Developing Correspondence between Children's Words and Deeds

• Published in: Child development Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 575 - 581
• Main Authors: Israel, Allen C, O'Leary, K Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, etc University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc 01-01-1973
• ISSN: 0009-3920
• DOI: 10.2307/1128015

Preschool children in a free-play situation experience one of two training sequences: saying then doing, or doing then saying. The effect of these training sequences on the development of a correspondence between children's verbal and nonverbal behaviors was examined. Increases in correspondence were found to be a function of the reinforcement contingency and the sequence of behaviors. Reinforcers contingent upon verbal behavior were not sufficient to produce increases in both verbal and nonverbal behaviors (correspondence). Increased correspondence occurred when reinforcers were contingent upon both behaviors and with a say-do sequence. The do-say sequence produced high levels of correspondence only after previous say-do training. Experiment II examined the effects of reinforcing the two sequences without a portion of the training procedures included in Exp. I. Once again, the say-do sequence produced higher levels of correspondence. The results are discussed in terms of the development of verbal self-control and implications for intervention programs. HA