Total communication (TC) is a method for teaching language; that consists of teaching a person the sign for a word and the spoken word simultaneously; this method of teaching has been shown to be more effective than sign or spoken language training alone. A bridge study was conducted to assess what features of the extra stimulus primes used in TC are responsible for the documented increase in response strength. Data on the time to mastery and number of discrete trials to mastery for 6 conditions were assessed. The study found that: (1) All extra stimulus primes assessed increased strength of echoic responding; (2) Visual extra stimulus primes were superior to mimetic extra stimulus primes in response strength supplementation; and (3) Ongoing access to visual extra stimulus primes appears to increase the rate of evocative stimulus control compared to visual primes to which subjects had briefer access. Findings of this study are discussed in terms of units of verbal behavior and joint evocative stimulus control.
PDF Full Text Request