A Comparison Between Tact and Intraverbal Training in the Acquisition of a Foreign Language

Abstract

The effects of tact versus intraverbal training were compared in terms of the transfer of stimulus control between verbal operants in the acquisition of a foreign language. The participants received training on tacts and two types of intraverbals with different stimulus sets. All types of training generated increases in correct responding on tests for emergent relations but tact training was the most efficient teaching procedure, because it required less training sessions and emergent responses reached criterion-level performance on all untrained operants.

Key words:

• foreign-language acquisition
• emergent relations
• tacts
• intraverbals