1) A verbal response that specifies its reinforcer. In human verbal behavior, manding is usually a higher-order class, in the sense that a newly acquired tact can be incorporated into a novel mand (as when a child asks for a toy upon learning its name).

2) The word mand comes from the common English word command, but commands are only part of this operant class. The mand is a class of operants whose form is regulated by specific establishing operations (e.g., deprivation, aversive stimulation, etc.). When you say "give me the book," "don't do that," "stop," and so on, your words are regulated by motivational conditions (e.g., deprivation for the book, or by another person doing something unpleasant). In behaviour analysis, these verbal responses are called mands.

3) Verbal behaviour which primarily reinforces the "speaker. Commands, requests, and gestures for someone else to do something are all mands because the compliance of the "listener" primarily reinforces the "speaker."