Verbal Behavior (book)

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Verbal Behavior (1957), written by psychologist B.F. Skinner, develops a functional analysis ^[1][2] of human behavior encompassing what is traditionally called language, linguistics, or speech. For Skinner, verbal behavior is simply behavior subject to the same controlling variables as any other operant behavior. The book Verbal Behavior is almost entirely theoretical, involving little experimental research in the work itself.^{[3][4] [5]} The book Verbal Behavior was an outgrowth of a series of lectures first presented at the University of Minnesota in the early 1940's and developed further in his William James lectures at Harvard in the decade before the book's publication (citation needed). A growing body of research in verbal behavior has occurred since its original publication and is rapidly expanding. This is particularly true in the past decade. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

Verbal Behavior

Author	B.F.Skinner
Subject(s)	Human Language, Communication, Speech, Linguistics
Publisher	Copley Publishing Group
Publication date	1957, 1992
Pages	478
ISBN	1-58390-021-7 (case), 0-87411-591-4 (pbk.)

Contents 1 Functional Analysis 2 General Problems 2.1 Emission 2.2 Energy-level 2.3 Speed 2.4 Repetition 2.5 Limitations 2.6 Overall frequency 3 The Mand 3.1 Dynamic Properties of the Mand 3.2 The Extended Mand 3.3 Superstitious Mands 3.4 The Magical Mand 4 Under the Control of Verbal Stimuli 4.1 Textual 4.2 Echoic 5 The Tact 5.1 Generic Extension 5.2 Metaphoric Extension 5.3 Metonymical Extension 5.4 Solecistic Extension of The Tact 5.5 Nomination 5.6 Guessing 6 Special Conditions affecting Stimulus control 6.1 The Distorted Tact 7 The Audience 7.1 The Physical Dimensions of the Audience 7.2 The Negative Audience 8 The Verbal Operant as a Unit of Analysis 9 Multiple Causation 10 Supplementary Stimulation 11 New Combinations of Fragmentary Responses 12 The Autoclitic 12.1 Descriptive Autoclitics 13 Grammar and Syntax as Autoclitic Processes 14 Composition and Its Effect 15 Self-Editing 15.1 The Rejection of Verbal Behavior 16 Special Conditions of Self-Editing 16.1 Defective Feedback 16.2 Defective Self-Observation 17 The Experimental Analysis of Behavior 18 Self-strengthening of verbal behavior 19 Logical and scientific verbal behavior 20 Terminology 21 Evolution of Verbal Behavior 22 Critics and Criticisms 22.1 Public Reaction 23 Clinical Applications 24 Current Research Publications 25 References

[edit] Functional Analysis

The context of speaker utterances has often been the topic of sociolinguistic discussion but often missed by linguists. With this as a background, Skinner developed the premise that Verbal Behavior - behavior under the control of consequences mediated by other people (who can interchangeably function as speaker and listener) ^[12] - was best understood in a functional analysis. This theoretical extension was a direct product of his basic research using what he referred to as the "three term contingency model" with the basic behavioral unit being the response and its consequence in a specified situation (antecedent-behavior-consequence).

This is now sometimes called the four-term contingency model with setting conditions added as a fourth term. ^{[13] [14]} This is comprised of a motivating operation (MO), discriminative stimulus (S^D), response (R), and reinforcement (S^rein))^[15]. Skinner's Verbal Behavior also introduced the autoclitic and six elementary operants: mand, tact, audience relation, echoic, textual, and intraverbal.^[16] Skinner argued that verbal behavior is a function of the speaker's current environment and his past behavioral and genetic history. For Skinner, the proper object of study is behavior itself, analyzed without reference to hypothetical (mental) structures, but rather with reference to the functional relationships of the behavior in the environment in which it occurs. This analysis extends Ernst Mach's pragmatic inductive position in physics^{[17] [18]}, and extends even further a disinclination towards hypothesis making and testing ^[19] Verbal Behavior is divided into 5 parts with 19 chapters.

The first chapter sets the stage for this work, a functional analysis of verbal behavior. Skinner presents verbal behavior as a function of controlling consequences and stimuli, not as the product of a special inherent capacity. Neither does he ask us to be satisfied with simply describing the structure, or patterns, of behavior. Skinner deals with some alternative, traditional formulations, and moves on to his own functional position.

