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 .
136-481: 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's analysis of verbal behavior drew heavily on methods of literary analysis. This tradition has continued. The book Verbal Behavior
272-474: A social science . The field of behaviorism originated in 1913 by John B. Watson with his seminal work "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it.". In it, Watson argued against the field of psychology's focus on consciousness and proposed the field instead focus on the relationship between stimuli and observable behavioral responses (S-R behaviorism). The field of experimental behaviorism, which
408-412: A " stream of consciousness ", had a direct and significant impact on avant-garde and modernist literature and art, notably in the case of James Joyce . In "What Pragmatism Means" (1906), James writes that the central point of his own doctrine of truth is, in brief: Truths emerge from facts, but they dip forward into facts again and add to them; which facts again create or reveal new truth (the word
544-419: A 1:1 teaching setting at a table using errorless discrete trial training (DTT) with a trained student therapist. The treatment was implemented at home by student therapists. Parents were trained on the teaching techniques to allow near-constant ABA instruction. During episodes of aggressive or self-stimulatory behavior, interventionists used planned ignoring, reinforcing appropriate alternative behavior, and "as
680-427: A behavior (B) and its context (A) is because of consequences (C), more specifically, this relationship between AB because of C indicates that the relationship is established by prior consequences that have occurred in similar contexts. This antecedent–behavior–consequence contingency is termed the three-term contingency. A behavior which occurs more frequently in the presence of an antecedent condition than in its absence
816-623: A behavioral engineer" in 1959 was the first to utilize the concepts of behaviorism to effect meaningful change in the subject's behavior. The successful and meaningful use of behavior analysis in human subjects led researchers at the University of Kansas to start the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) in 1968. A group of researchers at the University of Washington , including Donald Baer , Sidney W. Bijou , Bill Hopkins, Jay Birnbrauer, Todd Risley , and Montrose Wolf , applied
952-412: A formulation permits us to apply to verbal behavior concepts and laws which emerge from a more general analysis" (p. 187). 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. Skinner notes in this chapter how any given response is likely to be
1088-534: 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. 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
1224-402: A high level of success during learning, prompts are given in a most-to-least sequence and faded systematically. During this process, prompts are faded as quickly as possible so that the learner does not come to depend on them and eventually behaves appropriately without prompting. The overall goal is for an individual to eventually not need prompts. As an individual gains mastery of a skill at
1360-448: A kid comes running and is crying and holding their hands over their knee, the caregiver might make a statement like, "you got hurt". The third way is when the verbal community provides reinforcement contingent on the overt behavior and the organism generalizes that to the private event that is occurring. Skinner refers to this as a "metaphorical or metonymical extension". The final method that Skinner suggests may help form our verbal behavior
1496-424: A king punishing the verbal behavior of his subjects. The following table summarizes the new verbal operants in the analysis of verbal behavior. 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
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#17327945836081632-474: A last resort...the delivery of a loud "no" or a slap on the thigh contin- gent upon the presence of the undesirable behavior." The outcome of this study indicated 47% of the experimental group (9/19) went on to lose their autism diagnosis and were described as indistinguishable from their typically developing adolescent peers. This included passing general education without assistance and forming and maintaining friendships. These gains were maintained as reported in
1768-936: A lively group informally known as The Metaphysical Club in 1872. Louis Menand (2001) suggested that this Club provided a foundation for American intellectual thought for decades to come. James joined the Anti-Imperialist League in 1898, in opposition to the United States annexation of the Philippines. Among James's students at Harvard University were Boris Sidis , Theodore Roosevelt , George Santayana , W. E. B. Du Bois , G. Stanley Hall , Ralph Barton Perry , Gertrude Stein , Horace Kallen , Morris Raphael Cohen , Walter Lippmann , Alain Locke , C. I. Lewis , and Mary Whiton Calkins . Antiquarian bookseller Gabriel Wells tutored under him at Harvard in
1904-507: 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. 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
2040-461: A mailing list. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention and the Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis both publish clinical articles on interventions based on verbal behavior. Skinner has argued that his account of verbal behavior might have a strong evolutionary parallel. In Skinner's essay, Selection by Consequences he argued that operant conditioning
2176-423: A particular boost has been given before the objective way of behaving happens. In applied behavior analysis, all experiments should include the following: Task analysis is the process of breaking down a multi-step instruction into its component parts. The student is then taught to complete a task analysis through chaining. For example, a task analysis of washing hands might include the following steps: Turn on
2312-436: A particular prompt level, the prompt is faded to a less intrusive prompt. This ensures that the individual does not become overly dependent on a particular prompt when learning a new behavior or skill. One of the primary choices that was made while showing another way of behaving is the manner by which to fade the prompts or prompts. An arrangement should be set up to fade the prompts in an organized style. For instance, blurring
2448-455: A phenomenon. Despite not being directly tied to specific dimensions, these measures provide valuable supplemental information. In applied behavior analysis (ABA), for example, percentage is a derivative measure that quantifies the ratio of specific responses to total responses, offering a nuanced understanding of behavior and assisting in evaluating progress and intervention effectiveness . Trials-to-criterion, another ABA derivative measure, tracks
