Multiple control in verbal behavior means a verbal response is influenced by more than one variable, or one antecedent evokes several responses. Convergent control maps many variables to one response; divergent control maps one variable to several responses. A response can also involve more than one verbal operant.
Multiple control explains flexible language. Questions, pictures, motivating operations, listeners, and reinforcement history can work together; identify them instead of labeling a response “language” or “noncompliance.”
Multiple Control in Verbal Behavior: Definition and Core Idea
Verbal behavior is multiply controlled when several verbal, nonverbal, motivational, contextual, or social variables contribute to a response’s probability or form.
“Scissors” may follow a question, visible scissors, naming reinforcement, and an available listener. Do not attribute it to the question or picture alone; analyze the arrangement and consequence history.
| Part of the analysis | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal response | What is the topography or form being emitted? | Saying, signing, pointing to, or selecting “scissors.” |
| Antecedent variables | What events occur before the response? | A question, a picture, an establishing operation, and a listener. |
| Multiple control | Does more than one variable contribute to the response? | The question and the visible object jointly support “scissors.” |
| Consequence | What follows and may strengthen the response? | Information, access, attention, or task completion. |
| Context | Where and with whom does the relation occur? | Home, classroom, community, caregiver, peer, or therapist. |
Multiple control is not a verbal operant. A mand, tact, intraverbal, or echoic can also be multiply controlled; classify the primary relation, then name additional variables.
Convergent vs Divergent Multiple Control
Convergent multiple control occurs when several antecedent variables support one response. A question, visible object, and motivation may jointly increase one response; measure each contribution carefully.
Divergent multiple control occurs when one antecedent evokes several responses. A dog picture may evoke “dog,” “animal,” “pet,” or “brown,” depending on repertoire, listener, reinforcement, history, and context.
| Pattern | Direction of control | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Convergent | Multiple antecedent variables → one verbal response. | Question, scissors picture, and motivation → “scissors.” |
| Divergent | One antecedent variable → multiple verbal responses. | Dog picture → “dog,” “animal,” or “pet.” |
| Both at once | One response can be jointly controlled, while the context permits several response forms. | A question and picture support “ball,” “red ball,” or “throw ball.” |
| Not multiple control | One cue directly evokes one response under a stable relation. | A trained echoic response to a modeled word. |
Several variables evoking one response indicates convergent; one variable evoking several responses indicates divergent. Identify relation direction, not the number of words spoken.
Antecedent Variables in Verbal Behavior
An MO may evoke a mand, a nonverbal stimulus a tact, and a verbal stimulus an intraverbal or listener response. Listener presence can also change which response works.
Variables do not automatically share a function. A picture may be tact stimulus, conditional cue, or prompt; a question may evoke an intraverbal or converge with a visible object. Contingency, not label, determines the relation.
| Variable | Possible role | Question to test |
|---|---|---|
| Motivating operation | Changes the value of a consequence and evokes a mand or related response. | Does deprivation, access, or task context change the response’s effectiveness? |
| Nonverbal stimulus | May evoke a tact or control a selection or action. | Does the object, event, or picture alter the response? |
| Verbal stimulus | May evoke an intraverbal, echoic, or listener response. | Does the question, instruction, or model change the response? |
| Listener | Provides a social context and may mediate reinforcement or access. | Does the response change with the listener’s knowledge or behavior? |
| Prompt or context | May support the response but can become an unintended controlling variable. | Does the learner respond when the prompt or context is varied? |
List variables before labeling the operant. Identify the consequence and test transfer to natural contexts so “multiple control” guides teaching rather than ending analysis.
Convergent Multiple Control: Examples and Functional Analysis
If a learner sees a preferred ball, hears “What do you want?”, and wants it, “ball” may be supported by the object, question, motivation, and communication history.
