Intraverbal
A verbal operant in which a person responds to someone else's words with different words, such as answering questions, filling in songs, or conversing.
An intraverbal is a verbal response to a verbal stimulus where the words do not match. Answering "What's your name?" with "Sam", completing "Ready, set..." with "go!", saying "moo" when asked what a cow says, and replying in conversation are all intraverbals. The antecedent is verbal, but unlike an echoic there is no point-to-point correspondence between what was said and the response. Intraverbals are usually maintained by social reinforcement.
Intraverbal skills range from simple fill-ins and personal information to answering wh- questions, describing past events and taking part in back-and-forth conversation. They are essential for conversation, academic responses and safety, such as being able to state an address or phone number.
Intraverbals are often taught after a learner has some mand, tact and echoic skills, using echoic or tact prompts that are then faded. A risk is that the learner learns rote answers to one exact question; plans often vary the wording of questions to build flexible responding.
Because the controlling stimulus is verbal, an intraverbal does not require the item to be present. Naming fruits when asked "Tell me some fruits" with no fruit in sight is intraverbal.
Example and non-example
| Example | The RBT asks "What do you use to brush your teeth?" and the client answers "A toothbrush." |
|---|---|
| Non-example | The RBT holds up a toothbrush and asks "What is it?" and the client says "toothbrush." The object controls the label, so this is a tact (with a verbal instruction). |
Don't confuse it with
Test yourself
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Question 1What distinguishes an intraverbal from an echoic?
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A: Only an echoic matches the words that came before it. Both are controlled by someone else's words. An echoic repeats them (point-to-point correspondence), while an intraverbal is a different response, such as answering "cup" to "What do you drink from?"
- B: Those describe a mand and a tact, not an intraverbal and an echoic.
- C: Both can be one word or many; length does not define either.
- D: Both can be taught in any setting; the setting does not define them.
Task C.4 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 2While singing with a child, the RBT sings "Twinkle, twinkle, little..." and pauses, with no star picture in sight. The child sings "star." Which verbal operant is the child's response?
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B: Intraverbal. Filling in a song or phrase is an intraverbal: a verbal response to someone else's words that does not match them.
- A: The child did not repeat the RBT's words; they completed them with a different word.
- C: No star was present; the child responded to the RBT's words.
- D: The child was not requesting anything.
Task C.4 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.4 Naturalistic teaching in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.