2584-683: A physiologist, but I drifted into psychology and philosophy from a sort of fatality. I never had any philosophic instruction, the first lecture on psychology I ever heard being the first I ever gave". He interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson , his godson William James Sidis , as well as Charles Sanders Peirce , Bertrand Russell , Josiah Royce , Ernst Mach , John Dewey , Macedonio Fernández , Walter Lippmann , Mark Twain , Horatio Alger , G. Stanley Hall , Henri Bergson , Carl Jung , Jane Addams and Sigmund Freud . James spent almost all of his academic career at Harvard. He
2720-496: A prompt being removed, where thinning refers to an increase in the time or number of responses required between reinforcements. Periodic thinning that produces a 30% decrease in reinforcement has been suggested as an efficient way to thin. Schedule thinning is often an important and neglected issue in contingency management and token economy systems, especially when these are developed by unqualified practitioners (see professional practice of behavior analysis ). Generalization
2856-407: A reason, and the cause can be understood based on the subject's learning history and current conditions. This represents a shift away from methodological behaviorism , which restricts behavior-change procedures to behaviors that are overt, and was the conceptual underpinning of behavior modification . Behavior analysts emphasize that the science of behavior must be a natural science as opposed to
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#17327945836082992-421: A response class. Repertoire refers to the various responses available to an individual; the term may refer to responses that are relevant to a particular situation, or it may refer to everything a person can do. Operant behavior is voluntary behavior that is sensitive to, or controlled by its consequences. Specifically, operant conditioning refers to the three-term contingency that uses stimulus control . In
3128-409: A series of articles that described a pioneering investigation of the antecedents and consequences that maintained a problem behavior, including the use of electric shock on autistic children to suppress stimming and meltdowns (described as "self-stimulatory behavior" and " tantrum behaviors" respectively) and to coerce "affectionate" behavior, and relied on the methods of errorless learning which
3264-909: A significant worker in the Erie Canal project and helping Albany become a major center of trade, he then became the first vice-president of the Albany Savings Bank. William James (grandfather) went from being a poor Irish immigrant to one of the richest men in New York. After his death, his son Henry James inherited his fortune and lived in Europe and the United States searching for the meaning of life. Of James' five children, two—Margaret and Alexander—are known to have had children. Descendants of Alexander are still living. William James wrote voluminously throughout his life. A non-exhaustive bibliography of his writings, compiled by John McDermott ,
3400-403: A step independently. A prompt is a cue that encourages a desired response from an individual. Prompts are often categorized into a prompt hierarchy from most intrusive to least intrusive, although there is some controversy about what is considered most intrusive, those that are physically intrusive or those that are hardest prompt to fade (e.g., verbal). In order to minimize errors and ensure
3536-404: A student has successfully mastered learning colors at the table, the teacher may take the student around the house or school and generalize the skill in these more natural environments with other materials. Behavior analysts have spent considerable amount of time studying factors that lead to generalization. Shaping involves gradually modifying the existing behavior into the desired behavior. If
3672-424: 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. 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
3808-441: A training program based on teaching Bergan's skills. A similar approach was used for the development of microskills training for counselors. Ivey would later call this "behaviorist" phase a very productive one and the skills-based approach came to dominate counselor training during 1970–90. Task analysis was also used in determining the skills needed to access a career. In education, Englemann (1968) used task analysis as part of
3944-474: A variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as neurasthenia , and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson ( Wilkie ) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the American Civil War . James himself was an advocate of peace. He suggested that instead of youth serving in the military that they serve
4080-399: A verbal community can encourage verbal behavior with no access to the stimuli of the speaker. He suggests the most frequent method is via "a common public accompaniment". An example might be that when a kid falls and starts bleeding, the caregiver tells them statements like, "you got hurt". Another method is the "collateral response" associated with the private stimulus. An example would be when
4216-419: A view if its conception of truth is analyzed and justified through interpretation, pragmatically. As a matter of fact, James's whole philosophy is of productive beliefs. Belief in anything involves conceiving of how it is real, but disbelief is the result when we dismiss something because it contradicts another thing we think of as real. In his "Sentiment of Rationality", saying that crucial beliefs are not known
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4352-601: Is 47 pages long. He gained widespread recognition with his monumental The Principles of Psychology (1890), totaling twelve hundred pages in two volumes, which took twelve years to complete. Psychology: The Briefer Course , was an 1892 abridgement designed as a less rigorous introduction to the field. These works criticized both the English associationist school and the Hegelianism of his day as competing dogmatisms of little explanatory value, and sought to re-conceive
4488-413: Is a field of study that focuses on using the principles of behaviorism to make changes in a client's behavior that are relevant to their everyday life. The social validity of interventions is what differentiates ABA from experimental analysis of behavior , which focuses on basic experimental research. Behavior analysis adopts the viewpoint of radical behaviorism , which states that all behavior occurs for
4624-496: Is a scientific discipline that utilizes the principles of learning based upon respondent and operant conditioning to make socially significant changes in a subject's behavior. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis . The impact ABA has on meaningful behaviors is a defining feature, and what differentiates it from experimental analysis of behavior , which focuses on basic experimental research. The term applied behavior analysis has replaced behavior modification because
