Mand is a term that

B.F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974. ...

used to describe a verbal

operant Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a learning process where behaviors are modified through the association of stimuli with reinforcement or punishment. In it, operants—behaviors that affect one's environment—are c ...

in which the response is reinforced by a characteristic consequence and is therefore under the functional control of relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation. One cannot determine, based on form alone, whether a response is a mand; it is necessary to know the kinds of variables controlling a response in order to identify a verbal operant. A mand is sometimes said to "specify its reinforcement" although this is not always the case. Skinner introduced the mand as one of six primary verbal operants in his 1957 work, ''

Verbal Behavior ''Verbal Behavior'' is a 1957 book by psychologist B. F. Skinner, in which he describes what he calls verbal behavior, or what was traditionally called linguistics. Skinner's work describes the controlling elements of verbal behavior with termino ...

''. Chapter three of Skinner's work, ''Verbal Behavior'', discusses a functional relationship called the mand. A mand is a form of verbal behavior that is controlled by deprivation, satiation, or what is now called motivating operations (MO), as well as a controlling history. An example of this would be asking for water when one is water deprived ("thirsty"). It is tempting to say that a mand ''describes its reinforcer'', which it sometimes does. But many mands have no correspondence to the reinforcer. For example, a loud knock may be a mand "open the door" and a servant may be called by a hand clap as much as a child might "ask for milk." Mands differ from other verbal operants in that they primarily benefit the speaker, whereas other verbal operants function primarily for the benefit of the listener. This is not to say that mand's function exclusively in favor of the speaker, however; Skinner gives the example of the advice, "Go west!" as having the potential to yield consequences which will be reinforcing to both speaker and listener. When warnings such as "Look out!" are heeded, the listener may avoid aversive stimulation. The Lamarre & Holland (1985) study on mands would be one example of a research study in this area.

Dynamic properties

The mand form, being under the control of deprivation and stimulation, will vary in energy level. Dynamic qualities are to be understood as variations that arise as a function of multiple causes. Dynamic, in this case, as opposed to how someone reading from a text might sound if they do not simulate the normal dynamic qualities of verbal behavior. Mands tend to be permanent when they are acquired.

Extended mands

Emitting mands to objects or animals that cannot possibly supply an appropriate response would be an example of the extended mand. Telling "stop!" to someone out of earshot, perhaps in a film, who is about to hurt themselves is an example of the extended mand. Extended mands occur due to extended

stimulus control In behavioral psychology (or applied behavior analysis), stimulus control is a phenomenon in operant conditioning (also called contingency management) that occurs when an organism behaves in one way in the presence of a given stimulus and another w ...

. In the case of an extended mand, the listener is unable to deliver consequences that would reinforce the mand, but they have enough in common with listeners that have previously reinforced the mand that stimulus control can be inferred.

Superstitious mands

Mands directed to inanimate objects may be said to be superstitious mands. Mands to an unreliable car to "come on and start" for example may be due to a history of

intermittent reinforcement In behavioral psychology, reinforcement is a consequence applied that will strengthen an organism's future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus. This strengthening effect may be measured as a higher freq ...

Magical mands

A magical mand is a mand form where the consequences specified in the mand have never occurred. The form "Give me a million dollars" has never before produced a million dollars and so would be classified as a magical mand. Skinner posits that many literary mands are of the magical form. Prayer might also be analyzed as belonging in one of the above three categories, depending upon one's opinion of the likelihood and mechanism of its answer.

Clinical application

Failure to mand adequately appears to be correlated with destructive behavior.Fisher, W.W. (2001) Functional Analysis of Pre current Contingencies Between Mands and Destructive Behavior. ''The Behavior Analyst Today'', 2(3), 176–8
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developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

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