December 11, 2013

December 11, 2013

Dear Reader, 

 

Because he found the scientific framework that explained his own cfindings, this writer began to experience a grounding which before had been missing. Before, his entire focus had been to let others and himself have the experience of Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB). The down side of his insistent emphasis on the spoken word had always been his ambivalence about written words, which, because they are valued more than spoken words, were not seen by him as an option. As writing about SVB made less sense to him than speaking about it, he dreaded the former. However, it became reinforcing for him to write about SVB once he found out about the science of human behavior.  

Approach behavior with a focus on the sound of spoken words, had been his focus for years, but when he discovered behaviorism, he began to appreciate for the first time written language. Although he had read with great interest, he had always been hesitant to write. If reading represents listening and writing represents speaking, he had always been listing, but now he had become interested in speaking. 

As his urge to speak became less, his ability to write improved and he began to articulate matters, which apparently first needed to be written before they could be said. This phenomenon was totally new and exciting to him. He would never have believed such a possibility to exist, but now he was writing about things that could not be said unless they had been written. He felt assured that what he was writing would be read. Because listening (reading) to what others (behaviorists) had said (written) had enriched him, he was confident that he could speak with his written words. His need for immediate feedback that led to the discovery of SVB, had involved uncertainty about spoken words in written form. A gradual shift occurred from a long held focus on the nonverbal to the verbal. To his amazement, his trust in the meaning of written words began to improve, because his writing felt like speaking.