February 10, 2016

February 10, 2016

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Reader, 

In Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971, p. 169), Skinner writes “the relation between the controller and the controlled is reciprocal.” The scientist not only controls the behavior of the pigeon, “the behavior of the pigeon has determined the design of the apparatus and the procedures in which it is used.” Skinner explains the bi-directional nature of science which is necessary for the understanding of human behavior. “In a very real sense, then, the slave controls the slave driver, the child the parent, the patient the therapist, the citizen the government, the communicant the priest, the employee the employer, and the student the teacher.” Although it is absolutely true that Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) is maintained by both the powerless as well as the powerful communicators and Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) is maintained by those who are equals, Skinner would not have written this, if he had known about the SVB/NVB distinction. 

If we consider hierarchical differences in terms of who is doing most of the talking or listening, it is evident that control is mainly exerted by the speaker. Thus, slave drivers, parents, therapists, governments, priests, employees and teachers do most of the talking. That is, if we were to have more SVB among equals, the hierarchical structure of society would change. It would have to change to accommodate SVB speakers. In NVB there are only a few speakers who do all the talking, but in SVB there are many speakers who speak more often as their speech is listened to. 

In NVB only a few people are speaking and even fewer are listening. In SVB, although many are speaking, many are listening. The relationship changes which are occurring because of SVB are so positive that we find it hard to believe we were insensitive to the SVB/NVB distinction. Fact is, biologically, we have never been insensitive to the workings of SVB and NVB. Whether we were aware of it or not, we have all been troubled by the forceful, ubiquitous presence of NVB and the absence of SVB of genuine human interaction. Most of our problems are based on theories which don’t explain our behavior.  We have always been affected by SVB and NVB, but we lacked the skill to talk about this.