Functional Analysis Of Verbal Behavior Research Articles

Intraverbal Assessment for Persons with Aphasia or Other Acquired Brain Injury.

An intraverbal assessment was administered to older adults with aphasia, using a hierarchy of questions that required increasingly complex verbal discriminative stimulus control. Five categories of errors were defined and analyzed for putative stimulus control, with the aim to identify requisite assessment components leading to more efficient and effective treatments. Evocative control over intraverbal error responses was evident throughout the database, as shown by commonalities within four distinct categories of errors; a fifth category, representing a narrow majority of errors, was less clear in terms of functional control over responses. Generally, questions requiring increasingly complex intraverbal stimulus control resulted in weaker verbal performance for those with aphasia. A new 9-point intraverbal assessment model is proposed, based on Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior. The study underscores that loss or disruption of a formerly sophisticated language repertoire presents differently than the fledgling language skills and errors of new learners, such as typically developing children and those with autism or developmental disabilities. Thus, we would do well to consider that rehabilitation may require a different approach to intervention than habilitation. We offer several thematic topics for future research in this area.

From direct contingencies to derived relations: the ever-developing nature of theory and practice in behavior analysis.

To illustrate the processes of development within the behavioral theory and the corresponding expansion of the areas in which it is applied, especially the advancement (conceptual developments) of the functional analysis of language inspired by Relational Frame Theory (RFT) research. Classical and operant conditioning are well-established behavioral learning processes, discovered and described at the beginning of the twentieth century. They provide the tools for analyzing, establishing and modifying the functions of stimuli and responses of the organisms through manipulation of the environment. Although B. F. Skinner provided grounds for the functional analysis of complex behaviors such as language, it was not until the beginning of the twenty-first century that RFT was introduced. From this moment behavior analysts could use behavioral principles to explain how stimulus functions may change without direct learning. The practical application of the growing knowledge about Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding (AARR), a basic generalized operant described within RFT, allows us to analyze, explain and change behaviors that had hitherto been beyond the scope of behavioral therapy. The continued growth and development of behavior theory and practice holds the promise for an expansion of its application to new areas and populations in need. One such development is the functional analysis of verbal behavior e.g., relational frames, ROE (relating-orienting-evoking). It seems useful to add advancements proposed by RFT to the behavioral toolbox with which we could effectively describe, explain and change behavior with precision, scope and depth.

A translational approach to the functional analysis of language in psychotherapy

The functional analysis of verbal behavior has been successful in establishing basic and advanced forms of language in individuals with developmental disabilities. The development of behavioral approaches to psychotherapy, such as the functional-analytic psychotherapy, have advanced the implementation of operant analyses of verbal behavior among typical adults. The field of behavior-analytic approaches to psychotherapy departs from the applied experimental research in behavior analysis in various ways: (a) minimal use of molecular analyses of behavioral processes using single-subject experimentation, (b) confined use of functional analysis and function-driven intervention, and (c) metaphoric use of mainstream behavioral concepts and methods. The breakthroughs brought about by behavioral approaches to psychotherapy may be supplemented by way of translating some of the findings of the applied experimental literature. The present analysis illustrates how behavioral processes demonstrated in the context of experimental research, often with individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, may be relevant to psychotherapy with typically-developed adults. This translational approach is discussed with reference to basic language processes: echoics, mands, tacts, and intraverbal dynamics. This approach could prompt programmatic translational research in the field of behavioral psychotherapies.

Three Views of Behaviorism

Three views of behaviorism are examined in an effort to clarify its meaning. The views are composites of what readers might hear or read in the professional literature of psychology. View 1 is un-self-consciously critical of behaviorism and might represent the view taken by a contemporary cognitive psychologist. View 2 appears to support behaviorism but actually represents only a methodological behaviorism and an epistemological dualism. View 3 represents a radical, thoroughgoing behaviorism. The radical behaviorism of View 3 regards any differences between Views 1 and 2 as superficial—both are mediational and mentalistic and therefore objectionable. In contrast to Views 1 and 2, radical behaviorism emphasizes the functional analysis of verbal behavior, which leads to a thoroughgoing, behavioral conception of knowledge and explanatory practices in psychology.