[edit] General Problems

Skinner notes the problems of verbal behavior as a dependent variable. Skinner's general position favors rate of response as a dependent measure ^[20] which, in Verbal Behavior is problematic since all verbal behavior does not have the same unitary quality as a lever press ^[21] In the ascertaining of the strength of a response Skinner suggests some criteria for strength(probability):emission, energy-level, speed, repetition, but notes that these are all very limited means for inferring the strength of a response as they do not always vary together as they may come under the control of other factors. Emission is a yes/no measure, however the other three -energy-level, speed, repetition - comprise possible indications of relative strength^[22]

[edit] Emission

If a response is emitted it may tend to be interpreted as having some strength. Unusual or difficult conditions would tend to lend evidence to the inference of strength. Under typical conditions it becomes a less compelling basis for inferring strength. This is an inference that is either there or not, and has no gradation of value.

[edit] Energy-level

Unlike emission as a basis for inference, energy-level (response magnitude) provides a basis for inferring the response has a strength with a high range of varying strength ^[23] Energy level is a basis from which we can infer a high tendency to respond. An energetic and strong "Chomsky!" forms the basis for inferring the strength of the response as opposed to a weak, brief "Chomsky".^[24]

[edit] Speed

Speed is the speed of the response itself, or the latency from the time in which it could have occurred to the time in which it occurs. A response given quickly when prompted forms the basis for inferring a high strength ^[25].

[edit] Repetition

"Chomsky! Chomsky! Chomsky!" may be emitted and used as an indication of relative strength compared to the speedy and/or energetic emission of "Chomsky!". In this way repetition can be used as a way to infer strength

[edit] Limitations

Skinner notes that these are "easy to overestimate"^[26] especially in single instances. Other, extraneous variables, such a noise, special listeners, or those at a distance may induce variation in these relative indicators unrelated to their proper strength.

[edit] Overall frequency

The overall frequency of a response in a large body of responses may be used as another indicator of strength. Skinner's analysis of alliteration might be seen as one form of this analysis (Skinner, 1939) ^[27]

[edit] The Mand

Chapter Three of Skinner's work Verbal Behavior discusses a functional relationship called the mand. A mand is a form of verbal behavior that is controlled by deprivation, satiation, or what is now called motivating operations (MO) as well as a controlling history. An example of this would be asking for water when one is water deprived ("thirsty"). It is tempting to say that a mand 'describes its reinforcer' which it sometimes does, but mands may have no correspondence to the reinforcer, for example a loud knock may be a mand "open the door" and a servant may be called by a hand clap as much as a child might "ask for milk".

The Lamarre & Holland (1985) study on mands would be one example of a research study in this area. ^[28]

[edit] Dynamic Properties of the Mand

The mand form, being under the control of deprivation and stimulation, will vary in energy level. Dynamic qualities are to be understood as variations that arise as a function of multiple causes. Dynamic in this case is opposed how someone reading from a text might sound if they do not simulate the normal dynamic qualities of verbal behavior.

[edit] The Extended Mand

Emitting mands to objects or animals that cannot possibly supply an appropriate response would be an example of the extended Mand. Telling "stop!" to someone out of earshot, perhaps in a film, who is about to hurt themselves is an example of the extended mand.

[edit] Superstitious Mands

Mands directed to inanimate objects may be said to be superstitious mands. Mands to a unreliable car to "come on and start" for example may be due to a history of intermittent reinforcement.

[edit] The Magical Mand

A magical mand is a mand form where the consequences have never occurred that are specified in the mand. The form I wish I had a million dollars has never before produced a million dollars might be said to be magical. Skinner posits that many literary mands are of the magical form. Prayer might also be analyzed as belonging in one of the above three categories, depending upon one's opinion of the likelihood and mechanism of its answer.

[edit] Under the Control of Verbal Stimuli

[edit] Textual

In Chapter 4 Skinner notes forms of control by verbal stimuli. One form is textual behavior which refers to the type of behavior we might typically call reading or writing. A vocal response is controlled by a verbal stimulus that is not heard. There are two different modalities involved ("reading"). If they are the same they become "copying text" (see Jack Michael on copying text), if they are heard, then written, it becomes "taking dictation", and so on.

[edit] Echoic

Skinner was one of the first to seriously consider the role of imitation in language learning. He introduced this concept into his book verbal behavior with the concept of the echoic. A behavior under the functional control of a verbal stimulus. The verbal response and the verbal stimulus share what is called point to point correspondence (a formal similarity.) The speaker repeats what is said. In echoic behavior, the stimulus is auditory and response is vocal. Often seen in early shaping behavior. For example, in learning a new language, a teacher might say "parsimonious" and then say "can you say it?" to induce an echoic response.