4760-511: Is almost entirely theoretical, involving little experimental research in the work itself. Many research papers and applied extensions based on Verbal Behavior have been done since its publication. Skinner's Verbal Behavior also introduced the autoclitic and six elementary operants: mand, tact, audience relation, echoic, textual, and intraverbal. For Skinner, the proper object of study is behavior itself , analyzed without reference to hypothetical (mental) structures, but rather with reference to
4896-484: Is also cited as one of the founders of functional psychology . A Review of General Psychology analysis, published in 2002, ranked James as the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century. A survey published in American Psychologist in 1991 ranked James's reputation in second place, after Wilhelm Wundt , who is widely regarded as the founder of experimental psychology. James also developed
5032-707: Is also used in a broad range of other areas. Recent notable areas of research in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis include autism, classroom instruction with typically developing students, pediatric feeding therapy, and substance use disorders . Other applications of ABA include applied animal behavior, consumer behavior analysis , forensic behavior analysis, behavioral medicine , behavioral neuroscience , clinical behavior analysis , organizational behavior management , schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support , and contact desensitization for phobias. ABA has been successfully used in other species. Morris uses ABA to reduce feather-plucking in
5168-586: Is beginning to suggest that there are two different ABA teaching approaches to acquiring spoken language : children with higher receptive language skills respond to 2.5 – 20 hours per week of the naturalistic approach , whereas children with lower receptive language skills need 25 hours per week of discrete trial training —the structured and intensive form of ABA. A 2023 multi-site randomized control trial study of 164 participants showed similar findings. Although most research in ABA focuses on autism intervention, it
5304-414: Is called a discriminated operant. The antecedent stimulus is called a discriminative stimulus (S ). The fact that the discriminated operant occurs only in the presence of the discriminative stimulus is an illustration of stimulus control . More recently behavior analysts have been focusing on conditions that occur prior to the circumstances for the current behavior of concern that increased the likelihood of
5440-430: 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. 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
5576-658: Is indifferent) and so on indefinitely. The "facts" themselves meanwhile are not true. They simply are. Truth is the function of the beliefs that start and terminate among them. Richard Rorty made the contested claim that James did not mean to give a theory of truth with this statement and that we should not regard it as such. However, other pragmatism scholars such as Susan Haack and Howard Mounce do not share Rorty's instrumentalist interpretation of James. In The Meaning of Truth (1909), James seems to speak of truth in relativistic terms, in reference to critics of pragmatism: "The critic's trouble … seems to come from his taking
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5712-606: Is most commonly associated with autism intervention , it has been utilized in a range of other areas, including organizational behavior management , behavior management in classrooms , and acceptance and commitment therapy . ABA is controversial, and generally rejected by the autism rights movement . Among other reasons, this is because of a history of suppressing autistic behaviors such as stimming ; using aversives , such as physical pain, or in modern forms, withholding stimuli that bring comfort; and because of its weak evidence base and failure to investigate possible harms. ABA
5848-668: 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. Intraverbals are verbal behavior under
5984-401: Is shaped by the verbal community who differentially reinforce a variety of behaviors and responses to the private events that occur (Catania, 2007, p. 9). For example, if a child verbally states, "a circle" when a circle is in the immediate environment, it may be a tact. If a child verbally states, "I have a toothache", she/he may be tacting a private event, whereas the stimulus is present to
6120-424: Is the expansion of a student's performance ability beyond the initial conditions set for acquisition of a skill. Generalization can occur across people, places, and materials used for teaching. For example, once a skill is learned in one setting, with a particular instructor, and with specific materials, the skill is taught in more general settings with more variation from the initial acquisition phase. For example, if
6256-418: Is the temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, and/or duration of the behavior targeted for extinction. Other characteristics of an extinction burst include an extinction-produced aggression—the occurrence of an emotional response to an extinction procedure often manifested as aggression; and b) extinction-induced response variability—the occurrence of novel behaviors that did not typically occur prior to
6392-629: Is the textbook Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures . In 2005, Heward et al. suggested the addition of the following five characteristics: Although there are many applications of ABA outside of autism intervention, a large majority of ABA practitioners specialize in autism , and ABA itself is often mistakenly considered synonymous with therapy for autism . Practitioners often use ABA-based techniques to teach adaptive behaviors to, or diminish challenging behaviors presented by, individuals with autism. ABA methodologies such as differential reinforcement, extinction, and task analysis, are among
6528-521: Is to doubt their truth, even if it seems possible. James names four "postulates of rationality" as valuable but unknowable: God, immorality, freedom, and moral duty. In contrast, the weak side to pragmatism is that the best justification for a claim is whether it works. However, a claim that does not have outcomes cannot be justified, or unjustified, because it will not make a difference. Applied behavior analysis#Discriminated operant and three-term contingency Applied behavior analysis ( ABA )
6664-400: Is verifiable through its correspondence to reality, and its observable effects of putting the idea to practice. For example, James extends his Pragmatism to the hypothesis of God: "On pragmatic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true. … The problem is to build it out and determine it so that it will combine satisfactorily with all
