September 23, 2014

September 23, 2014

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader, 

 

Yesterday this writer had great skype-conversation with Arturo, his behaviorist friend from Colombia. He introduced his Chinese wife to him. Arturo talked about his Tai Chi teacher and his Chinese friends. Arturo and this writer have various Chinese connections and their lives are shaped by these contacts. Arturo said that because of Tai Chi he has learned to go with the flow and this writer spoke about his beloved father in law, who, although he died a couple of years ago, continues to be a positive force in his life.

Arturo spoke about how language is emerging in his two year old daughter. He believes that Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) is mainly taught by him, but that Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) is primarily taught by the mother, with whom he is divorced. Whenever he has his daughter again with him, she is initially producing some NVB, but after a while, she settles down and begins to manifests more SVB, because Arturo is reinforcing that. Arturo is convinced that the mother must be reinforcing the NVB, which he basically ignores.

Furthermore, Arturo mentioned that his daughter is not yet capable of talking with herself. She doesn’t negotiate, which is apparent in her mean behavior to the cat. Arturo and this writer discussed how his verbal behavior gradually shapes the nonverbal behavior of his daughter. The cat, however, is nonverbal and seems to elicit some of her unfulfilled emotional needs. She demands his attention by being coercive and attempts the do the same with Arturo, who, by trying to articulate her needs, expands her verbal repertoire. SVB and NVB are mutually exclusive patterns of operant behavior, which are a function of different environments and contingencies.