Winokur (1978) is one example of research about echoic relations. ^[29]

[edit] The Tact

Chapter Five of Verbal Behavior discusses the tact in depth. A tact is said to "make contact with" the world, and refers to behavior that is under the control of generalized reinforcement. The controlling stimuli is nonverbal, "the whole of the physical environment". It can undergo many extensions: generic, metaphoric, metonymical, solecistic, nomination, and 'guessing'. It can also be involved in abstraction. Lowe, Horne, Harris & Randle (2002) would be one example of recent work in tacts. ^[30]

[edit] Generic Extension

The tact is said to be capable of generic extension. We might call something a car, then seeing something like the old object called a car, we call this new stimulus a car.

[edit] Metaphoric Extension

It can be extended metaphorically, as when we describe something as "exploding with taste" by drawing the common property of an explosion with the response to our having eaten something (perhaps a strong response, or a sudden one).

[edit] Metonymical Extension

It can undergo metonymical extension when things that are paired together frequently are then used to stand for each other; as "The White House hates B.F.Skinner" when The President and The White House are paired together frequently so as to be "interchangeable".

[edit] Solecistic Extension of The Tact

When controlling variables unrelated to standard or immediate reinforcement take over control of the tact, it is said to be solecistically extended. Malapropisms, solecism and catachresis are said to be examples of this.

[edit] Nomination

A proper name may arise as a result of the tact. Skinner notes things like serial order, or conspicuous features of an object may come to play as nominative tacts. A house that is haunted becomes The Haunted House as a nominative extension to the tact of it being haunted.

[edit] Guessing

A guess may seemingly be the emission of a response in the absence of controlling stimuli. Skinner notes that this may simply be a tact under more subtle or hidden controlling variables. Although this is not always the case in something like guessing the landing side of a coin toss where the possible alternatives are fixed and there is no subtle or hidden stimuli to control responding.

[edit] Special Conditions affecting Stimulus control

Skinner deals with factors that interfere with, or change, generalized reinforcement. It is these conditions which, in turn, affect verbal behavior which may depend largely or entirely on generalized reinforcement. Factors like deprivation, emotional conditions and personal history may interfere with or change verbal behavior. Skinner mentions alertness, irrelevant emotional variables, 'special circumstances' surrounding particular listeners or speakers and so on (he refers to the conditions which are said to produce objective and subjective responses for example). We would now look at these as motivating operations/Establishing conditions.

[edit] The Distorted Tact

Distorted stimulus control may be minor as when a description (tact) is a slight exaggeration. Under stronger conditions of distortion it may appear when the original stimulus is absent, as in the case of the response called a lie. Skinner notes that troubadours and fiction writers are perhaps both motivated by similar forms of tact distortion. Initially they may recount real events but as differential reinforcement affects the account we may see distortion and then total fabrication.

[edit] The Audience

The listener, as an audience, acts as a special, powerful and important discriminative stimulus. ^[31]

Since the audience is typically an occasion for the reinforcement of (verbal) behavior, it tends to take on reinforcing properties. Skinner uses examples of mands for audiences to appear as examples (the appearance of a listener or audience would not be necessarily the person doing the listening but what might be called "paying attention" to the speaker). However, the physical dimensions of an audience are hard to identify, Skinner notes (p. 176). Skinner speaks of an audience character which seems to denote some controlling quality of appropriate behavior (something as simple as a uniform or badge for example) which can be emitted with regards to the audience.There is also a negative audience which might be a person or situation that approximates other audience situations in some ways, but unlike them is not an occasion for reinforcement. This would conform to the relationship described with an S^{<math>\Delta</math>} which is an occasion that presents a non-reinforcement with the discriminative stimulus. A speaker may function as his own audience.

[edit] The Physical Dimensions of the Audience

The physical dimensions of an effective audience "are hard to identify"^[32]. Skinner refers to the property of the history of audience control over the speaker's behavior as audience character. Audience character may be represented in clothing indicating that special responses will be reinforced, as in the clothing of store employees who may be approached with questions about the location of merchandise. A distant audience, for example in letter writing, is typically weak.

