identical manner to baseline tri-
als, and then correct and incorrect responding
produced programmed consequences. Training
for a condition was considered complete when
the participant emitted independent correct
responses for 100% of the trials for two consec-
utive sessions. Training for a condition was ter-
minated if a participant did not show an
increase in independent correct responses for
five consecutive sessions. If a condition was
mastered before the others were mastered, the
experimenter stopped conducting training ses-
sions for that condition and continued training
in the other conditions until responding met
the mastery criterion for all of the conditions.
In the mand condition, praise and the
requested object were delivered contingent
upon a correct independent response. If the
participant emitted an incorrect response or did
not respond within 5 s of contriving the MO,
the experimenter provided a full echoic prompt
every 5 s until the participant provided a cor-
rect response. The experimenter would have
provided the echoic prompt up to three times
before terminating the trial and initiating a new
trial. However, all the participants responded
correctly after the first prompt. Prompted
responses resulted in the delivery of the object
without praise.
For the tact, NFI, and FNI training condi-
tions, the experimenter delivered praise
contingent upon a correct response (e.g., “You
got it!”). If the participant emitted an incorrect
response, or took longer than 5 s to emit the
response, the experimenter repeated the ques-
tion and provided an echoic prompt every 5 s
until the participant responded correctly. The
experimenter would have provided the echoic
prompt up to three times before terminating
the trial and initiating a new trial. However, all
the participants responded correctly after the
first prompt. Correct prompted responses
resulted in the experimenter providing a state-
ment of acknowledgement in a neutral tone
(e.g., “That’s the Chinese name for grape”).
Participants were provided with small amounts
of preferred food items at the end of the tact,
NFI, and FNI training sessions in order to con-
trol for potential reinforcer effects in the mand
training condition. No items were present dur-
ing NFI and FNI training conditions.
Posttraining probes. These sessions were con-
ducted after responding had met the mastery
criterion for all training conditions. These ses-
sions were procedurally identical to the pre-
training probe sessions.
Experimental Design
A multiple baseline across participants design
was employed to evaluate the rate of acquisition
of responding across the four training condi-
tions. An adapted alternating treatments design
was embedded into the training phase. The
order of the conditions was assigned randomly.
Pre- and posttraining probe results were com-
pared to examine the effects of each training
type on emergent responding.
RESULTS
Figure 1 displays the percentage of correct
responses for the targeted words across all four
training conditions for all participants. None of
the participants responded correctly during
baseline. The mand training condition required
the fewest number of trials to mastery for Jesus,
WAI-LING WU et al.658
Figure 1. The percentage of correct responses for the trained operants in baseline and training for each participant.
659MAND TRAINING TO TEACH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Eobard, and Lily. For Kip, the NFI training
condition required the fewest number trials to
mastery. Figures 2 and 3 display emergent
responses (i.e., untrained relations) across all
four training conditions and the control condi-
tion during pre- and postsession probes. None
of the participants responded correctly during
pretraining probes. The mand training condi-
tion produced the greatest amount of emergent
responding for Jesus. Mand and tact training
produced similar results on emergent relations
for Eobard and Lily (with tact condition pro-
ducing a slightly greater amount of emergent
NFI for Lily). For Kip, the tact training condi-
tion produced the greatest amount of emergent
responding.
During mand training, the number of ses-
sions to reach mastery for Jesus, Eobard, Kip,
Figure 2. Jesus’s and Eobard’s emergent responses in pretraining and posttraining probes.
WAI-LING WU et al.660
and Lily were eight, five, eight, and four,
respectively (Figure 1). During the posttraining
probes (Figure 2), Jesus responded with 100%
accuracy for tact, 89% accuracy for NFI, and
89% accuracy for FNI. Eobard responded with
100% accuracy for tact, NFI, and FNI. Kip
(Figure 3) responded with 33% accuracy for
tact and NFI, and 56% for FNI. Finally, Lily
responded with 100% accuracy for tact and
FNI, and 89% for NFI.
