The purpose of the current study was to extend the research on the possible role of verbal mediation in the establishment of comparative relations. We conducted four experiments in which 14 participants received conditional discrimination training with nonarbitrary and arbitrary stimuli, followed by derived comparative and transformation of function tests. Participants learned to select the smallest or biggest comparison across multiple exemplars in the presence of abstract samples. Next, participants learned to select arbitrary comparisons in the presence of contextual cues to establish a size ranking among comparisons. To assess verbal mediation during mutual and combinatorial entailment tests, participants were instructed to talk out loud. When they failed to perform correctly during derived relations tests, participants were trained to tact and intraverbally relate stimuli. The results suggest that relational training alone was not sufficient to establish comparative relations and that adult participants engaged in problem solving consistent with intraverbal bidirectional naming during emergent relations tests.

Visual imagining has been proposed to play a role in the emergence of derived stimulus relations. We examined whether test-relevant visual imagining during baseline training would, accordingly, facilitate emergent visual-visual conditional discriminations at test. Adult participants (n = 75) were randomly assigned to three groups. Baseline tact training established conditional discriminations among sets of image samples and textual comparisons (AC/BD), and baseline intraverbal training established conditional discriminations among pairs of textual stimuli (CD). Two groups received tact before intraverbal training, and one group received the reverse sequence. During intraverbal training, one of the former groups was instructed to visualize the images that went with the textual stimuli. These instructions did not affect participants\' retrospective self-reports of test-relevant visual imagining during training. Nevertheless, they produced a large effect on correct responding in an image-matching test (AB/BA) that followed intraverbal training. This effect was independent of baseline retention.

The aim of this research was to test the effect of training impure tact versus pure tact and intraverbals on the emergence of new verbal operants (impure tacts), thus establishing a conceptual and methodological differentiation on these operants. This was done by varying the training order of intraverbal or impure tact to analyze and confirm whether or not impure tact is the mere sum of pure tact plus intraverbal and therefore has different functions and consequences in learning. An experiment was conducted with 30 participants randomly assigned to three groups. In Group 1, pure tact plus intraverbal and then impure tact were trained. In Group 3 the training order of these operants was counterbalanced. Group 2 was the control group, training only pure tact plus intraverbal. After the training phases, the emergence of impure tacts was tested. The results of this research indicate that the training of impure tacts favors the emergence of new impure tacts to a greater extent than the training of pure tact plus intraverbal and that they therefore have different functions. It is also shown that variation in the order of presentation of the type of training influences the subsequent emergence of new operants (impure tacts), so that creating a previous history of learning in impure tacts favors emergence even when the intraverbal alone is subsequently trained. This has important implications at both conceptual and methodological levels as it would contribute to the development of more effective language training technologies.

The functional analysis of complex verbal behavior requires an evaluation of topographically similar responses under multiple sources of control. Traditional graphical displays of behavior were designed to show the manipulation of isolated controlling variables and may not be amenable to displaying the multidimensional properties of complex behavior. Researchers have recently demonstrated the use of multiaxial radar charts for comparing the functional performance of biological systems. Here we extend the use of multidimensional analyses to compare the relative performance distributions of verbal behavior across four potential controlling variables. First, we provide a conceptual analysis of intraverbal and extraverbal control as continua along which stimuli range from formal to thematic and explain how the intersection of these stimulus fields creates a radar chart for multidimensional analysis. Then we demonstrate how data may be gathered through a verbal operant experimental analysis. We employed repeated measures to map the conditioning history of a child with autism spectrum disorder across 2 years of early intensive behavioral intervention and analyzed the results using shape descriptors for quantitative comparisons. We also compared the polygonal language profiles of children with autism against that of a neurotypical peer. Extending a multidimensional analysis to the field of verbal behavior provides the basis for a language growth chart that researchers and clinicians can use to monitor language acquisition over time. We discuss the use of radar charts as a framework for understanding the interdependence of verbal operants and suggest their use for complex analyses of complex verbal behavior.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40614-024-00404-6.

OBJECTIVE: The few voxel-wise lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) studies aimed at identifying the anatomy of executive function are limited by the absence of a model and by small populations. Using Trail Making Test (TMT) and verbal fluency and a model of their architectures, our objective was to identify the key structures underlying two major executive processes, set-shifting and strategic word search.
METHODS: We applied a validated VLSM analysis to harmonized cognitive and imaging data from 2009 ischemic stroke patients as a part of the Meta VCI Map consortium. All contrast analyses used an adjusted threshold with 2000 Freedman-Lane permutations (p ≤ 0.05).
RESULTS: The TMT parts A and B were associated with structures involved in visual-spatial processing, the motor system, the frontal lobes, and their subcortical connections. Set-shifting depended on the left dorsomedial frontal region. Both semantic and phonemic fluency tests depended on verbal output abilities and processing speed with similar slopes in different languages. The strategic search process depended on Broca\'s area, F2 and related tracts, temporal and deep regions. Lastly, the lesion map of set-shifting did not overlap with those of strategic word search processes.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results identify the anatomical substrates of two main executive processes, revealing that they represent only a specific subpart of previously reported structures. Finally, our results indicate that executive functions depend on several specific, anatomically separable executive processes mainly operating in various parts of the frontal lobes.