6800-524: Is when the behavior is initially at a low level and then turns into a private event (Skinner, 1957, p. 134). This notion can be summarized by understanding that the verbal behavior of private events can be shaped through the verbal community by extending the language of tacts (Catania, 2007, p. 263). Private events are limited and should not serve as "explanations of behavior" (Skinner, 1957, p. 254). Skinner (1957) continues to caution that, "the language of private events can easily distract us from
6936-794: The North American Review . James finally earned his MD degree in June 1869 but he never practiced medicine. What he called his "soul-sickness" would only be resolved in 1872, after an extended period of philosophical searching. He married Alice Gibbens in 1878. In 1882 he joined the Theosophical Society . James's time in Germany proved intellectually fertile, helping him find that his true interests lay not in medicine but in philosophy and psychology. Later, in 1902 he would write: "I originally studied medicine in order to be
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#17327945836087072-987: The Psychological Review . He challenged his professional colleagues not to let a narrow mindset prevent an honest appraisal of those beliefs. In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. using six criteria such as citations and recognition, James was found to be the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century. William James was the son of Henry James (Senior) of Albany, and Mary Robertson Walsh. He had four siblings: Henry (the novelist), Garth Wilkinson, Robertson, and Alice . William became engaged to Alice Howe Gibbens on May 10, 1878; they were married on July 10. They had 5 children: Henry (May 18, 1879 – 1947), William (June 17, 1882 – 1961), Herman (1884, died in infancy), Margaret (March 1887 – 1950) and Alexander (December 22, 1890 – 1946). Most of William James's ancestors arrived in America from Scotland or Ireland in
7208-528: The Amazon River , but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe seasickness and mild smallpox . His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he began to publish; reviews of his works appeared in literary periodicals such as
7344-456: The 18th century. Many of them settled in eastern New York or New Jersey. All of James's ancestors were Protestant, well educated, and of character. Within their communities, they worked as farmers, merchants, and traders who were all heavily involved with their church. The last ancestor to arrive in America was William James's paternal grandfather also named William James. He came to America from Ballyjamesduff , County Cavan, Ireland in 1789 when he
7480-500: The 1993 study, "Long-term outcome for children with autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment". Lovaas' work went on to be recognized by the US Surgeon General in 1999, and his research were replicated in university and private settings. The "Lovaas Method" went on to become known as early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI). In 2018, a Cochrane meta-analysis database concluded that some recent research
7616-553: 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 or Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) conventions nationally or internationally. There is also a Verbal Behavior Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) which has
7752-408: The actual brief of directing a kid's hands might follow this succession: (a) supporting wrists, (b) contacting hands softly, (c) contacting lower arm or elbow, and (d) pulling out actual contact through and through. Fading guarantees that the kid does not turn out to be excessively subject to a specific brief while mastering another expertise. Thinning is often confused with fading. Fading refers to
7888-447: The area of science has been made from a verbal behavior perspective; however, suggestions of a research agenda have been laid out. Private events are events accessible to only the speaker. Public events are events that occur outside of an organism's skin that are observed by more than one individual. A headache is an example of a private event and a car accident is an example of a public event. The tacting of private events by an organism
8024-406: The behavior occurring or not occurring. These conditions have been referred to variously as "Setting Event", "Establishing Operations", and "Motivating Operations" by various researchers in their publications. B. F. Skinner's classification system of behavior analysis has been applied to treatment of a host of communication disorders. Skinner's system includes: In applied behavior analysis,
8160-450: 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
8296-401: The black vulture ( Coragyps atratus ). Behavior refers to the movement of some part of an organism that changes some aspect of the environment. Often, the term behavior refers to a class of responses that share physical dimensions or functions, and in that case a response is a single instance of that behavior. If a group of responses have the same function, this group may be called
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#17327945836088432-426: 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 states: "Classification is not an end in itself. Even though any instance of verbal behavior can be shown to be a function of variables in one or more of these classes, there are other aspects to be treated. Such
8568-544: The classic problems of politics: how to sustain political unity and civic virtue in the absence of war or a credible threat", and which "sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation". In simple terms, his philosophy and writings can be understood as an emphasis on "fruits over roots," a reflection of his pragmatist tendency to focus on the practical consequences of ideas rather than become mired in unproductive metaphysical arguments or fruitless attempts to ground truth in abstract ways. Ever
8704-399: 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,
8840-412: The concepts of "agreement" and "reality", the last reasoning before thoughts settle and become autonomous for us. However, he contrasts this by supporting a more practical interpretation that: a true idea or belief is one that we can blend with our thinking so that it can be justified through experiences. If theological ideas prove to have a value for concrete life, they will be true, for pragmatism, in
8976-444: The consequence of a behavior makes it more likely for that behavior to occur in the future. Reinforcing consequences can be either positive, where something preferred is added, or negative, where something aversive is removed. Reinforcement is the key element in operant conditioning and most behavior change programs. There are multiple schedules of reinforcement that affect the future probability of behavior. Punishment occurs when
9112-566: The consequences of a behavior make the behavior less likely to occur in the future. As with reinforcement, a stimulus can be added ( positive punishment ) or removed ( negative punishment ). Broadly, there are three types of punishment: presentation of aversive stimuli (e.g., pain), response cost (removal of desirable stimuli as in monetary fines), and restriction of freedom (as in a 'time out'). Punishment in practice can often result in unwanted side effects. Some other potential unwanted effects include resentment over being punished, attempts to escape