“What do you use to cut paper?” may evoke “scissors” with visible scissors and relevant history. Hide the object, remove the question, or change the listener to test contributions.
| Scenario | Variables converging | Response to measure |
|---|---|---|
| Requesting a toy | Preferred toy visible, motivation for access, question from listener. | “Ball,” sign, or device request delivered independently. |
| Answering a tool question | Verbal question, visible scissors, listener, reinforcement history. | “Scissors” or an accepted functional response. |
| Asking for help | Difficult task, need for assistance, adult nearby, modeled phrase. | “Help” or a functional equivalent before problem behavior. |
| Commenting on an event | Novel event, listener orientation, prior language history. | Relevant tact or comment under the planned definition. |
| Answering a personal question | Question, listener’s role, topic history, and reinforcement for responding. | Accurate response without unrelated prompts. |
Manipulate or compare variables only when safe, appropriate, and supervised. Several variables do not prove joint control; measure changes in probability, form, latency, or consequence.
Divergent Multiple Control: Examples and Generalization
One dog picture may evoke “dog,” “animal,” “pet,” or “I like dogs.” The response depends on question, listener, history, effort, and context.
One taught label does not guarantee category answers, feature descriptions, requests, or comments. Program varied examples without forcing one response form in every context.
| Antecedent source | Possible responses | Teaching implication |
|---|---|---|
| Picture of a dog | “Dog,” “animal,” “pet,” “brown,” or “It is running.” | Teach and test specific, category, feature, and comment relations separately. |
| Preferred snack visible | “Cookie,” “more,” “eat,” or “open.” | Teach functional choices that access the intended outcome. |
| Unfinished task | “Help,” “break,” “I don’t know,” or a task-specific question. | Teach communication that is safe, efficient, and socially valid. |
| Listener greeting | “Hi,” wave, name, or a related comment. | Respect response form and cultural context while teaching the goal. |
| Novel event | Several descriptions or questions. | Use varied exemplars and reinforce meaningful language, not rote repetition alone. |
Probe new examples, people, materials, and settings. One picture or therapist may produce narrow control rather than flexible verbal behavior.
How to Analyze a Verbal Response
Start with the response and opportunity. Record what preceded it, present variables, and consequence; map verbal, nonverbal, motivational, and listener variables into a conditional account.
If “ball” occurs with a visible ball, do not immediately call it a tact. A question, motivation, peer, and consequence may change the relation; context matters.
| Analysis step | What to record | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Define the response | Topography, accepted equivalents, onset, and offset. | Can observers identify the same response? |
| Map antecedents | MO, nonverbal stimulus, verbal SD, question, prompt, and listener. | Which variables are present, absent, or competing? |
| Describe consequence | Access, attention, information, escape, or other outcome. | What consequence may strengthen the response? |
| Classify control | One response with several variables, or several responses from one variable. | Convergent, divergent, or another relation? |
| Test and teach | Independent responding across varied conditions. | Which functional communication response should be strengthened? |
Avoid circular explanations such as “says ball because ball is reinforcing.” Identify the evoking variables, consequence, and changes when conditions vary.
Teaching Functional Communication Under Multiple Control
Arrange reinforcement when a functional response matches the current need. For help requests, create manageable problems and provide assistance; for questions, teach the relation and vary examples.
Do not teach one universal answer. A learner may need a mand, tact, intraverbal, or listener response; examine present variables and build usefulness across people and contexts.
| Teaching goal | Arrange | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Requesting an item | Motivation for the item, accessible communication form, and a listener. | Independent requests, prompt level, and successful access. |
| Requesting help | Appropriate challenge, help response, and timely assistance. | Requests before problem behavior and generalization across tasks. |
| Answering questions | Clear verbal stimulus, varied examples, and reinforcement for accurate responding. | Accuracy by question type, prompt, and listener. |
| Describing objects | Nonverbal stimuli, feature examples, and varied listeners. | Specific and generalized tacts without rote position cues. |
| Conversational responding | Relevant verbal antecedents, turn-taking, and natural consequences. | Topic maintenance, appropriate responses, and listener feedback. |
Use least-intrusive prompts, fade systematically, and honor preferred communication. Signs, symbols, devices, gestures, and writing can be functional forms.
Data Collection, Error Analysis, and Ethics
Record independent and prompted responses, antecedent arrangement, listener, question, motivation, and consequence. For divergent control record response forms; for convergent control record variable combinations.
