TRANSPOSITION REPERTOIRE ESTABLISHMENT BETWEEN MANDS AND TACTS DURING ACQUISITION OF POSITION NAMES

Abstract

Four tree and tree and four months years old children participated in this study, intended to investigate training variables that facilitates the establishment of transposition repertoire between mands and tacts verbal behaviors about left/right (Phase 1), in front/behind (Phase 2) and up/down (Phase 3) positions. The stimuli used were pairs of puppets presented on a cardboard experimental device. In each phase mands with a pair of puppets were trained, and tacts with the same pair tested. Following, tacts with the same pair of puppets were trained. This training sequence was executed with new pairs of puppets until the subject presented 75% of correct responses on tact tests with two pairs. A new phase was initiated after the subject reached the criterion. Two children who demonstrate functional dependence in the first tacts tests also showed a reduction in the number of pairs of puppets necessary to reach the criterion from a phase to another. Results indicate that the training used was helpful in establishing the transposition repertoire.Keywords: verbal behavior, transposition, functional independence, mand and tact.