2025 Theses Doctoral

The Effect of the Speaker Immersion Protocol Across Categories and Exemplars on Verbal Communication for Preschoolers

Liu, Xiaoyuan

Verbal requests, or mands, are a crucial aspect of language development, as they enable children to appropriately express their wants and needs to others and use language appropriately in social contexts (Ninio & Snow, 2018; Owens, 2020). Speaker Immersion Protocol (SIP) is a mand training protocol that involves the manipulation of motivating operations to create intensive mand opportunities.

This method has been found as an effective approach for increasing the production of vocal verbal operants in both contrived and natural settings (Ross et al., 2006; Pistoljevic et al., 2010; Naresh et al., 2020; Naresh, 2022). In Experiment 1, the researcher evaluated the effects of SIP across categories of mands on verbal communication and peer interaction for three preschoolers with disabilities. The researcher provided 40 manding opportunities per day across four mand categories (i.e., mands for edibles, objects, activities, and social play) that includes different establishing operations and reinforcers.

The resulting data indicated that SIP produced contract reinforcement as evidenced by an increase in expanded mands emission across categories that were not directly targeted during intervention (i.e., during untaught mand probes). The results also indicated that SIP produced contact reinforcement as evidenced by an increased number of vocal verbal operant emissions in non-instructional settings; specifically, tacts, sequelics, and conversational units that are controlled by social reinforcement.

However, there was a limited effect on peer interaction. Experiment 2 extended Experiment 1 and evaluated the effect of SIP across and exemplars that was embedded within natural instructional routines on verbal communication. In Experiment 2, participants had no prior instructional history of SIP. Experiment 2 also included an assessment of the verbal function of self-talk emitted in non-instructional settings. As seen in Experiment 1, Experiment 2 resulting data showed an increase in expanded mand emissions towards untaught establishing operations along with an increase in vocal verbal operant emissions (e.g., tacts and sequelics) in non-instructional environments, while demonstrating a limited impact on peer interaction.

This dissertation extended the SIP literature by investigating the effect of SIP on establishing social contract and contact reinforcement, self-talk emission in non-instructional settings, and peer interaction.