December 8, 2015

December 8, 2015

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Students,

This is my eight response to “Epistemological Barriers to Radical Behaviorism” (O’Donohue et al., 1998). The authors state that “All behavior is understood to be a function of environmental variables, and behaviors are selected based on their consequences (i.e. through contingencies of reinforcement and punishment).” We can only learn about the distinction between Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) if we get better at reinforcing each other for having SVB. As long as we are more likely to tell each other what is wrong we overemphasize punishment and continue our involvement in and our contribution to NVB. In SVB reinforcement is not overemphasized, but more reinforcement certainly becomes possible due to our repeated exposure to and involvement in SVB. 

Something interesting happened yesterday. One student, who is always sitting at the back of the class, demonstratively looked up at the clock, then looked at his phone and was obviously not very interested in anything I was saying. I was distracted by him and described this feeling to the class. Just as this student was affected by me, I was also affected by him. By reminding the class, but also myself, of this bi-directional influence, I was not feeling upset or rejected and it felt as if everyone, this student included, was paying more attention again. The distraction created NVB, but as I was able to describe it, it became SVB again. I was not punishing the student for not being interested in me and I thanked him for communicating by looking at the clock that he was not feeling well. I reinforced the concept I had talked about: whether we co-regulate or dysregulate each other. And so a disturbance became a teaching moment. 

“Language is simply a type of behavior (Skinner, 1957); it is subject to the same contingencies of reinforcement as all other behavior.” As the above example demonstrates, these contingencies can change rapidly during any verbal episode. From one moment to the next there can be an instance of SVB or NVB. This important fact about verbal behavior has not yet been properly analyzed. Also, during yesterday’s class, I was reminded of the enormous stress and anxiety I have experienced while I was in my graduate study. Looking back on that, I realized how punitive academia is and how common it is for everyone to accept that.