BCBA
- Skinner defines the mand as verbal operant where reaction is strengthened by a distinctive outcome and is consequently below the useful regulation of appropriate situations of deficiency or aversive stimulus. Mand is characterized by the exceptional connection between the method of the reply and the bolstering typically acknowledged in a given vocal community (Skinner, 1957).
- A person cannot determine whether a response as a mandate alone can be used to know the kind of variables regulating a response to know the verbal operant involved. “ Give me some ice cream!” is a mand given that it is a type of verbal behavior learned by classic children and this allows them to get what they want and get rid of what they don’t want.
- The relevant variables in determining the dynamic properties of the mand are contained in two processes including the motivational operations and discriminative stimuli. Mand is only verbal operant to sensitive motivating operation and can vary dramatically because of motivating operations and discriminative stimulus.
- Magical mand is may be strengthened by the vocal community as well as a mand that may never be reinforced. Skinner recommended one way in which novel mand may emerge, through adventurous reinforcement and this is known as superstitious mand. There appears to be two types of mand extension: one being stimulus generalization which refers to the manifestation of the mand in the presence of fresh discriminative stimulus conditions; the second is true mand which refers to occurrence in the presence of fresh motivational operations.
- The components of the mand training program includes selecting the items that will used as target, choosing reinforces carefully and systematically, identifying strong motivators, pair staff with delivery of enforcement and select events which will be used as target.
References
Skinner, B., F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Human language, communication, speech, linguistics. Copley publishing group.