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF VERBAL BEHAVIOR: A BRIEF REVIEW

A variation of the preintervention functional analysis of problem behavior has recently been extended to identify the function of verbal behavior emitted by children with autism. Recent research suggests that a functional analysis of verbal behavior might be beneficial in evaluating previous instruction and guiding the selection of future educational targets and instructional procedures. The present paper reviews previous literature on the functional analysis of verbal behavior and identifies avenues for future research.

Review of Verbal behavior analysis: Inducing and expanding new verbal capabilities in children with language delays.

Greer &. Ross (2007): Verbal Behavior Analysis: Inducing and Expanding New Verbal Capabilities in Children with Language Delays Language impairments affect 7% of preschool children (Ziegler, 2005). Some of these children will catch up to their peers, but many will continue to have problems at school age. For example, Paul (2000) found that 16% of children with expressive language delays at age 2 continued to present with language impairments at the age of 7. Additionally there is evidence that early problems with oral language are related to later problems with the development of literacy skills (Bartlett, et al., 2002). Moreover, when language impairments accompany developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, mental retardation), they are likely to remain a life-long challenge. Professionals from a variety of disciplines have developed approaches to language intervention over the past 80 years (Paul, 2007). Within that context, behavioral approaches have emerged among the most effective, especially for teaching children with autism and related disabilities (Goldstein & Hockenberry, 1991). Traditionally, behavioral approaches emphasized modeling, imitation, systematic prompting, differential reinforcement and discrete trial instruction as a primary instructional format (e.g., Lovaas, 1981). However, more recently the behavioral framework has been expanded to include an emphasis on functional analysis and especially Skinner's (1957) functional analysis of verbal behavior. Additionally, natural environmental teaching (NET) strategies (e.g., incidental teaching, mand-model) were added to the repertoire of important instructional formats, and a review of recent studies supports the effectiveness of these formats (Petersen, 2006 for children with language delays. Skinner (1957) originally developed the verbal behavior model to account for the continuity between operant behavior and language. Others are responsible for applying the model to language instruction (e.g., Sundberg & Partington, 1998; Greer & Ross, 2007). These applications have gradually come to be known as the verbal behavior (VB) approach. Carr and Firth (2005) recently reviewed the published literature on VB practices and pointed to the need for additional research. We believe that his call for research has been addressed in part by Greer and Ross's (2007) book: Verbal Behavior Analysis: Inducing and Expanding New Verbal Capabilities in Children with Language Delays. This book represents the culmination of considerable research, practice, and critical thinking by a Greer and his colleagues (e.g., Greer & Keohane, 2006; Greer, Keohane, & Healy, 2002; Tsai, & Greer, 2006). It addresses many interesting and important questions about the verbal behavior approach, and it offers an evidence-based framework for best practices in behavioral language intervention, including detailed information about assessment, instructional strategies, and procedures for evaluating treatment efficacy. It is highly engaging and conveys complex theoretical information in a clear and reader-friendly style. It is an excellent source of information for students planning a career in communicative disorders, for behavior analysts who wish to enhance their understanding of Skinner's verbal behavior framework, for parents of children with communicative disorders, and for professionals in the fields of developmental disabilities and early intervention. An important feature of this book is that it includes an empirical account of verbal behavior development, and it t may be the first comprehensive account of language development that incorporates Skinner's (1957) verbal behavior model. It describes a developmental trajectory marked by developmental cusps (Rosales-Ruiz & Baer, 1966; Bosh & Hixson, 2004). In some linguistic and cognitive accounts of language development, stages of language growth have been attributed to neurological factors such as a language acquisition device (e. …

The influence of Bloomfield’s linguistics on Skinner

Bloomfield's "Linguistics as a Science" (1930/1970), Language (1933/1961), and "Language or Ideas?" (1936a/1970), and Skinner's Verbal Behavior (1957) and Science and Human Behavior (1953) were analyzed in regard to their respective perspectives on science and scientific method, the verbal episode, meaning, and subject matter. Similarities between the two authors were found. In particular both asserted that (a) the study of language must be carried out through the methods of science; (b) the main function of language is to produce practical effects on the world through the mediation of a listener; and (c) a physicalist conception of meaning. Their differences concern the subject matter of their disciplines and their use of different models for the analysis of behavior. Bloomfield's linguistics and Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior are complementary approaches to language.

