December 21, 2015

December 21, 2015

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Students,

This is my fifth response to “The Personal Life of the Behavioral Analyst” by D. Bostow (2011). I write in my journal with the goal of letting my students read it. I manage to write something new about Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) every day. I keep reading papers, which were written by behaviorists, to which I respond. As I measure my teaching behavior, it keeps getting better. This semester was so successful as I used written prompts to get my students to participate and learn. Not only is my writing reinforced by this success, it has also become easier for me to write.

I just recovered from the flu and was unable to write for four days, but had written a couple of days ahead and it was easy to catch up the one day I fell behind schedule. While having the flue I had no urge to write, but now that I feel better again, I even write in the evening – something I normally don’t do. As over the course of the semester SVB kept increasing and NVB kept decreasing, more and more students began to notice. “Changes in the direction of data invite commentary from others.” 

I arranged the last two weeks in such a way that there were no more quizzes, only the final. This created lots of opportunity for students to talk. Although some students wanted the semester to be over, once they were given written instructions, they talked and enjoyed it. The written cards had topics and page numbers on them from the chapters of the book with questions they could talk about among themselves. After the cards were handed out the entire class was buzzing. It brought people together, it strengthened involvement and shaped discussion about the Principles of Psychology as well as the introduction of the SVB/NVB distinction in this class. 

In the past, many students would shy away from conversation as it was too overwhelming for them, but due to this in-between step with these written instructions, many were slowly beginning to find their way into the classroom conversation. People nowadays feel very vulnerable without their technological gadgets. I was happy to read in their written feedback that they liked my class so much as they were able to feel safe, relax and talk with each other. Students were talking with those who were sitting next to them and they also recognized the comfort which others felt while were doing the same. This contributed to marvelous centralized conversation which only went on as long as it was stimulating to everyone. More and more students experienced the power of SVB.