A Clinical Tutorial on Methods to Capture and Contrive Establishing Operations to Teach Mands
Keep this one-page tutorial in your binder—it tells you exactly when and how to make kids want to ask.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Frampton et al. (2024) wrote a how-to guide, not an experiment.
They list three ways to make a child want something badly enough to ask for it.
The paper gives checklists you can tick off while you work.
What they found
The paper does not give new data.
It shows you how to set up incidental teaching, interrupted chains, or brief item removal.
Each method has a short script so you can run it the same way every time.
How this fits with other research
Gutierrez et al. (2007) already proved that hiding one item and leaving another free is a fast way to test if the child really knows what he is asking for.
Hattier et al. (2011) used the same hide-and-seek trick plus script fading to teach "Where is it?" mands.
Cooper et al. (1990) found the opposite: you can skip EO tricks if you teach the name first; two adults started manding after only tact training.
The new tutorial pulls these pieces together and says: pick the tactic that matches your learner’s skills.
Why it matters
You no longer have to guess how to make a child want something.
Use the checklist to contrive an EO, run the trial, and mark the box.
If the child already names items easily, try tact-first like Cooper et al. (1990).
If he needs a push, hide the item like Gutierrez et al. (2007) or Hattier et al. (2011).
One page keeps your session tight and your data clean.
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Join Free →Pick one toy the child loves, remove it for two minutes, then follow the interrupted-chain script in the tutorial to evoke the first mand.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Mands are consistently described as critical learning targets for members of vulnerable populations in need of language intervention (Ala'i-Rosales et al., 2018; Michael, 1988; Sundberg, 2004). Reviews of the literature demonstrate a prevalence of the mand in the applied literature (e.g., DeSouza et al., 2017). Yet, gaps between research and practice exist in scientific fields resulting in decades-long delays between identification of evidence-based approaches and adoption in everyday use. The mand may be particularly at risk for procedural drift in practice settings given the sometimes elusive nature of establishing operations (EOs) and the relative complexity of procedures used to contrive them. Thus, the purpose of this tutorial is to build upon prior conceptual (e.g., Shafer, 1994) and applied (e.g., Cengher et al., 2022) reviews on mands to provide a contemporary, in-depth review of three procedures used to contrive EOs: incidental teaching, the interrupted chains procedure, and programmed restriction of reinforcers. Recent examples from the literature are discussed along with considerations for use in practice. Resources to support implementation including integrity checklists and role play scenarios are provided. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-024-00985-3.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2024 · doi:10.1007/s40617-024-00985-3