During tact training, the number of sessions
to reach mastery for Jesus, Eobard, Kip, and
Lily was eleven, six, eight, and seven, respec-
tively (Figure 1). During the posttraining pro-
bes (Figure 2), Jesus responded with 67%
accuracy for mand, 22% accuracy for NFI, and
100% accuracy for FNI. Eobard responded
with 100% for mand, NFI, and FNI. Kip
responded with 67% for mand and NFI, and
at 100% for FNI (Figure 3). Lily responded
Figure 3. Kip’s and Lily’s emergent responses in pretraining and posttraining probes.
661MAND TRAINING TO TEACH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
with 100% for mand, NFI, and FNI
(Figure 3).
During NFI training, the number of sessions
to reach mastery for Jesus, Eobard, Kip, and
Lily was fifteen, eight, five, and seven, respec-
tively (Figure 1). During the posttraining pro-
bes (Figure 2), Jesus did not emit any correct
responses for mand, tact, or FNI. Eobard
responded with 100% for tact and mand, and
89% for FNI (Figure 2). Kip responded with
22% for mand, 66% for tact, and 100% for
FNI (Figure 3). Lily responded with 100% for
mand, 67% for tact, and 100% for FNI
(Figure 3).
During FNI training, the number of sessions
to reach mastery for Jesus, Eobard, Kip, and
Lily was twelve, six, six, and five, respectively
(Figure 1). During the posttraining probes,
Jesus responded at 67% for mand, 11% for
tact, and 22% for NFI (Figure 2). Eobard
responded at 89% for mand, 44% for tact, and
100% for NFI (Figure 2). Kip responded at
56% for mand, and at 67% for tact and NFI
(Figure 3). Lily responded at 33% for mand
and NFI, and at 67% for tact (Figure 3).
As expected, there were no correct responses
during pre- and posttraining probes for the
control condition for Jesus, Eobard, or Kip.
Lily’s responding during the pretraining control
probes was at 0%, and her posttraining control
responding was at 0% for the mand, tact, and
NFI conditions and at 11% for the FNI
condition.
For Jesus, Eobard, and Lily, the mand condi-
tion was the most efficient training condition.
For Jesus and Eobard, the NFI condition was
the least efficient training condition, and the
FNI condition was the least efficient for Lily.
For Jesus, the mand condition produced the
greatest amount of emergent responding of
untrained operants. For Eobard, emergent
responding was greatest in the mand, tact, and
NFI conditions, and for Lily the mand and tact
training conditions produced the greatest
amount of emergent responding. For Kip, NFI
training required the fewest training trials for
responding to reach the mastery criterion, and
the mand and tact conditions required the
greatest number of training trials for
responding to reach mastery. Interestingly, tact
training produced the greatest amount of emer-
gent responding, while mand training produced
the least amount of emergent responding.
Overall, however, emergent responding was
lowest for Kip across conditions, especially
compared to Eobard and Lily.
DISCUSSION
The results of this study contribute to the
research literature on behavior-analytic
approaches to teaching a foreign language
(Dounavi, 2014; Petursdottir, & Haflidadottir,
2009; Petursdottir et al., 2008; Rosales,
Rehfeldt, & Lovett, 2011) by showing that for
three out of four participants, the mand train-
ing condition was the most efficient as mea-
sured by number of trials to the mastery
criterion. For three of the four participants, the
mand (Jesus, Eobard, Lily) and the tact
(Eobard, Kip, Lily) conditions produced the
greatest amount of emergent responding. These
results seem to support Sundberg and Michael’s
(2001) recommendation to initiate language
programs with mand training.
For Jesus, Eobard, and Lily, mand training
was the most efficient training condition. Jesus
and Eobard both stated that they liked that
they could see the targeted items during train-
ing sessions, stating a preference for both the
tact and mand training conditions over the
intraverbal training conditions. However, given
that the mand training produced faster acquisi-
tion for three participants, it may be important
to train under the influence of a relevant MO
(and not only with the stimulus present).
