In the scenario where a child responds "The aquarium!" to the question "Where should we go?", what type of response is this?

The response "The aquarium!" to the question "Where should we go?" is classified as an intraverbal response. Intraverbals are verbal responses that are evoked by another person's speech, where the response does not have a direct relation to a specific item or action requested. In this scenario, the child's response to a question about the destination is contingent upon the prompt provided, indicating engagement in a conversation.

Intraverbals typically include conversational exchanges where one person's verbal behavior influences another's without any direct connection to an object's presence or action. In this case, "The aquarium!" corresponds to the question and demonstrates how the child is able to generate a relevant response based on prior acquired information about places.

Other types of verbal operants, such as mands (which involve requests or commands) and tacts (which are comments about the environment), do not accurately match the context of the child's response to the question posed. Echoics, which involve repetition of what another person said, also do not fit since the child is not simply repeating the question but instead providing an original response. Thus, this situation exemplifies the principles of intraverbal behavior in verbal operant training.