Examining Antecedent Control over Emergent Mands and Tacts in Young Children

Egan, Claire E.; Barnes‐Holmes, Dermot

doi:10.1007/bf03395750

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, mands emerged under standard antecedent conditions, thus indicating that modified antecedent conditions were not required for posttraining mand emergence. These findings are consistent with previous research demonstrating initial emergence of mand/tact verbal operants following training in the other operant (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2008;Petursdottir et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Specifically, the initial functional independence observed in standard antecedent conditions during posttraining probes was subsequently overcome by the introduction of the modified antecedent. Notably, these findings are consistent with previous research indicating that antecedent conditions control the emergence of untrained mand or tact operants following training in the other operant (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2008, 2009). The authors concluded that the modified antecedent functioned as a verbal discriminative stimulus that cued participants to respond in the context of the experimental conditions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Thus, participants may have continued to respond during mand probe sessions with responses established outside the experimental conditions. Consistent with previous research, the presentation of the modified antecedent may have functioned as a verbal discriminative stimulus that cued participants to respond in the context of the experimental training (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2008, 2009.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Two recent studies demonstrated that an initial lack of mand/tact emergence was observed following tact/mand training in standard antecedent conditions (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2008, 2009). An emergence of the untrained operant was subsequently overcome under modified antecedent probe conditions in which specific vocal (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2009) or specific vocal and gestural (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2008) antecedent cues were present.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent research has explored a number of variables that might be responsible for the lack of emergent responding across mand/tact operants, and, in particular, antecedent stimuli seem to be important in this regard (Egan & Barnes-Holmes, 2008, 2009). Specifically, training in one verbal operant (either mand or tact) did not result in the emergence of the other verbal operant (tact or mand) under standard antecedent conditions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Establishing Mand Emergence: The Effects of Three Training Procedures and Modified Antecedent Conditions

Egan

Barnes‐Holmes

2010

Psychol Rec

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Skinner's (1957) theory of verbal behavior categorized several classes of verbal operants according to the antecedent and consequential controlling variables unique to each operant. Since that time, two of these verbal operants, the mand and the tact, have been examined closely in the behavioral research literature.Skinner (1957) defined mand as a verbal response evoked by conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation in which the response is followed by a characteristic consequence. Michael (1982) referred to these preceding conditions as establishing operations (EO) and further refined the concept to include any environmental changes that alter the value of the consequence in mand operants. Mands have been distinguished from other verbal operants based on (a) the presence of EOs as a primary controlling variable and (b) the characteristic consequence following the response. Tacts were defined as verbal responses evoked by nonverbal discriminative stimuli followed by generalized reinforcement (Skinner, 1957).According to Skinner (1957), the controlling variables defining each of these verbal operants made them functionally independent. Therefore,

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 76%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Establishing Mand Emergence: The Effects of Three Training Procedures and Modified Antecedent Conditions

Egan

Barnes‐Holmes

2010

Psychol Rec

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Manipulating Motivating Operations to Facilitate the Emergence of Mands for a Child With Autism

Davis

Kahng

Coryat

2012

Analysis Verbal Behav

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Research on the functional independence of verbal operants (Skinner, 1957) has demonstrated inconsistent findings. One explanation may be that these studies have not manipulated the motivating operation (MO) to facilitate the emergence of mands (Hall & Sundberg, 1987; Lamarre & Holland, 1985). In the current study, 1 participant, diagnosed with autism, was taught to tact high-preference and low-preference leisure items, and emergence of mands was tested under varying MO conditions. Results showed the emergence of mands following periods of arranged deprivation, and greater maintenance for a highly preferred relative to a less preferred stimulus. However, mands only emerged when presession tact trials were conducted. These results suggest that in a state of deprivation, transfer of stimulus control from discriminative to motivational conditions may occur without direct training.

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The Functional Independence of Mands and Tacts: Has It Been Demonstrated Empirically?

Gamba

Goyos

Pétursdóttir

2014

Analysis Verbal Behav

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Recently, there has been a proliferation of research on the functional independence of two of Skinner's (1957) verbal operants, the mand, and the tact. This research has produced highly variable results. In this article, we provide a critical review of the literature on mand-tact independence, a literature that has implications for both theory and practice. Included in the review are 17 studies with a total of 66 participants who were tested for mand emergence following tact training, tact emergence following mand training, or both, and 11 additional studies that systematically manipulated variables expected to affect the outcomes of such tests. A primary finding is that most studies to date suffer from problems with construct validity. However, it may be justifiable to conclude that the literature provides at least weak support for the functional independence of mands and tacts. Future investigators should avoid the major construct validity pitfalls described in this article, describe participant characteristics more thoroughly, and consider alternative approaches to studying mand-tact independence.

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Examining Antecedent Control over Emergent Mands and Tacts in Young Children

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

Establishing Mand Emergence: The Effects of Three Training Procedures and Modified Antecedent Conditions

Establishing Mand Emergence: The Effects of Three Training Procedures and Modified Antecedent Conditions

Manipulating Motivating Operations to Facilitate the Emergence of Mands for a Child With Autism

The Functional Independence of Mands and Tacts: Has It Been Demonstrated Empirically?

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