Kip learned the Chinese words fastest in the
NFI training condition. During training he
stated that two words, one targeted in the tact
training condition and one targeted in the NFI
WAI-LING WU et al.662
training condition, were his “favorite words”
and that they “sound cool.” One interpretation
of these outcomes is that the auditory stimuli
produced by saying the words functioned as an
automatic reinforcer (Vaughan & Michael,
1982), thereby increasing the likelihood of rele-
vant responding during language training
(e.g., covert echoic responding, overt or covert
repetition of the word during and between ses-
sions), contributing to a faster rate of acquisi-
tion during the NFI training condition. Kip
was a sophisticated speaker with a significant
learning history related to the words included
in the study. Another possibility is that when
the experimenter dictated the word in English,
he visualized the corresponding stimulus, effec-
tively pairing the English and Chinese words
with the stimulus (Miguel, 2018). This may
have enhanced his performance in the NFI
training condition.
The results show that NFI training required
the greatest number of training trials to reach
mastery for two participants. FNI training
resulted in the least amount of emergent
responding. These findings replicate the results
of previous studies (Dounavi, 2014; Pet-
ursdottir & Haflidadottir, 2009). Indeed, FNI
training required the participant to emit the
target response in English, and to only listen to
the Chinese word being spoken. Although it is
possible that the participants echoed the Chi-
nese word covertly during FNI training, there
were still fewer opportunities to emit the word
in Chinese and there was no direct reinforce-
ment for emitting the Chinese word, compared
to the other three training conditions which
required emission of the words in Chinese.
These results support Dounavi’s (2014) conclu-
sion that emergent responses are less likely to
occur after trainings that do not establish the
foreign word in the participant’s repertoire.
Tact and mand training conditions resulted
in the highest number of emergent responses,
followed by NFI training. It is possible that the
presence of the target item during mand and
tact training conditions may have strengthened
multiple relevant responses (Michael, Palmer, &
Sundberg, 2011). For example, it may be the
case that the presence of the target stimuli
strengthened nontargeted intraverbal responses
(e.g., “So, ‘pu tao’ is grape in Chinese.”) during
mand and tact training trials. These intraverbal
responses may have been inadvertently
reinforced during training trials. In generating
these intraverbals, the participants produced
auditory stimuli that would be common to the
intraverbal probe conditions, increasing the
likelihood of correct responding during the
intraverbal probe sessions. On the other hand,
there were features (visual stimuli and MO)
absent during intraverbal training conditions
that were present during mand and tact (visual
stimuli only) training conditions, perhaps
decreasing the likelihood of multiple control
over responding, and of responding during
posttraining probing sessions.
There are a few limitations to note about
this study. The target item was always within
view of the participant during mand training
and probe sessions. It is the case that in the
natural environment, desired or needed items
are often within view; however, many times
they are not. The items in this study were
never faded from the participant’s view, and as
such, it is hard to determine the generality of
the results of the mand training condition to
situations in which the desired item is out of
the individual’s view. It is likely that that these
responses were multiply controlled and were
functionally both tacts and mands (i.e., impure
operants; Skinner, 1957). However, most ver-
bal behavior is multiply controlled (Michael
et al., 2011), and because the most efficient
responding for three of the four participants
occurred in the mand training condition, this
highlights the importance of the MO in
foreign-language training. It may be prudent to
examine a mand training condition that
includes fading the item from the
participant’s view.
663MAND TRAINING TO TEACH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Food items were used as reinforcers for
responses only during mand training. Although
the experimenters attempted to control for a
potential reinforcer effect (i.e., that the superi-
ority of the mand training condition was attrib-
utable to the fact that preferred items were
delivered only during the mand training ses-
sions and not during the other training ses-
sions) by providing food to the participant at
the end of each session across all training con-
ditions, delivery of food in tact and intraverbal
training sessions was not contingent on correct
responses. It is possible that mand training was
the most efficient due to food being delivered
contingent on correct responses. Even though
this may represent an important limitation to
the current study, it supports the importance of
contriving or capturing relevant MOs during
foreign-language training. In future research,
the type and frequency of reinforcement should
be equated across training conditions.
