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…

If the members of a functional response class occur in a predictable order, a response-class hierarchy is said to exist. Although this topic has received some attention in the applied literature, it remains relatively understudied. The purpose of the current investigation was to develop an analogue model of a response-class hierarchy. Children…

Aphasia is an acquired language impairment that affects over 1 million individuals, the majority of whom are over age 65 (Groher, 1989). This disorder has typically been conceptualized within a cognitive neuroscience framework, but a behavioral interpretation of aphasia is also possible. Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior proposes a…

Few studies have made use of B. F. Skinner's (1957) behavioral analysis of language and precise taxonomy of verbal behavior when describing the controlling variables for the mand relation. Consequently, the motivating operation (MO) has not typically been identified as an independent variable and the nature of a spontaneous mand has been…

A counselor response category system for measuring counselor verbal behavior was developed. The resulting system had 17 mutually exclusive categories, with at least minimal face and content validity. In rating counselor response units, the category system resulted in high agreement levels between judges. Analysis led to a revised 14-category…

This review of research discusses how children with autism may acquire equivalence classes after learning to supply a common oral name to each stimulus in a potential class. A proposed methodology for researching referent naming and class formation, analysis of stimulus classes, and generalization is offered. (CR)

Two experiments explored the question of when people will respond to negative labels by confirming them and when they will respond by disconfirming them. (Editor)

Criteria and methods for developing a taxonomy for different situational categories are presented. (CK)

Two experiments examined pigeons' generalization to intermediate forms following training of concept discriminations. In Experiment 1, the training stimuli were sets of images of dogs and cats, and the transfer stimuli were head/body chimeras, which humans tend to categorize more readily in terms of the head part rather than the body part. In…

The labeling theory of deviance is used as a basis from which to comment on the dynamics of the labeling process in schools in general. Several research studies have demonstrated the self-fulfilling prophecy of labeling techniques. Four types of behavior can be distinguished: behavior that breaks a rule and is labeled as deviant; behavior that…