title: The hierarchical relationship between several visual and auditory discriminations and three verbal operants among individuals with developmental disabilities.
abstract: This study examined the relationship between performance on the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities test (ABLA), two auditory matching tasks, and a test of echoics, tacts, and mands with persons with developmental disabilities. It was found that discrimination skill (visual, auditory-visual, and auditory-auditory discriminations) was a better predictor of performance on verbal operant assessments than level of functioning based on diagnosis. The results showed high test-retest reliability for the test of verbal operants and no hierarchical relationship was found among the three verbal operants. The results suggest that the ABLA Level 6 might be a possible bridging task for teaching echoics, tacts, and mands. Further research is needed to ascertain the relation between the auditory matching tasks and the verbal operants.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marion
authors.forename: Tricia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vause
authors.forename: Shayla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harapiak
authors.forename: Garry L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sakko
authors.forename: Kerri L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Walters