July 21, 2016

July 21, 2016 

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Behavioral Engineer

Dear Reader, 

This is my thirty-sixth response to “Epistemological Barriers to Radical Behaviorism” by Donohue et al. (1998). I enjoy quoting Skinner as his words really help me to explain the distinction between Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) to you. 

“The practical problem in continuing the struggle for freedom and dignity is not to destroy controlling forces but to change them, to create a

world in which people will achieve far more than they ever have achieved before in art, music, literature, science, technology, and above all in the enjoyment of life” (Skinner, 1975, p. 47).

If Skinner had known SVB he would, of course, have never said this. SVB is the absence of any kind of struggle. As long as our conversation is based on struggle, we produce NVB. It doesn’t really matter what we are struggling for. Although I know what Skinner is referring to and agree with his insistence on considering the environmental variables that cause our behavior, I think that “the practical problem” is our way of talking in which we struggle to get the attention, that is, NVB.

SVB is possible due to different “controlling forces.” It is the sound of the voice of the speaker which either sets the stage for SVB or NVB. Unless we pay attention to how we sound while we speak, we will only be able to hypothesize about creating “a world in which people will achieve far more than they ever have achieved before in art, music, literature, science, technology, and above all in the enjoyment of life.”

Skinner’s way of talking demonstrates he means what he says as he is having much more SVB than anybody else. As far as I can tell, he refuses to engage in NVB and considers it a total waste of his time. Although I am well aware of its negative consequences, I don’t think that my involvement in NVB has been a waste of time. To the contrary, it has made me long for another way of communicating. The problems with my authoritarian father have made me discover the difference between SVB, non-hierarchical speech and NVB, hierarchical speech.