The reinforcement need not be “named” by the verbal response, however. If a child says “dog” in the presence of the family dog, a parent might say, “Good, that’s right!” if the child is learning the response. This is mediated reinforcement if it tends to increase the future probability of this response under similar circumstances.
A stimulus change that has the following features:
It occurs after a response has been emitted
It increases the future probability of that response
It results from the action of another individual
Formal and dynamic features of the response
Formal and dynamic features of the controlling variable
Whether or not the current response is reinforced
The “meaning” of either the stimulus or the response