Generalized Reinforcement Effects on Manding: A Replication

Current research is split on findings of the functional independence of mands and tacts. Some studies have shown a response taught as a tact might emerge as a mand without training. The aim of this study was to replicate findings of Wallace, Iwata, and Hanley (2006) by creating conditions that facilitated the transfer of tacts to mands. The current study supported the functional dependence of verbal operants and found that after at least 3 sessions of exposure to the mand reinforcement contingency, the subject successfully emitted mands after being trained to tact. In extension, a functional assessment (FA) methodology was applied post-intervention to test the functions of the verbal operant classes (Kelley et al., 2007b). Results for the FA portion of the study were inconclusive