Smarter Study Strategies Using Cover, Copy, and Compare: Session 318 with Sarah Frampton

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Sarah Frampton, who conducts research on, amongst other things, improving how we teach, learn, and organize information using behavior-analytic strategies. We explore her career journey, her research on graphic organizers and the Cover, Copy, Compare (CCC) strategy, and the broader implications for stimulus equivalence, educational technology, and effective teaching.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• How Sarah's unconventional path led her from economics and psychology into Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
• Why note-taking and structured learning strategies, like CCC, matter for retaining and applying complex information.
• How stimulus equivalence principles can enhance learning beyond direct instruction.
• Insights from Sarah's research combining CCC with graphic organizers, including practical takeaways for educators and learners (see Frampton, Vesely and Jackson, 2025).
• How visual learning tools and educational technology can improve engagement and retention.
• Strategies for training learners to use these approaches independently and effectively.

Highlights From Our Conversation:

Sarah's Path Into ABA Sarah shares how a thesis requirement and a Craigslist job posting led her to ABA, including formative experiences working with Dr. Alice Shillingsburg at the Marcus Autism Center. These experiences sparked her interest in efficient, broadly applicable learning strategies.

Why Note-Taking Strategies Matter We discuss the value of graphic organizers and the Cover, Copy, Compare (CCC) strategy:

• Graphic organizers visually display relationships between concepts.
• CCC is a structured, active-response method that strengthens memory, similar to flashcards. Sarah emphasizes how behavior-analytic techniques can support higher-order thinking processes often considered "cognitive."

CCC and Stimulus Equivalence Sarah walks through stimulus equivalence with clear examples, showing how teaching certain relations can produce broader learning without direct instruction. She also highlights a study where CCC and graphic organizers helped learners prepare for tests—even under intentionally challenging conditions.

Graphic Organizers in Action Key findings from Sarah's research:

• Learners who drew more structured organizers performed better.
• Teaching organizer use during test conditions did not hinder performance.
• Visualizing relationships among stimuli predicted task success.

Training Learners to Use These Strategies Sarah outlines her training sequence, including pre-tests, video instruction, practice with familiar material, and application to abstract stimuli. A core goal was strategy generalization—ensuring learners could apply CCC to new material independently.

Fig. 1 from Frampton, et al. (2025) Fig. 2 from Frampton, et al. (2025)

Research Findings Most participants quickly mastered abstract relations and passed post-tests after brief training. Notably, all participants used the CCC strategy—some even more meticulously than required.

Educational Technology, Engagement, and Mediation Participants reported the educational technology intervention was easy to use and helpful, contrasting with high dropout rates in similar studies. Sarah also describes how participants naturally used private verbal behavior, such as naming stimuli or creating stories, to aid learning.

Visual Learning Tools in ABA We discuss the broader application of visual supports—graphic organizers, flashcards, handwriting—and their role in enhancing learning efficiency for both adults and children with autism.

Looking Ahead Sarah previews her upcoming presentation at the Verbal Behavior Conference, covering generative learning and assessment tools. We also explore how collaboration and community can reduce burnout and increase long-term job satisfaction in ABA in the "advice for the newly-minted" segment.

Resources & Links

• Session 287: BiDirectional Naming with Caio Miguel.
• Session 80: Verbal Behavior and Relational Frame Theory, with David Palmer and Josh Pritchard.
• Shillingsburg, et al. (2016). A Preliminary Procedure for Teaching Children with Autism to Mand for Social Information.
• Frampton and Linehan (2024). The effects of a training package to teach note taking on the formation of equivalence classes.

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• The 2026 Stone Soup Conference! This is one of the best values in the online conference space. I'm actually going to be one of the speakers at this year's event, along with a great cast of other characters you're probably familiar with. Save on your registration by using promo code PODCAST26!
• The 2026 Verbal Behavior Conference! Taking place March 26–27, 2026, in Austin, Texas, or livestream and on-demand on BehaviorLive. Presenters will include Drs. Mark Sundberg, Patrick McGreevy, Caio Miguel, Alice Shillingsburg, Sarah Frampton, Andresa De Souza, and Danielle LaFrance will share how Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior can guide the assessment and treatment of generative learning challenges in children with autism and other developmental disabilities. And don't miss the special pre-conference workshop on Wednesday, March 25.