According to Cooper, Heron & Heward (2007), a “tact is a type of verbal operant in which a speaker names things and actions that the speaker has direct contact with through any of the sense modes.”.
As such, a tact is a label that allows one to communicate and express themselves using language (e.g. learner sees flower and states “flower”).
In comparison to a mand where the reinforcer is specific to the item named, the reinforcer for a tact (e.g. learner sees flower and states “flower”) is general (i.e. “good job!”).
A learner can tact not only observable things they see, hear, taste, and/or smell, but non-observable concepts (i.e. happiness, sadness, pain) as well.
Visual (Sight) – Seeing a bed and saying “bed.”
Auditory (Sound) – Hearing barking and saying “dog.”
Olfactory (Smell) – Smelling a stench and saying “it’s smelly.”
Gustatory (Taste) – Eating chilli and saying “spicy!”
Somatosensory (Touch) – Stubbing their toe and saying “pain.”
In future posts, we will look deeper into the types of tacts that can be taught to a learner.
References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Behavior Bubbles 
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