March 8, 2015
Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Behavioral Engineer
Dear Reader,
Verbal operants are either under thematic or formal control. In
thematic control the behavior can be traced back to some antecedent evocative
stimulus or to some postcedent consequence, but in formal control there is point-to-point correspondence
or similarity between the antecedent stimulus and the verbal response or
response product. Verbal operants lacking point-to-point correspondence are said
to be under thematic control, but with point-to-point correspondence control they
are said to be under formal control (Ledoux, 2014, p 448).
Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB)
are two subsets of verbal behavior that refer only to vocal verbal behavior.
SVB and NVB can be under thematic or formal control. In NVB the point-to-point correspondence is
based on elicitation, but in SVB the
similarity between stimulus and response is based on evocation. SVB is the analysis
of the verbalizer’s effect on the mediator. Only the SVB verbalizer evokes the mediator to become a
verbalizer, who then also becomes a SVB verbalizer. To continue SVB, there must
not only be turn-taking, it also requires that all verbalizers be SVB verbalizers. The
NVB verbalizer elicits the mediator
to either keep his or her mouth shut, to talk only as little as possible, to
talk only to the extent that he or she is allowed by the verbalizer or to say
exactly what the verbalizer wants to hear, at the moment that the verbalizer decides
for the mediator that it is allowed to speak. Thus, most of our verbal episodes consist
of only a very few SVB instnances, but mainly of NVB instances. Stated differently, our vocal verbal behavior,
which is operant, is constrained by NVB respondent processes.
Only during SVB can we get rid of
these respondent chains.
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