9248-508: 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. 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
9384-416: The control of other verbal behavior. Intraverbals are often studied by the use of classic association techniques. 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
9520-406: The diarist Alice James . James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology , education, metaphysics , psychology , religion, and mysticism . Among his most influential books are The Principles of Psychology , a groundbreaking text in
9656-432: The differences between Skinner's behaviorism and other varieties. As a consequence, he argued, Chomsky made several serious errors of logic. On account of these problems, MacCorquodale maintains that the review failed to demonstrate what it has often been cited as doing, implying that those most influenced by Chomsky's paper probably already substantially agreed with him. Chomsky's review has been further argued to misrepresent
9792-729: The duration of each response or the duration of all responses during a specific timeframe, which is then recorded as a percentage. Latency specifically measures the time that elapses between the event of a stimulus and the behavior that follows. This is important in behavioral research because it quantifies how quickly an individual may respond to external stimuli , providing insights into their perceptual and cognitive processing rates. There are two measurements that are able to define temporal locus, they are response latency and interresponse time. Derivative measures are additional metrics derived from primary data, often by combining or transforming dimensional quantities to offer deeper insights into
9928-643: The efficacy of ABA techniques on autistic and schizophrenic children. While Lovaas's work was instrumental in establishing ABA as an effective treatment of autism through the Lovaas method, his use of shock treatment has considerable ethical concerns, and the practice has been condemned by the Association for Behavior Analysis Interntational . Over the years, "behavior analysis" gradually superseded "behavior modification"; that is, from simply trying to alter problematic behavior, behavior analysts sought to understand
10064-443: The empiricist, James believes we are better off evaluating the fruitfulness of ideas by testing them in the common ground of lived experience. James was remembered as one of America's representative thinkers, psychologist, and philosopher. William James was also an influential writer on religion, psychical research, and self-help. James defined true beliefs as those that prove useful to the believer. His pragmatic theory of truth
10200-468: The essential information to assess intervention effectiveness and make informed decisions about program modifications . Therefore, precise measurement and assessment play a pivotal role in ABA practice, guiding practitioners to enhance behavioral outcomes and drive significant change. Behavior analysts utilize a few distinct techniques to gather information. A portion of the ways of collect data information include: Latency refers to how much time after
10336-454: The extinction procedure. These novel behaviors are a core component of shaping procedures. In addition to a relation being made between behavior and its consequences, operant conditioning also establishes relations between antecedent conditions and behaviors. This differs from the S–R formulations (If-A-then-B), and replaces it with an AB-because-of-C formulation. In other words, the relation between
10472-527: The fact that people can speak and understand sentences that they have never heard before. According to Frederick J. Newmeyer : Chomsky's review has come to be regarded as one of the foundational documents of the discipline of cognitive psychology , and even after the passage of twenty-five years it is considered the most important refutation of behaviorism. Of all his writings, it was the Skinner review which contributed most to spreading his reputation beyond
10608-632: The field of psychology; Essays in Radical Empiricism , an important text in philosophy; and The Varieties of Religious Experience , an investigation of different forms of religious experience , including theories on mind-cure . William James was born at the Astor House in New York City on January 11, 1842. He was the son of Henry James Sr. , a noted and independently wealthy Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with
10744-401: The form of a simple story: A live squirrel supposed to be clinging on one side of a tree-trunk; while over against the tree's opposite side a human being was imagined to stand. This human witness tries to get sight of the squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes, the squirrel moves as fast in the opposite direction, and always keeps the tree between himself and
10880-410: The function of giving human satisfaction in marrying previous parts of experience with newer parts played no role whatsoever, is nowhere to be found. The reasons why we call things true is the reason why they are true, for "to be true" means only to perform this marriage-function. James held a world view in line with pragmatism , declaring that the value of any truth was utterly dependent upon its use to
11016-415: The function of that behavior, what reinforcement histories (i.e., attention seeking, escape, sensory stimulation , etc.) promote and maintain it, and how it can be replaced by successful behavior. Baer, Wolf, and Risley's 1968 article is still used as the standard description of ABA. It lists the following seven characteristics of ABA. Another resource for the characteristics of applied behavior analysis
11152-428: 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
11288-415: 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 would be Lodhi & Greer (1989). Here Skinner draws a parallel to his position on self-control and notes: "A person controls his own behavior, verbal or otherwise, as he controls
11424-537: The human mind as inherently purposive and selective. President Jimmy Carter's Moral Equivalent of War Speech , on April 17, 1977, equating the United States' 1970s energy crisis , oil crisis, and the changes and sacrifices Carter's proposed plans would require with the "moral equivalent of war", may have borrowed its title and much of its theme from James's classic essay "The Moral Equivalent of War" derived from his last speech, delivered at Stanford University in 1906, and published in 1910, in which "James considered one of
