Verbal actions of twelve volunteer storytellers at a children's hospital were observed during 72 episodes of interaction and shared reading with patients. Functional analyses yielded 30 behavioral categories. Inter-rater agreement for three raters was 84.2%. Categories which describe specific verbal behavior in situations of shared reading were grouped into four areas: (a) Tact, textual and intraverbal behavior related to the storybook and/or illustrations; (b) Prompts for verbal behavior; (c) Presentation of consequences for the child's behavior; and (d) Prompts for nonverbal behavior. Results were discussed in light of contingencies related to the storyteller's actions in the hospital environment and the potential effects of their interventions on the listener's verbal behavior.
Verbal behavior; storytellers; shared reading; hospitalized children
