#tact extensions

In a previous post I talked about the verbal operant, tact and how they function in our day to day verbal lives.  We tact our experiences - i.e., we say what we think, feel and sense in order to share that experience with others.  I love analyzing people's tacts; especially children's.  When so much of the world is still new to them and they want to share, we get some interesting labels for things. These are due to tact extensions.  Tact extensions arise when something being talked about shares a quality with previously learned tacts. Because that word or label worked before to describe something that was similar, it is used again. Tact extensions can also occur when you don’t know the word for something so you try to use what words you do know to describe it. These words might describe features or functions of the object. For example, if you’re not familiar with the word, ‘air conditioner’, you might tact it as, “A box you put in your window to cool your place down”.  Tact extension are not really errors as the person is using learned and previously functional words to label and describe.  It just requires more work from the listener to reinforce and show an understanding of what the person is trying to say.     

Some tact extensions I have heard:

When any older person is called “grandma” or “grandpa”

When all four legged creatures are either “cat” or “dog” depending on which word they learned first.

“Pants in the water” was used to indicate swimming

Repeating a phrase from a particular emotional scene in a movie/TV show that seems to match the emotions of the current situations.  Here is an example of how echolalia can function.

Referring to an LP record as a plate.

Tact extensions show the strength of one’s vocabulary and how language is learned from experience with our physical and social environments.  They really are fascinating to hear and be part of.  

Related posts:

Are you asking me or just saying?