Multiple Exemplar Instruction and Generalization

Multiple exemplar instruction, often shortened to MEI, is a teaching method used in ABA (applied behavior analysis, a therapy that teaches skills in small steps). In it, you teach one set of items across several language skills in quick rotation. The goal is not just the skill you taught. The goal is the skills you never taught, which start to show up on their own.

That last part is why practitioners care about it. A child learns to name a picture. Then, without direct teaching, the child can also point to it when you say the word. When learning spreads like this, you save time. You also help a child build language the way typical learners do, by picking up new words from everyday life.

What multiple exemplar instruction is#

MEI works by rotating "operants." An operant here is just a type of language skill. Naming what you see is one. Pointing when you hear a word is another. Answering a question with words is a third.

In MEI, you take the same items and teach them across those skills back to back. You might ask a child to name a monster, then point to it, then say what it eats. The rotation is fast and mixed. The child meets the same word from many angles in one session.

Dr. Jessica Osos frames MEI as a way to build connections between skills, rather than just stronger single skills. When you rotate skills for the same items, the brain starts to treat them as linked. Teach one, and the others often follow.

How MEI differs from multiple exemplar training#

People mix up MEI with multiple exemplar training, or MET. They sound alike, but they do different jobs. This is the distinction Dr. Osos returns to across the whole talk.

MET rotates different examples inside one skill. You teach many kinds of dogs so the word "dog" holds up for any dog. It sharpens one skill and helps it generalize to new items.

MEI rotates the skills themselves for the same items. The aim is to link the skills so an untaught one emerges. So MET strengthens a single skill. MEI builds bridges between skills.

As Dr. Osos explains it, MET strengthens responding within a single operant. MEI builds relationships between operants. One method tightens a skill. The other ties skills together.

Why it builds language you never taught#

The word that matters here is "generativity." That means new language that shows up without being taught step by step. MEI is one of the clearest ways to get it in an applied setting.

The mechanism is what Dr. Osos calls functional interdependence. When skills for the same words are practiced together in rotation, they stop acting like separate boxes. They start to depend on each other. Teach the naming side, and the listener side often comes along for free.

MEI promotes generativity by establishing functional interdependence across operands

From the talk — Dr. Jessica Osos

For a child with a language delay, this is a big deal. It means you do not have to teach every single skill for every single word. You teach smart, and the child fills in gaps on their own.

MEI and bidirectional naming#

A common target for MEI is bidirectional naming. That means learning a word both ways at once, as a speaker and as a listener. A child hears "cup" and can both say it and point to it after simple exposure.

Many children pick this up on their own from daily life. Many children with autism, a developmental disability, do not. They may learn to say a word but still cannot follow it as a listener, or the other way around.

MEI helps close that gap. By rotating listener and speaker skills for the same items, studies show that both sides of naming can emerge together. Several research teams have replicated this with young children. That is why MEI keeps coming up in verbal behavior work (the ABA approach to studying and teaching language).

What MEI is not#

MEI is powerful, but it is not magic, and it is not a starting point. Dr. Osos is direct about this. A child still needs solid basic skills before rotation can do its job. In her talk, she stresses that MEI does not replace direct instruction.

So you still teach words directly first. You still build strong single skills. MEI comes in on top of that foundation. It is a tool for spreading learning once the basics are in place.

Treating MEI as a shortcut around direct teaching leads to frustration. The rotation needs something to rotate. Build the base, then use MEI to make it grow.

How the rotation works in practice#

The practical setup is a mixed block of trials. You pick a small set of items. You pick two or more skills to rotate, such as pointing, naming, and answering.

Then you move through them quickly and in a shuffled order. Point to the monster. Now name it. Now say what it eats. Then switch to the next item and do the same. Some studies add an echoic step, where the child repeats the word, to strengthen the link.

After the teaching blocks, you probe. You test the untaught skills to see if they emerged. If they did, the rotation worked. If they did not, you may add more rotation or check that the base skills were strong enough.

Order can matter too. In some research, testing the listener skill before the speaker skill helped both sides show up. Small setup choices can change your results, so it pays to plan the sequence.

What the research says#

The research base for MEI is deep and keeps growing. Two peer-reviewed sources here show both the theory and the applied results.

LaFrance and Tarbox lay out the case for why MEI matters for novel language. They explain how it differs from related procedures and give clear recommendations for practice (LaFrance & Tarbox, 2020).

Yoon and colleagues tested MEI with nine young children with autism or language delays (Yoon et al., 2023). They looked at how rotating skills helped bidirectional naming emerge. It did, across all conditions.

Several other studies point the same way. They cover emergent listener skills, intraverbal responses (answering questions with words), and even autoclitic frames (small grammar patterns, like "on the table"). Not all of them had a full citation on file, so only the two studies below are listed as sources.

Full citations:

• LaFrance, D. L. & Tarbox, J. (2020). The importance of multiple exemplar instruction in the establishment of novel verbal behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 53(1), 10-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.611
• Yoon, J. S., Greer, R. D., Virk, M., & Fienup, D. M. (2023). The Establishment of Incidental Bidirectional Naming through Multiple Exemplar Instruction: a Systematic Replication. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 39(1), 86-98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-023-00181-4

Frequently asked questions#

Is multiple exemplar instruction the same as multiple exemplar training?

No. They are different tools with different goals. Multiple exemplar training rotates many examples inside one skill to make that skill hold up for new items. Multiple exemplar instruction rotates the skills themselves for the same items, so an untaught skill can emerge. One strengthens a single skill. The other links skills together.

Who is MEI a good fit for?

MEI often helps children who can learn a word one way but not the other. A child might name an object but not point to it on request. It is used a lot with children who have autism or language delays. Many of them do not pick up both sides of naming on their own. The child should have some basic skills in place first.

Does MEI replace regular teaching?

No. It works on top of direct teaching, not instead of it. You still teach target words directly and build strong single skills. MEI then helps that learning spread to skills you did not teach. Think of it as a way to grow what direct teaching has already built.