LANGUAGE AS A BEHAVIOUR

LANGUAGE AS A BEHAVIOUR

1. 1. INTRODUCTION

   • Assertion that language is a behaviour - stems from outline made by Skinner's "Verbaal Behaviour" (1957) and other language-related publications
   • Laid out a vocabulary and theory for FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS of verbal behaviour - presented a series of bold attempts to stretch principles of behaviourism to language acquisiton
   • Two years after, Chomsky (1959) - reviewed and critically analysed - wrote that a complex cognitive system such as language in higher organisms can't be explained through Behaviourist principles

2. 2. BACKGROUND OF"VERBAL BEHAVIOUR"

   • i) DEFINITION: Verbal behaviour:- behaviour that is reinforced through the mediation of another person's behaviour (whereas nonverbal behaviour is reinforced directly through contact with the physical environment (Skinner, 1957)
   • ii) Was concerned with the verbal behaviour of the individual speaker (not verbal practices of verbal community such as in dictionary)
   • iii) Unit of analysis is the FUNCTIONAL RELATION between a type of responding and the independent variables that control nonverbal behaviour (e.g. motivative variables, discriminative stimuli, and consequences that follow responding)
   • iv) Referred to this unit as VERBAL OPERANT - operant implying a type of class of behaviour distinct from a particular response instance
   • v) Set of units in particular individual = verbal repetoire
   • vi) Verbal behaviour = operant behaviour, and can be analysed in terms of CONTINGENCIES: S^D, the verbal response, and the reinforcer
   • vii) Chapters 3-7:- Distinguished between several different types of verbal operants

3. 3. REINFORCEMENT

   • For verbal behaviour it is sometimes unconditioned and sometimes conditioned
   • Unconditioned reinforcer = physical, material reinforcer that exerts reinforcing effects without any prior experience (e.g. if speaker asks listener to pass the salt, receiving the salt is the reinforcer
   • In much of verbal behaviour, reinforcer is conditioned - best described as "GENERALISED SOCIAL ATTENTION" - takes the form of facial responsiveness, eye contact, what a listener says or does, contingent physical proximity
   • There may be "MULTIPLE CONTROLS" - verbal behaviour is controlled by more than one contingency, with more than one discriminative stimulus and reinforcer

4. 4. THE ANTECEDENT STIMULUS

   • Control by the antecedent is another important aspect - may be an object/event/some property or feature of an object or event

5. 5. RESPONSE

   • May be vocal, a gesture, or even a grimace on a face - an important issue is whether its reinforcement has been mediated by others like the speaker

6. 6. VERBAL RELATIONS

   • Several forms of elementary verbal relations emphasise the relation between antecedent condition and the form of the response, for example. - include Mands, Tacts, and Intraverbals

7. 7. MANDS

   • (As in "demand" or "command") Emphasises the relation between RESPONSE and REINFORCER
   • DEFINITION: Verbal response that is under the functional control of one particular reinforcer
   • Discriminative stimulus (S^D) = typically just the presence of a listener
   • Common examples: Requests, asking questions, raising one's hand for permission to speak
   • EXAMPLE 1: After playing outside in the heat, Mark points to a water bottle and says "Water. You reinforce his response with a cup of water. EXAMPLE 2: You are pushing Mark on the swing. You stop and he says, "Push". You reinforce his behaviour by pushing him

8. 8. TACTS

   • (As in "contact") Emphasises the stimulus control relation between ANTECEDENT CIRCUMSTANCES and RESPONSE
   • DEFINITION: Verbal response that is under the functional control of an object, event, or situation, or some property of an object, event, or situation
   • Reinforcer = typically just generalised social attention, e.g. approval or confirmation of what was said
   • EXAMPLE 1: You show Thiago a picture of a flower. He says "Flower". You say, "Good job!" EXAMPLE 2. While playing with Barbie, Thiago says "Pink", referencing to the colour of Barbie's shoes. You say, "You're right, her shoes are pink!"

9. 9. INTRAVERBAL

   • Emphasises the relation between PRIOR VERBAL BEHAVIOUR and RESPONSE
   • DEFINTION: Verbal response that is under the functional control of another verbal stimulus, where the relation between stimulus and response is an arbitrary one established by the verbal community
   • Reinforcer = typically just generalised social attention
   • In many cases, intraverbals consist in just saying the next word in a previously acquired chain of responses - e.g. "memorised"sequences of words such a singing a song (A verbal response isn't usually an intraverbal the first times it's made
   • EXAMPLE 1: Ian asks "How are you?" you reply, "I'm fine, thanks". EXAMPLE 2: While singing with Ian, you say, "Twinkle, twinkle, little ___" and he replies, "Star"

10. 10. CRITICISMS

    • Two years later, Chomsky (1959) challenged Skinner ofthe basis of lack of support from empirical data and persuasive reasoning
    • i) Pointed to an INADEQUATENESS OF A "FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS" SCHEME TO EXPLAIN HIGHER MENTAL FACULTIES (LANGUAGE - Prediction of verbal behaviour of complex organisms such as humans cannot be done through an FA schema, which relies only on certain external variables like stimulus, reinforcement, etc. - Skinner misses out on the internal make-up of complex organisms, which is inborn, genetically controlled an highly complex
    • ii) GENERALISATION OF LABORATORY TERMINOLOGY TO REAL LIFE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR IS A WEAK AREA IN SKINNER'S WORK - Simple functions to describe behaviour in well-defined and controlled conditions of a lab can't be easily applied to complex processes like language - Skinner has borrowed lab terms and carelessly applied them to human behaviour
    • iii) REINFORCEMENT ISN'T A SINGLE FACTOR NECESSARY FOR ACQUISITION - Complex genetically controlled mechanisms (majorly unknown) are at work - Skinner;s claim that all verbal behaviour is acquired and maintained in strength by reinforcement is not true as factors like causal observation, natural inquisitiveness, and strong tendency to imitate are also important - Plus, there is a remarkable capacity in a child to generalise, hypothesise, and process information, which might be largely innate
    • iv) IT IS FUTILE TO SPECULATE ABOUT THE PROCESS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION WITHOUT TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT EXACTLY IS BEING REQUIRED - Before going into intergrative processes that control language acquisition, it is important to first chraracterise these problems - Skinner's Verbal Behaviour theory and system fail to identify language as a complex, higher-mental faculty, which cannot be explained by instinctual princples alone