August 21, 2014

August 21, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorst

Dear Reader, 

 

Today is a special day, because this writer is going to present his Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) seminar for the entire faculty of BUtte College. This writing is a preparation for this event. While he was talking with parolees at his other job, yesterday, this writer explained to them that reading and writing can lead to thinking, which is talking with oneself and talking with others. This, in turn, then can lead to behavioral change… if it occurs often enough to make it happen. 

During the department meeting everyone was talking about their summer and how much fun they had. When it was this author’s turn, he mentioned that he was and still is in the process of writing an academic paper together with a behaviorist friend from Colombia. It was nice to announce this in public. It felt like making a promise. By doing this, this writer is taking himself to another level. It will be a monumental achievement to get this paper published. Being involved in this project is rewarding, because everybody will be taking him serious. 

This is the theme for today’s seminar: how to be taken serious. It is a delight to this writer that this topic arose spontaneously from his writing. To be taken serious by others, we obviously have to take ourselves serious, but in a good way. People often tell each other not to take themselves too serious, because supposedly taking themselves too serious impairs their connection with others. Today’s seminar will prove the opposite: the more we take ourselves serious, the better our communication will be. However, we are only able to take ourselves serious to the extent that others have taken us serious. In other words, we depend on others to be taken serious.

   

For the teacher to be taken serious, he or she depends on his or her students. As mediators, they set the stage for him or her to speak. Their reinforcement will not come from how well the verbalizers know what they know, but from the feedback they receive due to the behavioral change of the students, who are learning. This feedback is based on a verbalizer’s ability to monitor his or her impact on the mediator. The verbalizer continuously checks the well-being of the mediator.