Training sessions were presented in a one-
on-one teaching format, and the mand sessions
included activity chains that were individual-
ized for each participant based on preference.
This format may not reflect a typical foreign-
language training environment, which includes
online learning and foreign-language class-
rooms (National Education Association, 2007).
However, the mand training condition of this
study was structured to closely reflect scenarios
individuals may experience when traveling
abroad. For example, when an individual is vis-
iting a foreign country, manding for needed
and desired items and information
(e.g., directions to hotel, help reading a map,
etc.) is of critical importance. Future studies
should explore ways to incorporate mand train-
ing into a foreign-language classroom or an
online environment. Mand training can be
incorporated in a variety of ways that are ame-
nable to a group setting like social conversa-
tion, group activities, or games. However, it
should also be noted that an increasing amount
of research on foreign language instruction is
showing the efficacy of individualizing the
teaching experience through the use of tech-
nology (Ho et al., 2017), and individualizing
teaching plans or practices (Balcikanli, 2017;
Lysak & Martynyuk, 2017). In light of these
findings, behavior analysis is in a uniquely
strong position to contribute to the develop-
ment of individualized training programs.
We chose to overlook tonal differences in
responding and we did not address grammar,
syntax, or any other aspects of foreign language
training. It may be the case that mand and tact
training are most useful in establishing basic
vocabulary, but other methods are necessary to
establish complex and fluent foreign language
skills. However, manding, especially manding
for information, seems to be critical for com-
plex and fluent language skills as it constitutes
a common and significant part of conversa-
tional exchanges (e.g., “How is your family?”,
“How was your vacation?”, etc.).
This study did not examine a listener train-
ing condition, as was included in the Pet-
ursdottir and Haflidadottir (2009) study. Given
two of our participants’ stated preference for
the presence of a targeted object during train-
ing, and given the outcomes of previous
research, it is worth investigating the effects of
listener training compared to mand training.
Additionally, future research in this area should
examine the emergence of listener skills after
mand training, and vice versa.
There are multiple fruitful avenues for
research in foreign language instruction. Investi-
gators may consider examining a trial-by-trial
mixed relation training format similar to what
Sundberg and Partington (1998) recommended
for tact and listener training. This could entail
targeting and interspersing multiple relations
(tact, mands, intraverbals, listener) simulta-
neously during training. This may create a learn-
ing history whereby the learner relates to a given
stimulus as both a speaker and listener, thereby
increasing the probability of efficient responding
(Horne & Lowe, 1996; Miguel, 2016).
WAI-LING WU et al.664
The “Natural Approach” to language instruc-
tion is considered a contemporary and effective
method that employs relating lessons to the “real
world” to foster “real communication” among
learners (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). The results
of the current study may complement and extend
this approach as “real world” situations and con-
versations often include mands. The results of the
current study do not suggest that those con-
ducting foreign language instruction should aban-
don intraverbal and tact training in favor of
mand training alone. However, these results sug-
gest that mand training may enhance foreign-
language training. An analysis of verbal behavior
has much to offer, as evidenced by the significant
contributions made to early intervention for indi-
viduals with ASD and other disabilities (Carr &
Miguel, 2013; LaFrance & Miguel, 2014).
Behavior analysis can make similarly significant
contributions to foreign language instruction.
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Received January 13, 2017
Final acceptance February 21, 2019
Action Editor, Caio Miguel
WAI-LING WU et al.666
METHOD
Participants and Setting
Materials
Dependent Variable and Response Measurement
Interobserver Agreement and Treatment Integrity
Pre-Experimental Conditions
Tact assessment
Echoic assessment
Experimental Conditions
Pretraining probes
Baseline
Training
Posttraining probes
Experimental Design
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES