SCoRE-D

Speakers with a strong verbal repertoire may still require additional verbal behavior training. The derivational Stimulus Control Ratio Equation (SCoRE-D) quantifies the intraverbal repertoire of individuals with autism and other language disorders by sampling syllogistic logic through a framework of stimulus equivalence. Data for the SCoRE-D are gathered through a 36-item questionnaire that is analyzed across three dimensions.

• SCoRE-D measures the speaker's intraverbal repertoire according to:

  • Derivational stimulus control (i.e., reflexive, symmetric, and transitive intraverbal stimuli)

  • Wh- questions (i.e., who, what, and where)

  • Syllogistic figure (i.e., first, second, third, and fourth figure syllogisms)

In contrast to typically developing speakers, who show proportionality across these different sources of control, speakers with autism demonstrate stimulus overselectivity as different levels of response strength (Cochran, 1950; Lovaas et al., 1979). SCoRE-D identifies the extent to which the speaking repertoire is balanced.

SCoRE-D quantifies the speaker's present level of functional language performance, prescribes a most-to-least prompt hierarchy for errorless language learning, and can be used to show progress over time.