11560-415: The late 1890s. His students enjoyed his brilliance and his manner of teaching was free of personal arrogance. They remember him for his kindness and humble attitude. His respectful attitude towards them speaks well of his character. Following his January 1907 retirement from Harvard, James continued to write and lecture, publishing Pragmatism , A Pluralistic Universe , and The Meaning of Truth . James
11696-485: The latter approach suggested changing behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions. In contrast, ABA changes behavior by first assessing the functional relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, a process known as a functional behavior assessment . Further, the approach seeks to develop socially acceptable alternatives for maladaptive behaviors, often through administering differential reinforcement contingencies . Although ABA
11832-539: The literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics. William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged cosmopolitanism . The family made two trips to Europe while William James
11968-464: The man occupies the space facing the squirrel's belly, back and sides. Depending on what the debaters meant by "going round", the answer would be clear. From this example James derives the definition of the pragmatic method : to settle metaphysical disputes, one must simply make a distinction of practical consequences between notions, then, the answer is either clear, or the "dispute is idle". Both James and his colleague, Charles Sanders Peirce , coined
12104-408: The man, so that never a glimpse of him is caught. The resultant metaphysical problem now is this: Does the man go round the squirrel or not? James solves the issue by making a distinction between practical meaning. That is, the distinction between meanings of "round". Round in the sense that the man occupies the space north, east, south, and west of the squirrel; and round in the sense that
12240-438: The methods to design the direct instruction curriculum. Chaining is the process of teaching the steps of a task analysis. The two methods of chaining , forward chaining and backward chaining, differ based on what step a learner is taught to complete first. In forward chaining, the ABA practitioner teaches the learner to independently complete the first step and prompts the learner for all subsequent steps. In backward chaining,
12376-469: The mind of the observer and the act of observation affect any empirical approach to truth. The mind, its experiences, and nature are inseparable. James's emphasis on diversity as the default human condition—over and against duality, especially Hegelian dialectical duality—has maintained a strong influence in American culture. James's description of the mind-world connection, which he described in terms of
12512-490: The most well-researched evidence-based practices for autism intervention. Early development of the techniques that would later become the Lovaas method involved use of electric shocks, scolding, and the withholding of food. By the time the children were enrolled in this study, such aversives were abandoned, and a loud "no", electric shock, or slap to the thigh were used only as a last resort to reduce aggressive and self-stimulatory behaviors . In 1965, Ivar Lovaas published
12648-436: The number of response opportunities needed to achieve a set level of performance. This metric aids behavior analysts in assessing skill acquisition and mastery, influencing decisions on program adjustments and teaching methods . Applied behavior analysis relies on meticulous measurement and impartial evaluation of observable behavior as a foundational principle. Without accurate data collection and analysis, behavior analysts lack
12784-509: The other working truths." From this, we also know that "new" truths must also correspond to already existent truths as well. From the introduction by Bruce Kuklick (1981, p. xiv) to James's Pragmatism : James went on to apply the pragmatic method to the epistemological problem of truth. He would seek the meaning of "true" by examining how the idea functioned in our lives. A belief was true, he said, if it worked for all of us, and guided us expeditiously through our semihospitable world. James
12920-402: The person who held it. Additional tenets of James's pragmatism include the view that the world is a mosaic of diverse experiences that can only be properly interpreted and understood through an application of " radical empiricism ". Radical empiricism , not related to the everyday scientific empiricism , asserts that the world and experience can never be halted for an entirely objective analysis;
13056-497: The philosophical perspective known as radical empiricism . James's work has influenced philosophers and academics such as Alan Watts , W. E. B. Du Bois , Edmund Husserl , Bertrand Russell , Ludwig Wittgenstein , Hilary Putnam , and Richard Rorty . Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr. and the brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James and
13192-409: The practitioner prompts all steps except the last step. As the learner begins to respond independently, the practitioner systematically removes the prompts and teaches the next step in the task analysis. Total task presentation is a variation of forward chaining where the practitioner asks the learner to perform the entire task analysis and provides prompting only when the learner is unable to complete
13328-485: The pragmatic theory of truth applied Darwinian ideas in philosophy; it made survival the test of intellectual as well as biological fitness . James's book of lectures on pragmatism is arguably the most influential book of American philosophy . The lectures inside depict his position on the subject. In his sixth lecture, he begins by defining truth as "agreement with reality". With this, James warns that there will be disagreements between pragmatics and intellectualists over
13464-544: The principles of behavior analysis to treat autism, manage the behavior of children and adolescents in juvenile detention centers, and organize employees who required proper structure and management in businesses . In 1968, Baer, Bijou, Risley, Birnbrauer, Wolf, and James Sherman joined the Department of Human Development and Family Life at the University of Kansas, where they founded the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis . From 1960 through 1997, Ivar Lovaas researched
13600-467: The public causes of behavior" (see functions of behavior). In 1959, Noam Chomsky published an influential critique of Verbal Behavior . Chomsky pointed out that children acquire their first language without being explicitly or overtly "taught" in a way that would be consistent with behaviorist theory (see Language acquisition and Poverty of the stimulus ), and that Skinner's theories of "operants" and behavioral reinforcements are not able to account for
13736-405: The public in a term of service, "to get the childishness knocked out of them." The other three siblings (William, Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of invalidism . He took up medical studies at Harvard Medical School in 1864 (according to his brother Henry James , the author). He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition up
