The Multiple Control of Verbal Behavior

Abstract

Amid the novel terms and original analyses in Skinner's Verbal Behavior, the importance of his discussion of multiple control is easily missed, but multiple control of verbal responses is the rule rather than the exception. In this paper we summarize and illustrate Skinner's analysis of multiple control and introduce the terms convergent multiple control and divergent multiple control. We point out some implications for applied work and discuss examples of the role of multiple control in humor, poetry, problem solving, and recall. Joint control and conditional discrimination are discussed as special cases of multiple control. We suggest that multiple control is a useful analytic tool for interpreting virtually all complex behavior, and we consider the concepts of derived relations and naming as cases in point.

Referent-Based Verbal Behavior Instruction for Children with Autism

“…For developing complex verbal behavior, multiple control is the rule rather than the exception (Michael et al 2011). A significant body of research is emerging to show that the acquisition of one operant can facilitate the emergence of other verbal operants (cf.…”

Thirty Points About Motivation From Skinner’s Book Verbal Behavior

“…A single MO can also evoke a number of different responses, including both verbal and nonverbal responses (Poling, 2001). And, like with S D s, the specific response configuration that is emitted usually depends on additional sources of control that might be present (Michael et al, 2011). Skinner provides an example of divergent control involving MOs and verbal and nonverbal behavior in the following quotation.…”

“…(See also p. 187,chap. 11, Point #25: MOs can participate in conditional discriminations and in joint control Conditional discriminations and joint control represent two special cases of convergent multiple control (Michael et al, 2011). Michael (2004 defined a conditional discrimination as a type of convergent multiple control where ''the nature or extent of operant control by a stimulus condition depends on some other stimulus condition'' (p. 64).…”

“…Joint control is a type of convergent multiple control where two separate antecedent events simultaneously control the same response form, and establish a new S D (Lowenkron, 1991;Michael et al, 2011). For example, when looking for a particular video at a video store, one might be covertly engaging in repeated self-echoics stating the name of the video while scanning the array of options.…”

Editorial: Verbal Behavior and Motivating Operations

“…The mand, by contrast, is occasioned by various motivational variables that affect the speaker, summarized by Skinner (p. 36) as ''relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation.'' As Skinner explains in detail in chapter 9 (see also Michael, Palmer, & Sundberg, 2011), most verbal behavior is in fact under the multiple control of variables that characterize more than one verbal operant. The motivational variables that define the mand frequently enter into these multiply-controlled relations, and may serve to reduce the correspondence between what the speaker sees, hears, or feels, and what the speaker actually reports.…”