Fifty years later: Comments on the further development of a science of verbal behavior.

Fifty years after the publication of Skinner's Verbal Behavior, some possibilities for the future of Skinner's of verbal are considered. Specifically, certain areas of development or advancement are examined which might be of special importance to the expansion and influence of the functional analysis of verbal behavior. One critical task for the influence of the field, for example, involves the removal of an obstacle; namely, the remarkably persistent and wholly inappropriate influence of Chomsky's polemic of 1959. Strategies for neutralizing this influence are explored. In looking at the future advancement of the field, case is offered for broadening the domain of verbal behavior research to include variety of complex verbal phenomena. Skinner's original work and more recent systematic treatments provide an important framework for the analysis of verbal behavior, but there is still room for, and need for inductively oriented, empirically based research programs that transcend specific interpretive or theoretical treatments. Such programs, under the guidance of the practices of radical behaviorism and effective behavior-analytic methodology, might provide additional lines of development and progress for the analysis of verbal behavior. Keywords: Verbal Behavior, radical behaviorism, functional analysis, inductive, empirically based. ********** In previous paper (Leigland, 2001), I offered modest assessment of progress toward Skinner's conception of a science of verbal (e.g., Skinner, 1945, 1957). On this fifty-year anniversary of the publication of Skinner's (1957) Verbal Behavior, I here offer an equally modest update on that progress in light of continuing developments in behavior analysis, recent developments in other fields, the effects of continuing impediment to the development of science of verbal behavior (or at least the recognition of developments by those outside behavior analysis), and suggestion regarding the expansion of sources of research programs in the field of verbal behavior. Verbal behavior is undoubtedly the most important and conspicuous behavioral characteristic of humans in relation to other species. From planning trip to the grocery store, to the development of new cultural practices, to genocide, the influence of verbal relations are seen virtually everywhere in human affairs. It is arguably the most important field for the future of behavior analysis (e.g., Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001; Leigland, 2001). Further, if the field of behavior analysis is ever to become growing and thriving presence in academia (e.g., in psychology departments), it must become viable, competing alternative to cognitive theory and research, nearly all of which is directly or indirectly related to verbal behavior. This in turn would mean the growth of basic behavior-analytic research programs in verbal behavior (which, unlike many other areas of inquiry, is in unique systematic position for the associated development of useful applications based on that research). While such developments would require considerable time and effort, opportunities may be arising for the promotion of functional analysis of verbal behavior. Obstacle First, it may be time to reconsider familiar and persistent obstacle to the promotion of behavior-analytic verbal behavior program. The impact of Chomsky's (1959) review of Skinner (1957) appears undiminished after nearly fifty years. In fact, the notion that Chomsky's review somehow destroyed Skinner's analysis seems to have moved beyond conventional wisdom to the status of one of the foundational axioms of Western Civilization. No hard data will be offered here in support of this statement, but recent stories abound of (for example) editors of major psychology journals who refuse to consider manuscript on verbal behavior simply because Chomsky had already shown Skinner's program to be unworkable. …

Current behavioral models of client and consultee resistance: A critical review.