13872-442: The punishment, expression of pain and negative emotions associated with it, and recognition by the punished individual between the punishment and the person delivering it. ABA therapist state that they use punishment is used infrequently as a last resort or when there is a direct threat caused by the behavior. Respondent (classical) conditioning is based on involuntary reflexes. In his experiments with dogs, Ivan Pavlov usually used
14008-400: The quantifiable measures are a derivative of the dimensions. These dimensions are repeatability, temporal extent, and temporal locus. Response classes occur repeatedly throughout time—i.e., how many times the behavior occurs. The temporal extent refers to the duration of the response, which is the measure of time from the start to the end of the response. The duration of a response is either
14144-449: 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
14280-683: The response does not produce a reinforcer or punisher (e.g., the dog does not get food because it salivates). Extinction is the technical term to describe the procedure of withholding/discontinuing reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior, resulting in the decrease of that behavior. The behavior is then set to be extinguished (Cooper et al.). Extinction procedures are often preferred over punishment procedures, as many punishment procedures are deemed unethical and in many states prohibited. Nonetheless, extinction procedures must be implemented with utmost care by professionals, as they are generally associated with extinction bursts. An extinction burst
14416-454: 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
14552-407: 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 is a discussion to practical matters of controlling verbal behavior given
14688-480: 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... 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
14824-444: The salivary reflex, namely salivation (unconditioned response) following the taste of food (unconditioned stimulus). Pairing a neutral stimulus, for example, a bell (conditioned stimulus) with food caused the dog to elicit salivation (conditioned response). Thus, in classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus becomes a signal for a biologically significant consequence. Note that in respondent conditioning, unlike operant conditioning,
14960-441: The sense of being good for so much. For how much more they are true, will depend entirely on their relations to the other truths that also have to be acknowledged. Whereby the agreement of truths with "reality" results in useful outcomes, "the 'reality' with which truths must agree has three dimensions": According to James's pragmatic approach to belief, knowledge is commonly viewed as a justified and true belief. James will accept
15096-460: The sink, put hands in the water, put soap on hands, scrub hands, rinse hands, turn off water. Task analysis has been used in organizational behavior management, a behavior analytic approach to changing the behaviors of members of an organization (e.g., factories, offices, or hospitals). Behavioral scripts often emerge from a task analysis. Bergan conducted a task analysis of the behavioral consultation relationship and Thomas Kratochwill developed
15232-483: The small circle of professional linguists. Chomsky's 1959 review, amongst his other work of the period, is generally thought to have been influential in the decline of behaviorism's influence within linguistics , philosophy and cognitive science . One reply to it was Kenneth MacCorquodale's 1970 paper On Chomsky's Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior . MacCorquodale argued that Chomsky did not possess an adequate understanding of either behavioral psychology in general, or
15368-847: The speaker, but not the rest of the verbal community. The verbal community shapes the original development and the maintenance or discontinuation of the tacts for private events (Catania, 2007, p. 232). An organism responds similarly to both private stimuli and public stimuli (Skinner, 1957, p. 130). However, it is harder for the verbal community to shape the verbal behavior associated with private events (Catania, 2007, p. 403). It may be more difficult to shape private events, but there are critical things that occur within an organism's skin that should not be excluded from our understanding of verbal behavior (Catania, 2007, p. 9). Several concerns are associated with tacting private events. Skinner (1957) acknowledged two major dilemmas. First, he acknowledges our difficulty with predicting and controlling
15504-412: The stimuli associated with tacting private events (p. 130). Catania (2007) describes this as the unavailability of the stimulus to the members of the verbal community (p. 253). The second problem Skinner (1957) describes is our current inability to understand how the verbal behavior associated with private events is developed (p. 131). Skinner (1957) continues to describe four potential ways
15640-535: 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 . 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
15776-549: The student engages with a dog by hitting it, then they could have their behavior shaped by reinforcing interactions in which they touch the dog more gently. Over many interactions, successful shaping would replace the hitting behavior with patting or other gentler behavior. Shaping is based on a behavior analyst's thorough knowledge of operant conditioning principles and extinction . Recent efforts to teach shaping have used simulated computer tasks. One teaching technique found to be effective with some students, particularly children,
15912-400: The term " cash value ": When he said that the whole meaning of a (clear) conception consists in the entire set of its practical consequences, he had in mind that a meaningful conception must have some sort of experiential "cash value," must somehow be capable of being related to some sort of collection of possible empirical observations under specifiable conditions. A statement's truthfulness
16048-438: The three-term contingency, first, a discriminative stimulus signals to the subject that reinforcement (or, less commonly, punishment) is available. Then, the subject performs a behavior. After performing a behavior, a consequence will occur that either adds (positive) or removes (negative) something that will make the behavior either occur more (reinforcement) or less (punishment) frequently in the future. Reinforcement occurs when
16184-457: The use of some of these techniques provided by an author. 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 text that allow for this kind of development. The logical and scientific community also sharpens responses to assure accuracy and avoid distortion. Little progress in
