Verbal Behavior is a 1957 book by psychologist B. F. Skinner, in which he describes what he calls verbal behavior, or what was traditionally called linguistics. Skinner's work describes the controlling elements of verbal behavior with terminology invented for the analysis - echoics, mands, tacts, autoclitics and others - as well as carefully defined uses of ordinary terms such as audience.
Origins The origin of Verbal Behavior was an outgrowth of a series of lectures first presented at the University of Minnesota in the early 1940s and developed further in his summer lectures at Columbia and William James lectures at Harvard in the decade before the book's publication.Skinner, B.F. (1983) A Matter of Consequences. New York: Knopf.
Research Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior drew heavily on methods of literary analysis.Skinner, B.F. (1957). Verbal Behavior. This tradition has continued. The book Verbal Behavior is almost entirely theoretical, involving little experimental research in the work itself.It is notable that Skinner did do Verbal Behavior related research, for example the statistical analysis of alliteration in Shakespeare, as well as his work with the "Verbal Summator" prior to the publication of Verbal Behavior. However, he opted to remove most of the research, he says, because it made the book "unbalanced". This research was also primarily structural in nature, and owed more to Skinner's history as a college English major than it did to his later functional analysis of behavior. Many research papers and applied extensions based on Verbal Behavior have been done since its publication.
Functional analysis
Skinner's Verbal Behavior also introduced the autoclitic and six elementary operants: mand, tact, audience relation, echoic, textual, and intraverbal. from the foreword by Jack Michael, p. ix 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, and extends even further a disinclination towards hypothesis-making and testing. 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.
General problems In the ascertaining of the strength of a response Skinner suggests some criteria for strength (probability): emission, energy-level, speed, and repetition. He notes that these are all very limited means for inferring the strength of a response as they do not always vary together and 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. 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. 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. Energy level is a basis from which we can infer a high tendency to respond. An energetic and strong "Water!" forms the basis for inferring the strength of the response as opposed to a weak, brief "Water". 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. Repetition – "Water! Water! Water!" may be emitted and used as an indication of relative strength compared to the speedy and/or energetic emission of "Water!". In this way repetition can be used as a way to infer strength.
Mands
Chapter Three of Skinner's work Verbal Behavior discusses a functional relationship called the mand. Mand is verbal behavior under functional control of satiation or deprivation (that is, motivating operations) followed by characteristic reinforcement often specified by the response. A mand is typically a demand, command, or request. The mand is often said to "describe its own reinforcer" although this is not always the case, especially as Skinner's definition of verbal behavior does not require that mands be vocal. A loud knock at the door, 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".
Lamarre & Holland (1985) study on mands demonstrated the role of motivating operations. The authors contrived motivating operations for objects by training behavior chains that could not be completed without certain objects. The participants learned to mand for these missing objects, which they had previously only been able to tact...
Behavior under the control of verbal stimuli
Textual In Chapter Four 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.
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. It is 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. It is 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.
Tacts
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 functional control of a non-verbal stimulus and generalized conditioned reinforcement. The controlling stimulus is nonverbal, "the whole of the physical environment". In linguistic terms, the tact might be regarded as "expressive labelling". Tact is the most useful form of verbal behaviour to other listeners, as it extends the listeners contact with the environment. In contrast, the tact is the most useful form of verbal behaviour to the speaker as it allows to contact tangible reinforcement. Tacts 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.
Intraverbal Intraverbals are verbal behavior under the control of other verbal behavior. Intraverbals are often studied by the use of classic association techniques.
Audiences Audience control is developed through long histories of reinforcement and punishment. Skinner's three-term contingency can be used to analyze how this works: the first term, the antecedent, refers to the audience, in whose presence the verbal response (the second term) occurs. The consequences of the response are the third term, and whether or not those consequences strengthen or weaken the response will affect whether that response will occur again in the presence of that audience. Through this process, audience control, or the probability that certain responses will occur in the presence of certain audiences, develops. Skinner notes that while audience control is developed due to histories with certain audiences, we do not have to have a long history with every listener in order to effectively engage in verbal behavior in their presence (p. 176). We can respond to new audiences (new stimuli) as we would to similar audiences with whom we have a history.
Negative audiences An audience that has punished certain kinds of verbal behavior is called a negative audience (p. 178): in the presence of this audience, the punished verbal behavior is less likely to occur. Skinner gives examples of adults punishing certain verbal behavior of children, and a king punishing the verbal behavior of his subjects.
Summary of verbal operants The following table summarizes the new verbal operants in the analysis of verbal behavior.
PreconditionVerbal OperantConsequenceExampleMotivating OperationMandDirectly EffectiveA child comes into the kitchen where a mother is, and says: "I want milk". The mother opens the refrigerator and gives the child milk.Feature of the physical environmentTactSocialA child looks out of the window, turns to his mother and says: "It is hot today." The mother says, "Right!"Verbal behavior of another personIntraverbalSocialA mother asks her daughter: "What grade did you get in math?" The daughter replies, "An A." The mother says: "Very good!"Verbal behavior of another personEchoicSocialA teacher says to a student: "Behavior in German is Verhalten." The student repeats "Behavior is Verhalten." The teacher says "Correct."A person's own verbal behaviorAutocliticDirectly EffectiveA child comes into his parents' bedroom at night and says "I think I am sick." The mother takes the child and brings him to a hospital.
Verbal operants as a unit of analysis Skinner notes his categories of verbal behavior: mand, 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.Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior is not specifically a matter of "teaching children how to talk", however he does speculate on this on p. 189 in terms of mands and tacts acquisition by children. I note this because Skinner's Verbal Behavior is widely cited as a template for teaching children language skills although it does not appear to specifically be designed for this task. Skinner states:
That is, classification alone does little to further the analysis—the functional relations controlling the operants outlined must be analyzed consistent with the general approach of a scientific analysis of behavior.
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. The issue of multiple audiences is also addressed, as each audience is, as already noted, an occasion for strong and successful responding. Combining audiences produces differing tendencies to respond.
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.
New combinations of fragmentary responses