Several studies have demonstrated that conditions can be arranged to promote increases in a nontargeted verbal operant following instruction of another verbal operant. In the current study, we used a multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of 2 instructional protocols on nontargeted verbal repertoires (listing of synonyms and vocal spelling of these synonyms) in adults with intellectual disabilities. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed in taking dictation and were tested for the vocal spelling of the words taught during instruction. In Experiment 2, participants were taught to match printed words to their printed synonyms and tested for the vocal spelling and listing of synonyms. In both experiments, interventions promoted increases in nontargeted verbal skills.

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The surname of the second author was misspelled in the published version. The correct spelling is "De Souza" instead of "Souza."The appendix that represented the "Cultural Background Questionnaire" was not included in the published version. It was added afterwards.The postal address of the first author has been removed for personal data protection reasons.

No abstract