16320-411: 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 phenomenon appears to be more common in children, and in adults learning a second language. Fatigue, illness and insobriety may tend to produce fragmentary responding. An autoclitic is a form of verbal behavior which modifies
16456-489: The word 'true' irrelatively, whereas the pragmatist always means 'true for him who experiences the workings.'" However, James responded to critics accusing him of relativism , skepticism , or agnosticism, and of believing only in relative truths. To the contrary, he supported an epistemological realism position. Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that seeks to both define truth and resolve metaphysical issues. William James demonstrates an application of his method in
16592-526: The work of Skinner and others, including by taking quotes out of context. Chomsky has maintained that the review was directed at the way Skinner's variant of behavioral psychology "was being used in Quinean empiricism and naturalization of philosophy". Current research in verbal behavior is published in The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB), and other Behavior Analytic journals such as The Journal of
16728-418: Was 18 years old. There is suspicion that he fled to America because his family tried to force him into the ministry. After traveling to America with no money left, he found a job at a store as a clerk. After continuously working, he was able to own the store himself. As he traveled west to find more job opportunities, he was involved in various jobs such as the salt industry and the Erie Canal project. After being
16864-623: 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. This topic continues to be a focus for behavior analysts. Behavior analysts have been working on developing ideas based on Verbal Behaviour for fifty years, and despite this, experience difficulty explaining generative verbal behavior. William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910)
17000-672: Was a synthesis of correspondence theory of truth and coherence theory of truth , with an added dimension. Truth is verifiable to the extent that thoughts and statements correspond with actual things, as well as the extent to which they "hang together", or cohere, as pieces of a puzzle might fit together; these are in turn verified by the observed results of the application of an idea to actual practice. The most ancient parts of truth … also once were plastic. They also were called true for human reasons. They also mediated between still earlier truths and what in those days were novel observations. Purely objective truth, truth in whose establishment
17136-480: Was also not what he wanted to do, he then announced he was going to specialize in the nervous system and psychology. James then switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard College . In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also tone deaf . He was subject to
17272-472: Was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers of the United States , and the "Father of American psychology." Along with Charles Sanders Peirce , James established the philosophical school known as pragmatism , and
17408-418: Was anxious to uncover what true beliefs amounted to in human life, what their "cash value" was, and what consequences they led to. A belief was not a mental entity which somehow mysteriously corresponded to an external reality if the belief were true. Beliefs were ways of acting with reference to a precarious environment, and to say they were true was to say they were efficacious in this environment. In this sense
17544-432: Was appointed instructor in physiology for the spring 1873 term, instructor in anatomy and physiology in 1873, assistant professor of psychology in 1876, assistant professor of philosophy in 1881, full professor in 1885, endowed chair in psychology in 1889, return to philosophy in 1897, and emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907. James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but
17680-701: Was buried in the family plot in Cambridge Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts . He was one of the strongest proponents of the school of functionalism in psychology and of pragmatism in philosophy. He was a founder of the American Society for Psychical Research , as well as a champion of alternative approaches to healing. In 1884 and 1885 he became president of the British Society for Psychical Research for which he wrote in Mind and in
17816-638: Was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like Hermann Helmholtz in Germany and Pierre Janet in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at Harvard University . He taught his first experimental psychology course at Harvard in the 1875–1876 academic year. During his Harvard years, James joined in philosophical discussions and debates with Charles Peirce , Oliver Wendell Holmes , and Chauncey Wright that evolved into
17952-557: Was increasingly afflicted with cardiac pain during his last years. It worsened in 1909 while he worked on a philosophy text (unfinished but posthumously published as Some Problems in Philosophy ). James sailed to Europe in the spring of 1910 to take experimental treatments for his heart ailment that proved unsuccessful, and returned home on August 18. His heart failed on August 26, 1910, at his home in Chocorua, New Hampshire . He
18088-513: Was initially used by Charles Ferster to teach nonverbal children to speak. Lovaas also described how to use social (secondary) reinforcers, teach children to imitate, and what interventions (including electric shocks) may be used to reduce aggression and life-threatening self-injury. In 1987, Lovaas published the study, "Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children". The experimental group in this study received an average of 40 hours per week in
18224-405: Was partially based on Waton's work, was founded by B. F. Skinner in the 1930s and 1940s. Skinner is credited with being the first person to describe the principals of operant conditioning and the philosophy of radical behaviorism, which are the foundations of Applied Behavior Analysis. Skinner was also one of the founders of the Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) in 1958, which
18360-485: Was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. James wished to pursue painting, his early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island , but his father urged him to become a physician instead. Since this did not align with James's interests, he stated that he wanted to specialize in physiology. Once he figured this
18496-402: Was the first academic journal focused on the publication of research in experimental behaviorism. The first experiments studying the effectiveness of behavior analysis on human subjects were published in the 1940s and 50s, including B.F. Skinner's "Baby in a box" in 1945 and Paul Fueller's 1949 "Operant conditioning of a vegetative human organism." Jack Michael 's study "The psychiatric nurse as
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