Multiple Exemplar Instruction and Bidirectional and Incidental Naming in Autistic Children

Abstract

The listener and speaker repertoires are functionally independent during the early stages of language acquisition. However, in neurotypical children, usually between the ages of 2 and 3, an interdependence begins to emerge between listener and speaker responses, leading to the integration of these repertoires. Bidirectional naming (BiN) is a behavioral repertoire characterized by the emergence of listener responses to objects/events after teaching speaker responses to those objects/events, and vice versa. The consolidation of this repertoire as a generalized behavioral relation leads to incidental bidirectional naming (Inc-BiN)—the emergence of both speaker and listener responses to objects/events after exposure to their names—which is considered a pivotal repertoire for the full development of language. The multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) is a procedure that has been pointed out as capable of inducing Inc-BiN in autistic individuals. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of MEI with rotation of the listener (auditory–visual match-to-sample [AVMTS]) and the speaker (intraverbal tact), without an echoic requirement, on inducing BiN and Inc-BiN in two autistic children. Using a multiple-probe design across participants, the two children underwent pretests for BiN and Inc-BiN, followed by MEI training, and then posttests for BiN and Inc-BiN. Results showed that MEI did not result in the emergence of BiN or Inc-BiN, with participants displaying unidirectional listener naming since the pretests. Methodological aspects to be evaluated in future studies on the role of MEI in the induction of BiN and Inc-BiN are discussed, including the effects of requiring or blocking echoics during MEI, establishing the reinforcing function of the social consequences used in teaching AVMTS and intraverbal tact, and the reinforcing function of observation responses to stimuli.