The Generalization of Mands

Description

The ability to make requests, conceptually referred to as the mand relation, is a type of verbal operant whose response form is under control of a motivating operation (MO). It is the first verbal operant to be acquired, directly benefits the speaker, leads to the development of other behaviors, and may serve to replace problem behavior. Even though the topography of the mand is under the functional control of an MO, its occurrence is influenced by a multitude of variables functioning as discriminative stimuli (SDs). Thus, the generalization of mands can occur across both MOs and SDs. Additionally, the same MO may evoke new mand topographies—a form of response generalization. During this talk, I will describe these two types of mand generalizations as a way to influence future research and clinical practice, as well as how to promote them.

About the Speaker

Dr. Caio Miguel is a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Sacramento and an Adjunct Doctoral Advisor for the Ph.D. Program in ABA at the Institute for Behavioral Studies at Endicott College. Caio also serves as an Adjunct Professor (Professor Colaborador) at the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Sao Paulo – Brazil. ​He obtained his bachelors degree in Psychology at the Pontificia Universidade Catolica de São Paulo in Brazil, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) at Western Michigan University under the co-advisement of Dr. Jack Michael and Dr. James Carr. Caio has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral (BCBA-D) since 2004.