Mand Interactions in Retarded and Nonretarded Adolescents: An Observational Study in Vocational Settings

Abstract

A three-unit contingency record of (1) the types of mands presented, (2) the classes of response evoked by those mands, and (3) the consequent conditions for those responses, was used in an observational study of “mand interactions” between retarded and nonretarded employees and supervisors in several settings. The results provided evidence that (a) the great majority of mands provided in vocational settings in the institution and the community are in an explicit form requiring an observable response, (b) incorrect responding to mands per se is virtually nonexistent in vocational settings, and (c) consequences provided for responses to mands are predominately unobservable, i.e., neither positive nor negative.

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