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Skinner Quote of the Month-April 2010
Welcome to the Skinner Quote of the Month page! Every month, this page will highlight quotes from B.F. Skinner and offer some related comments from Andy Bondy and/or other Pyramid team members as well as invited guests.
Be sure to visit this page every month for something new!
Skinner Quote of the Month:
What is Verbal Behavior?
Let’s face it- there are many people using the term ‘verbal behavior’- so what does it mean? Is it a kind of special behavior? Is it a therapeutic package? How does PECS relate to verbal behavior?
The term ‘Verbal Behavior’ has two distinct usages. First, it is the title of a critical book that B. F. Skinner published in 1957. (See www.bfskinner.org for more details about B.F. Skinner or the B.F. Skinner Founcation.) It may not be an easy book to read but it is an extremely important one. In this book Skinner uses everything he studied about learning and applied it to what we would call language or communication. While Skinner was a brilliant researcher, it should be noted that there is no original research in the book. And- just as importantly- there is no ‘how to’ section in the book. No where does Skinner note how we should teach anything to anyone, nor does he provide a specific guide as to how to best work with children who are displaying difficulty in acquiring language- spoken or otherwise.
The other appropriate use of the term ‘verbal behavior’ is as a type of operant- one on which the book centers. Let’s see how Skinner defines verbal behavior early in the book (p. 2):
“…behavior reinforced through the mediation of other people.”
What does this mean? First, note that this behavior takes place between two people- the one engaging in verbal behavior and the mediator or communicative partner. In some manner- and the form is not relevant (see last month’s quote!)- a person does something to another person, who in turn provides or allows access to a reinforcer- either a direct outcome or a social outcome. That is, if I arrange for my own reinforcing outcome- I pick up a cup and drink, I open a box and take a candy to eat, I open the door- then there is no verbal behavior- no functional communication. It is only when I do something to someone else who then provides/arranges for a reinforcer for my action that verbal behavior can be identified.
But Skinner provides a more detailed definition much later in the book- page 225 to be exact! There he writes:
“…the ‘listener’ must be responding in ways which have been conditioned precisely in order to reinforce the behavior of the speaker …”
On page 226, Skinner continues: “The special conditioning of the listener is the crux of the problem. Verbal behavior is shaped and sustained by a verbal environment- by people who respond to behavior in certain ways because of the practices of the group of which they are members.”
The simpler definition of verbal behavior could serve to describe the actions between just two people but the more complete definition points out the special ‘conditioning’ or learning history that the ‘listener’- the mediator or communicative partner- needs from participating in a verbal community. In other words, the broader definition is more akin to what we refer to as ‘language’- English is a different language than French because the sound configurations that are reinforced in specific ways in English (i.e., saying ‘cookie’ as a mand results in getting a cookie) are not reinforced by French speakers (i.e., saying ‘cookie’ in France will not result in getting a cookie). It is the current members of a verbal community- its adult speakers- who teach new members- their young children- to engage in particular forms of verbal behavior (both vocal and non-vocal) that come to serve as verbal operants.
Therefore, it is our job to teach those who have no or impoverished verbal behavior to become members of our verbal community- until we do that, we have not accomplished our goal!
So, the book, Verbal Behavior, offers Skinner’s analysis about various verbal operants, each defined by their unique combination of the three-term contingency- the ABCs of behavior analysis. The different verbal operants- mand, tact, intraverbal, echoic, autoclitic, etc.,- are all members of a larger class of operants called verbal behavior. So, the proper use of the term ‘verbal behavior’ either refers to the book itself or the contents of the book- the special behavior defined by Skinner as verbal behavior. Many different strategies, including PECS, are based upon the analysis offered by Skinner in this book. Everything developed within the sequence of phases within PECS as well as how various teaching strategies are used to promote specific skills, is consistent and dependent upon a clear understanding of verbal behavior as defined by Skinner. It does not help the field that some people think that their ideas, their strategies, their suggestions are uniquely and solely in accord with Skinner’s analysis. Verbal behavior should NOT refer to a therapeutic package- it refers either to the type of special behavior defined by Skinner or to the book itself.
Comments and questions are welcomed!
Andy Bondy
BF Skinner Foundation
Cambridge Center for Behaviorial Studies