Analysis of the Acquisition of Verbal Operants in a Child from 17 Months to 2 Years of Age

The purpose of this study was to longitudinally investigate the acquisition of verbal operants in a typically developing child from 17 months to 2 years of age. Verbal responses emitted by the child and his caregivers in a natural setting were categorically analyzed based on Skinner’s (1957) verbal operants. Possible interaction patterns in the acquisition of verbal behavior were investigated. The results showed an abrupt increase in the cumulative frequency of tact, mand, echoic, and intraverbal categories after 20 months of age. This increase was also simultaneously noticed in the emission of the same categories by the caregivers. The most frequent category of the child was tact, and the most frequent category emitted by the caregivers was mand. The results suggest that caregivers arrange contingencies for the acquisition of verbal operants in the repertoire of the child.