Protect accessible communication, assent, language, culture, and usefulness. Do not mark a valid response wrong for differing from preferred wording; consult qualified professionals when health or trauma affects communication.
| Data point | Why collect it | Common error |
|---|---|---|
| Antecedent arrangement | Shows which verbal, nonverbal, motivational, and listener variables were present. | Recording only the response and losing the controlling context. |
| Response form | Distinguishes speech, sign, device, gesture, or written response. | Counting only spoken words as communication. |
| Prompt level | Shows independence and possible prompt control. | Calling prompted responding mastery. |
| Consequence | Shows what the response contacts and may maintain. | Delivering an unrelated consequence that does not support function. |
| Generalization | Shows whether control transfers across people, materials, and settings. | Assuming one teaching example represents flexible language. |
| Social validity | Shows whether communication is meaningful and acceptable. | Optimizing a score while ignoring the learner’s priorities. |
Antecedent-change errors may require clearer discrimination, exemplars, or prompts. Listener-specific responding suggests listener control or history; revise teaching from data, not fixed traits.
Verbal Operants and Multiple Control
Keep multiple control separate from operant names: mand involves motivation and consequence; tact a nonverbal stimulus; intraverbal a verbal stimulus without point-to-point correspondence; echoic point-to-point correspondence and formal similarity. Each can have additional control.
“Help” may be a mand when task difficulty makes assistance valuable and the response produces it. A question or teacher model may add control; the word itself is not the operant.
| Verbal operant | Primary relation | How multiple control may appear |
|---|---|---|
| Mand | Motivating variable and specific consequence. | A question, visible item, and motivation jointly support the request. |
| Tact | Nonverbal stimulus and generalized reinforcement. | A picture, listener question, and feature prompt support the label. |
| Intraverbal | Verbal stimulus without point-to-point correspondence. | Question wording, topic, listener, and reinforcement history shape the answer. |
| Echoic | Verbal stimulus with point-to-point correspondence and formal similarity. | Model, prompt, motivation, and listener feedback influence emission. |
| Multiple control | A pattern of influence involving more than one variable or response direction. | It describes the arrangement across operants rather than replacing one operant label. |
For the verbal operant, classify the primary functional relation. For multiple control, identify how variables influence it; both answers can coexist.
BCBA Exam Traps, Checklist, and FAQ
Operants describe functional relations; multiple control describes the number and direction of variables. An intraverbal can be convergent, and a tact can be one response in divergent control.
| Exam clue | Likely concept | Reasoning move |
|---|---|---|
| Several antecedent variables evoke one verbal response. | Convergent multiple control. | Map each variable that contributes to the same response. |
| One antecedent variable evokes several verbal responses. | Divergent multiple control. | List the response forms and the conditions that make each useful. |
| Response is controlled by a motivating operation and produces access. | Mand relation, possibly under multiple control. | Identify the consequence and the additional variables. |
| Response is evoked by a nonverbal stimulus and contacts generalized reinforcement. | Tact relation, possibly under multiple control. | Do not ignore verbal questions, prompts, or listener context. |
| Response is evoked by a verbal stimulus that does not have point-to-point correspondence. | Intraverbal relation, possibly under multiple control. | Check the verbal antecedent and consequence. |
| One response form occurs across different communication modes. | Functional communication and generalization. | Measure the function and independence, not just vocal form. |
Checklist:
- Define the response.
- List verbal antecedents.
- List nonverbal antecedents.
- Identify motivating operations.
- Describe listener context.
- Record consequences.
- Classify convergent or divergent direction.
- Separate prompts from natural variables.
- Measure independent responding and generalization.
- Review social validity.
FAQ: Is multiple control a verbal operant? No. It describes variable influence; the response may still be a mand, tact, intraverbal, or echoic.
FAQ: What is the difference between convergent and divergent control? Convergent is several variables influencing one response; divergent is one variable influencing several responses.
FAQ: Why can the same word have different functions? Antecedents and consequences differ. “Ball” may be a tact, mand, intraverbal answer, or multiply controlled response.
FAQ: How do I teach multiple control? Vary functional opportunities, teach the relevant relation, fade prompts, reinforce communication, and measure generalization.
Multiple control explains verbal behavior through variable combinations; map the relation, teach functional alternatives, and let data—not labels—guide the next step. Practice with the free BCBA mock exam and current BACB outline.
