May 18, 2016

May 18, 2016

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Reader,

Although many behaviorists have reiterated Skinner’s words that behavior is not caused by some inner entity, but by environmental variables, they didn’t and couldn’t talk like him. They would have sounded better and calmer and they would have engaged more often in Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB), if they would have been more tuned into him. Obviously, their lack of attunement with Skinner, or any other authority figure, had a long history, which didn’t all of a sudden come to an end, because they became familiar with him or with his work. Unlike Skinner, most behaviorists produce Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB). They sound very different from Skinner, because they agree with him only intellectually, not emotionally, and, consequently, their public speech is of an entirely different quality. As Skinner’s aim was to promote his operant science, which required a change in the terminology of the scientist, he focused on what a speaker says, but not on how the speaker sounds. What many people seem to overlook is that Skinner’s formulations were based on and connected with his nonverbal experiments. For him the emphasis on content resulted in SVB, while for most behaviorists the opposite is true. Even though they may have done many nonverbal lab experiments, most behaviorists are hyper-focuses on getting the word out, which resulted in NVB. With the words also a speaker’s sound comes out. If what the speaker says reflects the speaker’s well-being, which derives from scientific language, which accurately expresses how behavior works, he or she sounds satisfied. Our need to convince others decreases to the extent that we continue to experience the sense of wellbeing that comes with discovering something new. The realization that we don’t cause our own behavior is a profoundly reinforcing verbal achievement, which makes our lives into an ongoing process of discovery and exploration. Like making music, it is automatically reinforcing, which means that others no longer control the contingencies.