Studies

Readings

Use your Applied Behavior Analysis text to read the following:

• Pages 412–423 in Chapter 18, “Verbal Behavior.”
• Pages 436–437 in Chapter 18, “Verbal Behavior.”

Learning Components

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

• Define different kinds of verbal operants.
• Provide examples of different kinds of verbal operants.

ABA Terminology Flashcards – Unit 8

In each unit, you are provided with resources to help you study and practice behavior analysis terminology. Mastering the terminology during your program will provide you with a solid foundation for developing examples of these terms and ultimately for practical application in the field.

• Click the linked ABA Terminology Flashcards – Unit 8 title above to launch the media and master your knowledge of the terms used in this unit.

Note: This media piece is included in your required instructional activities. Although you will not receive a grade for this activity, you must complete it to pass the course. You are required to answer each question correctly to receive credit for completing this activity.

An ABA Media Best Practices guide is located in the resources. Follow the practices in this guide to have the best possible experience with the media and to make sure you get credit for this activity.

Learning Components

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

• Define common terms used in the field of applied behavior analysis.

Resources

• ABA Media Best Practices [DOCX].

The Power of Manding

Xavier a three-year-old child who was just diagnosed with autism. He has never had functional language and exhibits frequent tantrums in the form of crying, hitting, and throwing items. Xavier recently began receiving ABA therapy and is your new client. Xavier’s grandmother is his guardian and wants his therapist to focus on teaching him his alphabet, shapes, colors, and numbers.

In this assignment, write a paper responding to Xavier’s grandmother and include the following:

• Analyze the importance of teaching manding skills to Xavier first.
• What are the benefits of teaching mands?
• How can teaching mands lead to developing skills in other areas of development?
• Explain the relationship between manding and challenging behaviors.

Be sure to provide your responses in a way that is respectful and supportive of Xavier’s grandmother.

Assignment Requirements

Your assignment should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current APA style guidelines.
• Resources: 2–3 scholarly or professional resources.
• Length: 2–3 double-spaced pages of content, in addition to the title page and references page.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.
• SafeAssign: You are required to use SafeAssign before submitting the completed assignment to your instructor. Submit your work to SafeAssign as a draft, review the results, and make any needed changes. When you are ready, submit your assignment to the assignment area for grading.

Refer to The Power of Manding Scoring Guide to ensure you understand the grading criteria for this assignment.

Note: Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information

Portfolio Prompt: You may choose to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio.

Resources

• The Power of Manding Scoring Guide.
• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Research Guide.
• ePortfolio.
• Evidence and APA.
• Online ePortfolio Guidelines [PDF].
• SafeAssign.
• Writing Feedback Tool.

Instructor Contact Session

In this two-hour session, your instructor talks about specific topics related to ABA. Listen to the lecture, and then participate in the session by responding to any ASR questions through polls, participating in small breakout groups, and engaging in discussions with your peers and instructor in the chat area.

ICSs are not graded, but you must attend and participate in seven out of 10 of these sessions to pass the course. Participation is defined as:

• Attending ICS by phone or Zoom.
• Actively providing spoken or written input during ICS.
• Responding to a majority of the ASRs through polls in Zoom.

If you are going to miss a session, you must notify your instructor in advance. It is strongly recommended that you view the recordings of any sessions that you miss.

Note: If you require the use of assistive technology or alternative communication methods to participate in this activity, please contact DisabilityServices@Capella.edu to request accommodations.

Resources

• DisabilityServices@Capella.edu.</a href=”mailto:disabilityservices@capella.edu”>
• Using Zoom.

Development of Verbal Behavior

Each week you must provide an initial post responding to one of the discussion board prompt options. Please include the discussion prompt you are addressing in the subject line of your post.

Review the posts of other learners and engage in two responses to a learner or learners in any discussion board prompt. (You may respond to the same learner twice in a conversation.)

General Guidelines

Your responses should be substantive and demonstrate your understanding of the material. In this, and in all of your courseroom posts, be sure to keep your tone respectful and professional. Use the name of the peer you are addressing. Cite any references according to APA guidelines.

Assignment Prep

While we will prioritize manding with Xavier, this does not mean that he cannot learn the names of letters and numbers through manding. Think of some ways in which you could use the CMO-T to teach Xavier to request numbers and letters. Do you think Xavier can acquire new vocabulary through manding? Do you think this vocabulary is likely to generalize? Explain your rationale.

Unit 8, Discussion Prompt Option 2

Think About It

Skinner began working on a behavioral analysis of language in 1934. In 1957, Skinner was able to fill in the details of his published book Verbal Behavior, which proved to be his most important work. Although this work was extremely significant, it had a slow appreciation.

Have you encountered any treatments, strategies, or programs that appear logical or promising, but lack empirical evidence? Would you compare this to Skinner’s verbal behavior at the time of publication given the lack of research? Why or why not?

Unit 8, Discussion Prompt Option 3

Ask, Answer, Share

In this thread, you have the opportunity to engage with your peers about the content of the unit in your current environment! Do you have a question for your peers about their experiences with the terms in a clinical setting? Do you wish to share an example of how you understand these terms as they relate to your life or experience? This is a space for peer engagement which will be monitored by your instructor, but if you have specific questions for your instructor please use the Ask Your Instructor forum, email, or course messages.

Learning Components

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

• Explain why there was a slow acceptance of B. F. Skinner’s verbal behavior work.
• Explain the importance of empirical evidence when assessing the value of a particular strategy.

Resources

• Discussion Participation Scoring Guide.

Quiz 8

This quiz covers elements from the BCBA/BCaBA Task List (5th ed.) in this unit. This quiz will help you and your instructor to assess your learning gains and mastery of the relevant learning objectives and the following course competency:

• Competency 3: Analyze the basic verbal operants and associated principles outlined in Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior.

Please carefully read the following instructions before beginning the quiz:

• You must complete and submit the quiz by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Central time.
• Do not start the quiz until you are fully prepared to complete it (that is, all unit study activities must be completed). The quiz must be completed without referring to reading materials, study aids (for example, flash cards), or notes. A dictionary is permitted to check spelling, however a glossary is not permitted. Contact with other learners or any informant is expressly prohibited during a quiz.
• There is no time limit for this or any other courseroom quizzes.
• You may retake this quiz up to a maximum of three attempts. If you have any incorrect answers, this allows you to study related content before the next quiz attempt. The average of your scores will be recorded as your grade.

Click the linked quiz title to access the quiz. If you have any issues with the quiz, contact your instructor.

Resources

• Quiz 8 Scoring Guide.

Periodically, information will be posted in this space for the good of the class.

This forum was created to provide a convenient space for you to ask questions—questions about particular assignment and discussion activities, questions about the course in general, questions about expectations. If there is something that you feel you could use help with, please post your question here. Most likely, some of your classmates will have the same concern, so your post may help several learners. If you feel your question is private, please use the Messages tool found under Notifications.