A Functional Analysis of Echolalic Speech: The Effects of Antecedent and Consequent Events

The impact of antecedents and consequences upon echolalic behavior was examined in two successive studies. In Experiment I, four atypical children with a high frequency of echolalia were exposed to three sets of antecedent conditions: verbal imitation, verbal response to questions, and nonverbal response to commands. There were marked individual differences as well as some consistencies in responding. Nonverbal tasks elicited less echolalia than verbal tasks. Echolalia and appropriate verbal behavior were not inversely related to one another, suggesting that these two be treated as separate classes. In Experiment II, two of the subjects from Experiment I were exposed to three sets of consequent conditions: reinforcement of echolalia, punishment of echolalia, and concurrent reinforcement of appropriate verbal behavior and punishment of echolalia. The application of punishment following echolalia led to a generalized suppression of speech behavior. In general, the data suggest that echolalia varies as a function of the subject, environmental antecedents, and contingencies and should not be treated as a unidimensional response pattern.