[edit] The Negative Audience

In the absence of an audience verbal behavior may decrease, but it is often not absent. An audience which punishes certain kinds of verbal behavior may be called a 'negative audience'. Special audiences, including the powerful, adults in relation to children, theatrical audiences and others may punish verbal behavior in the sense of demanding silence under many or most conditions.

[edit] The Verbal Operant as a Unit of Analysis

Skinner notes his categories of verbal behavior: mand, echoic, textual, intraverbal, tact, audience relations, and notes how behavior might be classified. He notes that form alone is not sufficient (he uses the example of "fire!" having multiple possible relationships depending on the circumstances). Classification depends on knowing the circumstances under which the behavior is emitted. Skinner then notes that the "same response" may be emitted under different operant conditions.^[33]

[edit] Multiple Causation

Skinner notes in this chapter how any given response is likely to be the result of multiple variables. Secondly, that any given variable usually affects multiple responses.^[34] The issue of multiple audiences is also addressed, as each audience is, as already noted, an occasion for strong and successful responding. Combing audiences produces differing tendencies to respond.

[edit] Supplementary Stimulation

Supplementary stimulation is a discussion to practical matters of controlling verbal behavior given the context of material which has been presented thus far. Issues of multiple control, and involving many of the elementary operants stated in previous chapters are discussed.

[edit] New Combinations of Fragmentary Responses

A special case of where multiple causation comes into play creating new verbal forms is in what Skinner describes as fragmentary responses. Such combinations are typically vocal, although this may be due to different conditions of self-editing rather than any special property. Such mutations may be 'nonsense' and may not further the verbal interchange in which it occurs. Freudian slips may be one special case of fragmentary responses which tend to be given reinforcement and may discourage self-editing. This phenomena appears to be more common in children, and in adults learning a second language. Fatigue, illness and insobriety may tend to produce fragmentary responding.

[edit] The Autoclitic

An autoclitic is a form of verbal behavior which modifies the functions of other forms of verbal behavior. For example, "I think it is raining" possesses the autoclitic "I think" which moderates the strength of the statement "it is raining". An example of research that involved autoclitics might be Lodhi & Greer (1989). ^[35]

[edit] Descriptive Autoclitics

A speaker may acquire verbal behavior that is descriptive of their own behavior. I said I love Noam Chomsky is a descriptive autoclitic which describes the behavior of talking about one's own behavior. They may also describe strength of response, as the emission of I think is often used to indicate some level of weakness, as in I love Noam Chomsky, I think.

[edit] Grammar and Syntax as Autoclitic Processes

Grammatical manipulations, such as the order or grouping of responses, is described by Skinner as autoclitic. The ordering of patterns may be a function of relevant strength, temporal ordering, or other factors. Skinner here speaks to the use of predication and the use of tags, contrasting the Latin forms which use tags and English which using grouping and ordering. Skinner proposes the relational autoclitic as a descriptor for these kinds of relationships.

[edit] Composition and Its Effect

Composition represents a special class of autoclitic responding, because the responding is itself a response to previously existing verbal responses. The autoclitic is controlled not only by the effects on the listener but upon the speaker as listener of their own responses. Skinner notes that 'emotional and imaginal' behavior has little to do with grammar and syntax. Obscene words and poetry are likely to be effective even when emitted non-grammatically.

[edit] Self-Editing

Self editing as a compositional process follows the autoclitic process of manipulating responses. After the responses are changed with autoclitics they are examined for their effects and then 'rejected or released'.

[edit] The Rejection of Verbal Behavior

The physical topography of the rejection of verbal behavior in the process of editing varies from the partial emission of a written word to the apparent non-emission of a vocal response. It may include ensuring that responses simply do not reach a listener, as in not delivering a manuscript or letter. Manipulative autoclitics can revoke words by striking them out, as in a court of law. Similar effects may arise from expression like Forget it.

[edit] Special Conditions of Self-Editing

Conditions may arise which prevent self-editing, such as a very high response strength.

[edit] Defective Feedback

A speaker may fail to react as a listener to their own speech under conditions where the emission of verbal responses is very quick. The speed may be a function of strength or of differential reinforcement. Physical interruption may arise as in the case of those who are hearing impaired, or under conditions of mechanical impairment such as ambient noise. Skinner notes the Ouija board may operate to mask feedback and so produce unedited verbal behavior.

