UNIT 8 DB

Unit 8 DB: Elementary Verbal Operants Student’s Name Institution of Affiliation Course Name Instructor’s Name Date Unit 8 DB: Elementary Verbal Operants Over the years, verbal operants have been discussed since they play a critical role in developing language and communication skills. The elementary verbal operants are mand, Tact, Echoic, and Intraverbal. In mand, the speaker speaks about what they want or need (Fryling, 2017). This operant is triggered by the individual’s aversive stimulation or deprivation state. This operant possesses formal similarity and point-to-point similarity where the reinforcement is specific to the requested action or item. An example of mand is when a kid requests, "Mum, can I have food, please?” (Mand), where she is responding to the hunger feeling (SD) when her mother gives her a plate of food (reinforcement), and the kid’s manding behavior will be successfully reinforced. Tact is another verbal operant. In this operant, the speaker usually labels something according to its environment. Nonverbal stimuli normally trigger tact, and then the social approval reinforces it. Even though tact has point-to-point correspondence, it lacks formal similarity with the stimulus. Tact involves social reinforcement or access to information. A real-life example of tact is when an individual points to a car (SD) and the child says "car," and the individual gives the child praise (reinforcement); this action will reinforce the child's tacting behavior. Echoic is the other verbal ...