March 1, 2015

March 1, 2015

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Behavioral Engineer

Dear Reader, 

This writer woke up from a nightmare in which his computer was on fire. He screamed in horror because all of his writings were lost and the UFB stick had molten beyond recognition. Although he was upset, he knew things would be all right. It was not clear how the fire had broken out. His wife and a lady friend were at the scene, but they had nothing to do with it and he felt that being frustrated was useless. As he began to calm down, he woke up. 

Skinner’s Verbal Behavior (1957) is extended with two universal subsets of verbal behavior: Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB). SVB refers to the verbal episodes in which the speaker controls the behavior of the listener with positive reinforcement. NVB, on the other hand, refers to the verbal episodes in which the speaker controls the behavior of the listener with an aversive contingency. The discrimination between SVB and NVB is a result of what could be seen as an excavation process during which SVB is uncovered by NVB. We have to use NVB to get to SVB and without NVB we cannot get to SVB.

The place to dig is in our spoken communication. Much is hidden due to our way of talking and will become available if we just start talking. Talking must be seen as digging; not digging into someone else, but digging into ourselves. By listening to our sound while we speak, we discover how we relate to others. Excavation only makes sense if we find something. If we find nothing, we are digging in the wrong place. Fruitless talk is based on attempt to dig into others. There are many things to talk about and places to dig where we are more likely to find something. If we find something, it is important that we don’t destroy what we find with our crude tools. 


Even though we use NVB to get to SVB, we must do so very carefully. To remove the thick layers of earth that don’t contain anything, we use our heavy equipment, but when we get closer to the sediments which may contain what we are looking for, we use smaller and finer tools and use less and less NVB. Eventually, we may use tiny brushes and very little NVB.

If our talking doesn’t become more refined, we will pulverize our humanity. We have already squandered a great deal because of NVB. It is because NVB was not used for the purposes that it is good for, that we didn’t and couldn’t discover SVB, but once we begin to use NVB pragmatically much of value will and can be found. We must be able to call a spade a spade. 

Words are tools only as long as they have meaning. Their meaning is a function of how we use them and under what circumstances we use them. We can and should use them to uncover SVB. Meaning can be discovered in the places where people have once lived, that is, in our behavioral history. 


When we dig in the right place, we can find the archeological evidence of an ancient civilization. After we have found pieces of pottery, we may be able to piece together the whole pot. The more artifacts we find, the more an ancient culture will speak to us and comes alive. If we don’t find anything, our conversation must change; we must dig somewhere else where we can find something. Once we find some traces, we are motivated to be careful and to work very hard. Our own findings, but also the finding by others are reinforcing and they determine where, how and with what we dig. We start out with NVB, but as we become more organized and more sure of our findings, our vocal verbal behavior will become adjusted. 


This writer once helped excavate a temple on a hill side in somewhere in Israel. It was apparent that at different times different people had built a different temple. There were layers of sediments; at one time it was a synagogue, then it was a mosque and then it was a synagogue again.

The computer may burn and the UFB drive may be destroyed, but some of these writings were already send, received and saved. Likewise, ancient man also had to face that that death is immanent and so they made tombs, graves and temples that would surpass their lifetime. Life has meaning only because it doesn’t last forever. It is when our conversations begin to adjust to this reality that we begin to have appreciation and respect for every human being. In SVB our words will create new temples, palaces, art, jewelry, pottery, science and music, but above all happy relationships.