Linguistic sources of Skinner’s verbal behavior

Abstract

Formal and functional analyses of verbal behavior have been often considered to be divergent and incompatible. Yet, an examination of the history of part of the analytical approach used in Verbal Behavior (Skinner, 1957/1992) for the identification and conceptualization of verbal operant units discloses that it corresponds well with formal analyses of languages. Formal analyses have been carried out since the invention of writing and fall within the scope of traditional grammar and structural linguistics, particularly in analyses made by the linguist Leonard Bloomfield. The relevance of analytical instruments originated from linguistic studies (which examine and describe the practices of verbal communities) to the analysis of verbal behavior, as proposed by Skinner, relates to the conception of a verbal community as a prerequisite for the acquisition of verbal behavior. A deliberately interdisciplinary approach is advocated in this paper, with the systematic adoption of linguistic analyses and descriptions adding relevant knowledge to the design of experimental research in verbal behavior.

The influence of Bloomfield’s linguistics on Skinner

“…Previous works have pointed to similarities that belong in this category, such as Skinner's use of the model of analogy (Matos & Passos, 2004), his understanding of the phoneme and the method for the identification of the phonemes of languages (Joseph et al, 2001, p. 110;Matos & Passos, 2006;Passos & Matos, 1998), the ways of recording verbal behavior, and the conceptions of meaning and verbal episode (Matos & Passos, 1999;Passos, 2004;Passos & Matos, 1998). The similarities in this paper that can be seen as a direct influence are the conceptions of meaning, the verbal episode, and the subject matter of linguistics.…”

“…Because the speaker's behavior results from the reinforcing practices of the verbal community, linguistic analysis of these practices is a logical and practical prerequisite for the analysis of this behavior. In fact, behavior analysts have been using linguistic descriptions (from traditional grammar or linguistics, or both) of the practices of the verbal community when working on their subject matter, the repertoire of the speaker (Matos & Passos, 2006). Thus it is important to acknowledge the existence of different linguistic descriptions of different aspects of the practices of the verbal community, as well as different linguistic descriptions of the same aspects of these practices as, for example, the descriptions of traditional grammar and the ones of structural linguistics.…”

“…He specified principles to be followed in the teaching of reading for alphabetical writing regardless of the language, and applied them in a program for English, with ordered lessons, from the first words through full texts (Bloomfield, 1942aBloomfield & Barnhart, 1961 4 ). Behavior-analytic research on the teaching of reading would greatly benefit from the study of this material (Matos & Passos, 2006).…”

The Importance of Form in Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior and a Further Step

“…The later phrase ''feather by feather'' resonates Anne Lamott's fine book on writing, Bird by Bird. The initial manuscript I submitted to the journal had but two references; one to Skinner (1957) and one to Matos and Passos (2006). The reviews, an excellent set and among the best I've received, brought up a number of issues that needed to be pushed further and indirectly suggested I double down a bit with literature that would help explore them.…”

Leonard Bloomfield e o ensino de leitura

“…As análises e conceitos de Bloomfield também influenciaram vários aspectos do trabalho de B. F. Skinner, como sua adoção do fonema e do morfema como unidades de análise do comportamento verbal (MATOS; PASSOS, 2006), sua concepção fisicalista de significado e de episódio verbal (PASSOS;MATOS, 2007), suas concepções de comunidade de fala e funções da linguagem (PASSOS, 2007), e do mecanismo linguístico da analogia na análise da criatividade linguística (MATOS; PASSOS, 2010), entre outros. Coseriu (1986) considera Bloomfield "un lingüista 'euro-americano' conocedor de toda la tradición europea y americana… [en quien] confluyen Leonard Bloomfield e o ensino de leitura N.…”