Assessing Topography-Based Versus Stimulus-Selection-Based Verbal Behavior

Currently, there is a question in the literature as to whether the topography-based or stimulus-selection-based instructional paradigm works better for people with autism and other developmental disabilities. While traditional applied verbal behavior analyses consider the function of the behavior, in this debate the methods are classified into how the listener and speaker interaction occurs. To understand the debate, various methods of communication, empirical studies of the methods debated, and how they relate to the identification of appropriate instructional methods for those people requiring augmentative communication were investigated.