Communication is an essential skill required to excel in multiple domains of life - whether it's academic, social, or simply just getting through day-to-day activities, people need to communicate with one another to do basic things like finding their way around or purchasing something at the store.
Verbal Behavior Therapy or VBT is an intervention method designed to improve communication skills in people who struggle to express their needs. It follows the same principles as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in that it encourages and sustains successful outcomes with reinforcement.
VBT can trace its roots back to Verbal Behavior by B.F. Skinner (1957). In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Skinner extended his laboratory research that was focused on behavioral consequences to such topics as talking, writing, gesturing, and thinking. These behaviors have come to be known as verbal behavior, thanks to Skinner, and are the foundation of communication. VBT can play a significant role for people with developmental disorders, especially autism, or even young children who are struggling with speech, by teaching them to communicate their preferences and lead independent lives. It is best to implement VBT as early as possible as communication is a foundational skill that will ultimately assist learners in developing other skills faster.
Let’s dive deeper into VBT and how it helps people enhance their communication and interpersonal skills.
What is Verbal Behavior Therapy?
VBT focuses on improving language and communication skills by breaking it down into smaller, manageable tasks such as requesting or repeating a word. In simpler terms, it is a method to teach people how to talk. The objective is not necessarily to teach more words, but to ensure the meanings of key words are understood so learners become capable of connecting the meaning of the words with their purpose. VBT aims to teach people how to choose the right words to get what they want and that communication is important for meeting their needs.
VBT incorporates the principle of reinforcement to encourage and sustain progress. Positive reinforcement fortifies the knowledge of associating a certain phrase or word with a specific outcome. For example, pointing to a bar of chocolate and saying “chocolate!” and then receiving it as well, will strongly connect the word “chocolate” with real chocolate in the learner’s mind as well as show the learner that when he communicates in a way that is universally understood, he is more likely to get what he wants..
Techniques Used in Verbal Behavior Therapy
VBT makes use of verbal operants to teach language and communication. Verbal operants are small, functional components that describe the different ways in which people use language, sounds, and actions to communicate a message.
Each of these operants or building blocks plays a role in laying the foundation for effective communication skills in a person, and working on each of them individually can holistically enhance their communication proficiency.
Techniques used in VBT may go unnoticed by people fluent in language and communication, who use them without realizing it. But for people who struggle with communication, it is necessary to specifically teach each technique to fluency.. The following table enlists four techniques used in VBT and examples to illustrate what they look like in everyday life.
Mand Training
In this technique, therapists may use prompts to encourage learners to ask for something they want or make a request. This requesting behavior is called manding, and a request is often referred to as a mand. With time and practice, learners learn to make requests without prompts. If a child or an autistic individual learns how to use words or other communication tools such as signing or technology to make a request, then they are applying the mand operant correctly.
For example, if a learner says “milk” or “open door” in order to obtain milk or open the door, then they are using mands. If the intent is not to receive something in return, then it is another verbal form, as described below.
Echoic Training
In this method, individuals are encouraged to repeat the word after their therapist says it. This makes them associate the object or the experience with a specific word.
For example, a therapist or parent may hold out a ball and say the word “ball,” encouraging the child to repeat the word and reinforcing that behavior when it happens. Sometimes, the therapist might fade the echoic prompt and just say “buh” to prompt saying the word “ball.” That would be partial echoic.
Tact Training
The tact operant requires people to use language to point out, express interest, or draw attention to something. This behavior is then reinforced by getting an immediate response from the parent or the therapist.
For example: a child says “crow” to point out a crow at the window, and his mother responds by saying “Wow, a crow!”
Intraverbal Training
This technique requires learners to visualize something by listening to a description of it. For example, if someone asks “What is soft and used to rest your head?” and the learner says “A pillow” then they are using the intraverbal operant correctly.
This strategy is used with more advanced learners. It would be important for them to master the first three types before attempting intraverbals.
The table below summarizes the four VBT techniques described in this article and provides more examples.
To learn more about Verbal Behavior and other verbal operants not described in this article, you may want to go to the source and check out Skinner’s Verbal Behavior for yourself.
Benefits of Verbal Behavior Training
Since VBT targets language comprehension and functional communication skills in individuals, it has various benefits that lead to a better quality of life. It is an established and effective therapy for people with disabilities, such as autism, and results in increased communication leading to greater independence for the learner. . Here are some advantages of VBT.
- Enhanced Communication Skills: as the name suggests, VBT improves an individual’s ability to appropriately express their needs and preferences, and if taught to fluency, becoming confused or overwhelmed is less likely. Improved communication benefits everyone in the learner’s environment and can prevent unnecessary frustration and misunderstandings on all sides.
- Improved Social Interaction: VBT improves interpersonal skills and conversational proficiency. Individuals learn the appropriate things to say in specific situations and helps them to have more rewarding social interactions.
- Higher Academic Performance: with VBT, people learn to associate the meanings of words with their purpose, which helps them to go beyond memorizing facts to actually understand the objective of the question asked. This skill leads to enhanced learning in a variety of situations.
- Better Behavior Management: by learning responses for situations that are more likely to get the individual what they want, the tendency for emotional outbursts or other behaviors associated with frustration are more likely to decrease.
- Greater Independence: as people learn to understand the value of language to ask for help, describe what they are feeling, respond to others, comment, and convey a need, they can learn to live and enjoy life more independently.
Conclusion
Verbal Behavior training is a well-designed approach to enhance communication skills in people with autism. It uses techniques such as manding, tacting, intraverbal, and echoic training to teach essential communication skills to autistic individuals. Verbal Behavior does not only include vocal speaking, but also refers to communication by signing, writing, or technology. By specifically teaching the different techniques, therapists help people with autism learn to express themselves efficiently in various social situations and empower them to lead healthier, happier, and more independent lives, by fostering meaningful relationships with others.