[edit] Defective Self-Observation

[edit] The Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Skinner's ideas in psychology fall within what is now known as The Experimental analysis of behavior. This branch takes it's name after BF Skinner's 1938 work The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis of Behavior. In the 1950s, having trouble getting their work published, Skinner and others formed the Society for the Experimental Analaysis of Behavior and published the Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB). Journals that publish works relating to basic and applied research using Skinner's original work as a basis include The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) ^[36]The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) ^[37] The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB), Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The Behavior Analyst and many others.

[edit] Self-strengthening of verbal behavior

Here Skinner draws a parallel to his position on self-control^[38] and notes: "A person controls his own behavior, verbal or otherwise, as he controls the behavior of others." Appropriate verbal behavior may be weak, as in forgetting a name, and in need of strengthening. It may have been inadequately learned, as in a foreign language. Repeating a formula, reciting a poem, and so on. The techniques are manipulating stimuli, changing the level of editing, the mechanical production of verbal behavior, changing motivational and emotional variables, incubation, and so on. Skinner gives an example of the use of some of these techniques provided by an author.

[edit] Logical and scientific verbal behavior

The special audience in this case is one concerned with "successful action". Special methods of stimulus control are encouraged that will allow for maximum effectiveness. Skinner notes that 'graphs, models, tables' are forms of texts that allow for this kind of development.

The logical and scientific community also sharpens responses to assure accuracy and avoiding distortion.

[edit] Terminology

Verbal Behavior, as a name for an applied therapy, can also refer to a specialized form of Applied Behavior Analysis. It is complementary to ABA, building on its foundation. However, Verbal Behavior focuses more on language as a behavior, typically in applied settings with developmentally disabled students.

[edit] Evolution of Verbal Behavior

Skinner has suggested that his account of verbal behavior might have a strong evolutionary parallel ^[39]. In Skinner's essay, Selection by Consequences he argued that operant conditioning was a part of a three level process involving genetic evolution, cultural evolution and operant conditioning. All three processes, he argued, were examples of parallel processes of selection by consequences. David L. Hull, Rodney E. Langman and Sigrid S. Glenn have developed this parallel in detail ^[40]. This topic continues to be a focus for behavior analysts ^[41].

[edit] Critics and Criticisms

Noam Chomsky's review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior, ^[42] although considered by some to have largely missed the point of Skinner's work, ^[43] is considered, nonetheless, to have been widely influential. It is apparent that Chomsky's verbal behavior was not under the stimulus control of the book Verbal Behavior, but rather under the more diffuse control of the textual stimulus 'Skinner' (or possibly 'Pavlov' given Chomsky's confusion of operant and respondent behavioral models). Chomsky's influence was a point that Skinner himself conceded. ^[44]. Chomsky's position on grammar has been rebutted and accounted for using Skinner's Verbal Behavior framework^[45] There is also now an alternative to Skinner's account within behavior analysis, Relational Frame Theory, and authors in that area have developed a number of behavior analytic objections to Skinner's specific approach. There is some controversy regarding RFT's status in regard to Behavior Analysis. Its founder Steven Hayes regards it as an extension of operant conditioning principles that is consistent with Skinner's analysis but goes beyond it (personal communication).

Others feel that it is consistent with Behavior Analysis but involves emergent principles not found in conventional operant conditioning. Finally, there are those who feel that it is simply another form of Cognitive Behaviorism, rather than Radical Behaviorism.

[edit] Public Reaction

Public reaction to Verbal Behavior has not been very wide, probably due to its highly academic nature. Most responses that deal with Skinner's Verbal Behavior are probably a function of Chomsky's review of it more than a response to Skinner's original position.

[edit] Clinical Applications

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy is one application of Skinner's model of Verbal Behavior to typically developing adult human populations in non-laboratory (clinical) settings.^[46]. As such this approach represents an attempt to empirically validate Applied behavior analysis and Verbal Behavior for problems such as depression ^[47][48] and other common clinical problems.

[edit] Current Research Publications

Current research in Verbal Behavior is published in The Analysis of Verbal Behavior^[49] (TAVB), and other Behavior Analytic journals such as the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA). Also research is presented at poster sessions and conferences, such as at regional Behavior Analysis conventions^[50] or Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA)^[51] conventions nationally or internationally. There is also a Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (SIG)^[52] of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) which has a mailing list.^[53]

Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention^[54] and the Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis^[55]both publish clinical articles on interventions based on verbal behavior.

[edit] References

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