Fifty years later: Comments on the further development of a science of verbal behavior.

Abstract

Fifty years after the publication of Skinner's Verbal Behavior, some possibilities for the future of Skinner's "science of verbal behavior" are considered. Specifically, certain areas of development or advancement are examined which might be of special importance to the expansion and influence of the functional analysis of verbal behavior. One critical task for the influence of the field, for example, involves the removal of an obstacle; namely, the remarkably persistent and wholly inappropriate influence of Chomsky's polemic of 1959. Strategies for neutralizing this influence are explored. In looking at the future advancement of the field, a case is offered for broadening the domain of verbal behavior research to include a variety of complex verbal phenomena. Skinner's original work and more recent systematic treatments provide an important framework for the analysis of verbal behavior, but there is still room for, and a need for inductively oriented, empirically based research programs that transcend specific interpretive or theoretical treatments. Such programs, under the guidance of the practices of radical behaviorism and effective behavior-analytic methodology, might provide additional lines of development and progress for the analysis of verbal behavior.

Semantic False Memories in the Form of Derived Relational Intrusions Following Training

“…Behavior analysts ground meaning, not in mental representations, but rather in the conditions under which behavior occurs (Day, 1969; Leigland, 2007; Skinner, 1953, 1957). Sometimes the use of a particular word is dictated by direct training, as when a child is reinforced for pointing to the printed word cat in the presence of a picture of a cat.…”

Language and grammar: A behavioral analysis.

“…In fact, if any tide has turned against something, it is the tide against Chomsky's generative linguistics. While Skinner's experimental and applied behavior analysis is thriving worldwide, Chomsky's generative grammar notion has disappeared from linguistics (Harris, 1993; Leigland, 2007). Chomsky's own multiple revisions and qualifications of his 1957 theory have moved away from a cognitive, generative, rule-based theory of language (Schoneberger, 2000).…”

The Selective Impact of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior on Empirical Research: A Reply to Schlinger (2008)

“…However, we contend that it is important, in the interest of fairness, to acknowledge the extensions and amendments to Skinner's account of verbal behavior that have emerged in the decades since the book was published. Several authors have, for instance, considered extensions and alternatives to Skinner's definition of verbal behavior that take into account the extensive research literature on derived relational responding (e.g., Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes, & Cullinan, 2000;Chase & Danforth, 1991;Hayes, 1994;Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001;Hayes & Hayes, 1989Leigland, 1997Leigland, , 2007. In addition to these important conceptual advances, behavior analysts have also undertaken productive basic and applied research programs that have contributed empirical support for a synthesis of Skinner's taxonomy with contemporary approaches to verbal behavior (e.g., Barnes-Holmes et al, 2000;Barnes-Holmes & Murphy, 2007;Murphy, Barnes-Holmes, & Barnes-Holmes, 2005;Rehfeldt & Root, 2005;Rosales & Rehfeldt, 2007).…”