July 19, 2016

July 19, 2016 

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Behavioral Engineer

Dear Reader,

This is my thirty-fourth response to “Epistemological Barriers to Radical Behaviorism” by Donohue et al. (1998). Skinner has stated "A behavioristic analysis does not question the practical usefulness of reports of the inner world that is felt and introspectively observed. They are clues (1) to past behavior and the conditions affecting it, (2) to current behavior and the conditions affecting it, and (3) to conditions related to future behavior" (1974, p. 31).

Let me translate this in terms of the distinction between Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB). What you think, that is, your private speech, is, of course, a function of public speech. A person’s negative self-talk is a “clue to that person’s past behavior.” Thus, NVB public speech always irrevocably results into NVB private speech and SVB public speech always results SVB private speech.

Only the person who has been exposed to and was involved in NVB public speech will acquire cognitive distortions; in NVB the separation is stimulated and maintained between the speaker and the listener. This separation occurs as NVB is a function of aversive “conditions affecting” the relationship between the speaker and the listener.

“The current behavior and the conditions affecting it” involves the speaker’s sound which directly influences the listener’s affective experiences. The speaker’s sound creates and maintains the “current condition” for the listener. A non-threatening or a threatening speaker’s sound creates two different situations for the listener.

Depending on how often speakers and listeners have been exposed to non-threatening or threatening environments determines how they are going to speak and listen in the future. As only the individual him or herself has access to that part of the environment which is within his or her own skin, we must take note of the “practical usefulness of reports of the inner world”, as NVB, by separating the speaker from the listener, also separates our private speech from our public speech.

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Behavioral Engineer

Dear Reader,

This is my thirty-fourth response to “Epistemological Barriers to Radical Behaviorism” by Donohue et al. (1998). Skinner has stated "A behavioristic analysis does not question the practical usefulness of reports of the inner world that is felt and introspectively observed. They are clues (1) to past behavior and the conditions affecting

it, (2) to current behavior and the conditions affecting it, and (3) to

conditions related to future behavior" (1974, p. 31).

Let me translate this in terms of the distinction between Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB). What you think, that is, your private speech, is, of course, a function of public speech. A person’s negative self-talk is a “clue to that person’s past behavior.” Thus, NVB public speech always irrevocably results into NVB private speech and SVB public speech always results SVB private speech.

Only the person who has been exposed to and was involved in NVB public speech will acquire cognitive distortions; in NVB the separation is stimulated and maintained between the speaker and the listener. This separation occurs as NVB is a function of aversive “conditions affecting” the relationship between the speaker and the listener.

“The current behavior and the conditions affecting it” involves the speaker’s sound which directly influences the listener’s affective experiences. The speaker’s sound creates and maintains the “current condition” for the listener. A non-threatening or a threatening speaker’s sound creates two different situations for the listener.

Depending on how often speakers and listeners have been exposed to non-threatening or threatening environments determines how they are going to speak and listen in the future. As only the individual him or herself has access to that part of the environment which is within his or her own skin, we must take note of the “practical usefulness of reports of the inner world”, as NVB, by separating the speaker from the listener, also separates our private speech from our public speech.