BACKGROUND: The full assessment of bilingual children often involves at least one language for which formal vocabulary tests are lacking and which the examiner does not speak. We examined, in a sample of children with typical development (TD), whether a semantic verbal fluency task, typically used in research as a measure of executive function, could be used in the place of a formal vocabulary test to estimate vocabulary knowledge when formal tests are not available.
METHODS: 113 TD monolingual French speakers and TD bilinguals and with varying degrees of exposure to French, age 6 to 17 years, completed tests of vocabulary knowledge and semantic verbal fluency. A subset of 64 participants spoke French and English and were tested in both languages. Verbal fluency measures calculated using a traditional method which uses specific rules for superordinate categories and for animals of different sex and age and a simplified scoring method which simply counts all words produced, included the total number of words produced in each language, Total Vocabulary and Conceptual Vocabulary measures combining both languages, as well as analyses of lexical composition and word frequency within the study sample.
RESULTS: Linear regressions revealed that the number of words produced predicted vocabulary size in a language-specific way, with slightly stronger predictions made by the simplified scoring method. As expected, bilinguals produced more words and more unique words in their language of greater exposure, while different exposure groups were equivalent in measures combining both languages, including their Total vocabulary and Conceptual vocabulary. Producing unusual words (infrequently produced in the study sample) indicated higher vocabulary scores.
CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the use of the verbal fluency task as a quick and simple tool to obtain a rough estimate of vocabulary size in TD monolinguals and bilinguals. This tool shows promise as well in clinical work with other populations, subject to further verification.

UNASSIGNED: Executive dysfunction occurs in 15% to 20% of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and verbal fluency tests are frequently used to assess this deficit. The Word List Generation (WLG) is one of the most used measures in MS. This study aims to compare the performance of WLG of MS patients and healthy controls and to analyze the influence of clinical and demographic factors on the performance of MS patients.
UNASSIGNED: One hundred and nine MS patients and an age- and gender-matched group of 138 healthy controls were evaluated with WLG Portuguese version, as well as other tests from the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRBN-T), subtests from WAIS, a phonemic fluency test (M, R, and P), and measures of psychological symptomatology and cognitive fatigue. The MS group (70.6% females) was mainly diagnosed with RRMS (89.2%).
UNASSIGNED: The MS group performed significantly lower than healthy controls on the WLG. In the MS group, this performance was significantly correlated with the level of education. Significant differences were found between the two groups regarding cognitive fatigue, with MS patients reporting higher levels than healthy controls. However, this variable was not related to the performance on the WLG for MS patients.
UNASSIGNED: This study suggests that MS is associated with large levels of cognitive decline on the phonemic verbal fluency tests. These results are consistent with other studies and highlight the importance of verbal fluency and cognitive speed measures in the neuropsychological assessment of MS. Deficits on this task seem to be highly related to the level of education of the patient rather than other demographic and clinical factors.

Procedural fidelity refers to the degree to which procedures for an assessment or intervention (i.e., independent variables) are implemented consistent with the prescribed protocols. Procedural fidelity is an important factor in demonstrating the internal validity of an experiment and clinical treatments. Previous reviews evaluating the inclusion of procedural fidelity in published empirical articles demonstrated underreporting of procedural fidelity procedures and measures within specific journals. We conducted a systematic review of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB) to evaluate the trends in procedural fidelity reporting from 2007 to 2021. Of the 253 articles published in TAVB during the reporting period, 144 of the articles (168 studies) met inclusionary criteria for further analysis. Our results showed that 54% of studies reported procedural fidelity data, which is slightly higher than previous reviews. In comparison, interobserver-agreement data were reported for a high percentage of studies reviewed (i.e., 93%). Further discussion of results and applied research implications are included.

UNASSIGNED: Semantic verbal fluency (SVF) is a widely used measure of frontal executive function and access to semantic memory. SVF scoring metrics include the number of unique words generated, perseverations, intrusions, semantic cluster size and switching between clusters, and scores vary depending on the language the test is administered in. In this paper, we review the existing normative data for Turkish, the main metrics used for scoring SVF data in Turkish, and the most frequently used categories.
UNASSIGNED: We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed papers using Medline, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and two Turkish databases, TR-Dizin and Yok-Tez. Included papers contained data on the SVF performance of healthy adult native speakers of Turkish, and reported the categories used. Versions of the SVF that required participants to alternate categories were excluded. We extracted and tabulated demographics, descriptions of groups, metrics used, categories used, and sources of normative data. Studies were assessed for level of detail in reporting findings.
UNASSIGNED: 1400 studies were retrieved. After deduplication, abstract, full text screening, and merging of theses with their published versions, 121 studies were included. 114 studies used the semantic category \"animal\", followed by first names (N = 14, 12%). All studies reported word count. More complex measures were rare (perseverations: N = 12, 10%, clustering and switching: N = 5, 4%). Four of seven normative studies reported only word count, two also measured perseverations, and one reported category violations and perseverations. Two normative studies were published in English.
UNASSIGNED: There is a lack of normative Turkish SVF data with more complex metrics, such as clustering and switching, and a lack of normative data published in English. Given the size of the Turkish diaspora, normative SVF data should include monolingual and bilingual speakers. Limitations include a restriction to key English and Turkish databases.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the extent of exposure to verbal violence experienced by people with intellectual disabilities and whether it differs based on their housing situation: living in the community, with family, or in a residential facility.
METHODS: One hundred and eighty-nine people with intellectual disabilities were interviewed about their experience with verbal violence.
RESULTS: Eighty-six percent reported experiencing verbal violence in their lifetime and approximately 77% experienced it the past week. Participants were most likely to be yelled at, and friends were the most common perpetrators. While there were few differences by setting, people living with their families were more likely to be laughed at and marginally more likely to experience rude comments.
CONCLUSIONS: Verbal violence is prevalent in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in Israel. Interventions are necessary to assist people with intellectual disabilities to deal with such incidents, with possible additional supports needed for those living with family.