Establishment of Mands Following Tact Training as a Function of Reinforcer Strength

Abstract

We examined some conditions under which a response acquired as a tact might facilitate the establishment of a mand. We taught 3 participants with developmental disabilities to tact the items ranked highest and lowest in a preference assessment and subsequently tested to see if the responses occurred as mands. All participants manded for the highly preferred item but rarely manded for the nonpreferred item. These results indicate that, although tact and mand functions are different, conditions can be created to facilitate transfer from the former to the latter. Implications for communication training are discussed.

Evaluation of Single and Mixed Verbal Operant Arrangements for Teaching Mands and Tacts

“…Before each condition began, an EO assessment was conducted in which the participant was asked to choose between the high-preference item to be manded or tacted and a low-preference item as identified by the MSWO preference assessment. Choosing the high-preference item helped to ensure the presence of an EO for that item, a necessary condition for a mand (Wallace, Iwata, & Hanley, 2006). If he chose the low-preference item, the session was terminated.…”

The Long Good-Bye: Why B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior is Alive and Well on the 50Th Anniversary of Its Publication

“…Numerous programs around the world now emphasize a verbal behavior component as a critical ingredient to their treatment regimen. Furthermore, research on teaching manding, tacting, echoic, and intraverbal behavior, as well as powerful but subtle variables such as automatic reinforcement, is also becoming more common, although still largely restricted to journals devoted to publishing behavior analytic work (e.g., Hernandez, Hanley, ingvarsson, & tiger, 2007;lerman, Parton, Addison, Vorndran, Volkert, & Kodak, 2005;Miguel, Petursdorrit, & carr, 2005;Wallace, iwata, & Hanley, 2006;Wright, 2006;Yi, christian, Vittimberga, & lowenkron, 2006). Moreover, a number of books based in large part on Skinner's analysis are now on the market (e.g., Greer & ross, 2008).…”

Examining Antecedent Control over Emergent Mands and Tacts in Young Children

“…These provided the framework necessary for a functional analysis of human language. The distinction between two of these classes, the mand and the tact, has been the subject of discussion and empirical investigation (Lamarre & Holland, 1985;Murphy & Barnes-Holmes, 2009;Petursdottir, Carr, & Michael, 2005;Schlinger, 2008;Sigafoos, Reichle, Doss, Hall, & Pettitt, 1990;Sundberg, San Juan, Dawdy, & Arguelles, 1990;Wallace, Iwata, & Hanley, 2006).…”