Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of teaching attribute recognition in Phase 6 of PECS?

The purpose of teaching attribute recognition in Phase 6 of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is to establish a foundational skill for more complex language understanding and generalization. PECS is a structured, evidence-based intervention used to teach communication to individuals with autism and other communication challenges. It involves teaching individuals to exchange pictures for desired items or activities. Phase 6 specifically focuses on expanding the communicative repertoire by requiring the individual to discriminate between items based on their characteristics, or attributes. An attribute is a quality or feature that describes something, such as color, size, shape, or material.

Prior to Phase 6, individuals in PECS learn to request items using single pictures (Phase 1-5). Phase 6 builds upon this by introducing the concept that items can be described. The individual must now identify and request items based on a descriptive attribute, rather than just the item itself. For example, instead of requesting 'juice', the individual might be asked to request 'red juice' or 'big juice'. This requires them to understand and differentiate between the attribute (red, big) and the item (juice).

This skill is crucial because it moves beyond simple requests and lays the groundwork for more complex sentence structures and descriptive language. Attribute recognition allows individuals to express preferences more precisely ('I want the *small* ball, not the big one') and understand more complex instructions ('Give me the *blue* block'). It also promotes generalization; the ability to apply learned skills to new situations and items. Once an individual understands the concept of attributes, they can apply this knowledge to request a variety of items described by different attributes, even items they haven't specifically requested before. The ultimate goal is to facilitate spontaneous and flexible communication, moving away from rote memorization of picture-item pairings and towards a deeper understanding of language and its function.