Abstract Resistance is the phenomena that occurs in the therapeutic relationship when the patient refuses to complete tasks assigned by the therapist which would benefit the patient in improving their psychological situation. Resistance is also used to describe situations in the consulting relationship where the consultee does not do what the consultant suggests. Often resistance leads to poor treatment integrity and/or staff burn out. As a result, this resistance is a factor that warrants a behavioral interpretation and investigation. Currently several behavioral models of resistance exist. In this paper, we explore each of these models and critique the logical and empirical support. Future research directions will be discussed. Keywords: Resistance, Behavioral Models, Functional Assessment, Consultation ********** Introduction functional analysis of verbal behavior began in 1945, with the publication of the Harvard Symposium on Operationalism in Psychological Review. In paper by B.F. Skinner entitled The Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms it was argued that by observing the contingencies and setting conditions under which a verbal community typically used the ordinary language terms, the interpreter could interpret the terms in a descriptive functional assessment. This approach is critical to the scientific investigation of events that on the surface may not appear to be readily available to a behavioral interpretation or behavioral research (Leigland, 1996). Leigland lamented that behaviorally oriented clinicians have done little research on terms that have been important to non-behavioral clinicians. One term, which appears to have importance to traditional clinicians and consultants, is resistance. Resistance can be defined as anything that a client or consultee does that impedes progress (Wickstrom & Witt, 1983). What is termed resistance in consultation can have serious implications for treatment integrity (Wickstrom, Jones, LaFleur & Witt, 1998). Resistance to change in verbal therapies and consultation is a phenomenon that has substantial representation (Cautilli & SantilliConnor, 2000; Patterson & Chamberlain, 1994) with some early discussion within the behavioral literature (e.g., DeVoge & Beck, 1978; Skinner, 1957). Resistance appears to interest a broad spectrum of clinicians both behavioral (e.g., DeVoge & Beck, 1978; Lazurus & Fay, 1982) and non-behavioral (e.g., Mandanes, 1981) in orientation. However, supporting data are lacking to most of the theoretical conceptualizations including behavioral interpretations (Patterson & Chamberlain, 1994). In deconstructing resistance or conducting an analysis of its use, behavioral psychologists find therapists and consultants use the word in the context of therapeutic failure. For example, Dougherty (2000) refers to resistance as a consultee's failure to participate constructively in the process of consultation. Resistance can occur in the treatment relationship, where the client does not improve or, in the consulting relationship, where the consultee fails to implement the treatment. clinical literature is replete with examples from different traditions of techniques to manage this problem if it arises in the therapeutic context (e.g., Spinks & Birchler, 1982). In one study using regression analysis, Patterson and Chamberlain (1994) showed that parental resistance to parent training reduced therapist effectiveness and these parents showed fewer improvements in discipline. As pointed out by Cautilli and Santilli-Connor (2000), the term resistance is often used to describe a relationship in which the client, or in the case of consultation, the consultee, does not comply with the tasks that the therapist or consultant suggests. A review of the literature shows that many factors increase the probability that a consultee will be resistant. …

Comportamento verbal na terapia analítico comportamental

Apenas recentemente a análise funcional do comportamento verbal vem ganhando importância na clínica comportamental, o que representa um paradoxo, uma vez que a terapia se dá quase que exclusivamente através da interação verbal terapeuta-cliente. Vários conceitos propostos por Skinner de análise do comportamento verbal podem ajudar a compreender o caráter disfuncional dos comportamentos verbais e sua influência sobre os comportamentos não verbais dos clientes. Dentre eles foram abordados no presente trabalho o conceito de audiência, audiência não punitiva, tatos distorcidos, mandos disfarçados, intraverbais, controle por regras, lapsos verbais, extensão metafórica do tato, significado pelo uso e treino em tatear o próprio comportamento e suas variáveis controladoras. A classificação do comportamento do cliente de acordo com tais conceitos fornece indícios relevantes acerca de suas variáveis controladoras, permitindo uma atuação do terapeuta no restabelecimento dos repertórios comportamentais dos clientes e do aperfeiçoamento dos repertórios verbais disfuncionais.

The Methodological Challenge of the Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior

The Methodological Challenge of the Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior

The functional analysis of psychological terms: In defense of a research program

In 1945, B. F. Skinner outlined a proposal that psychological or mentalistic terms found in natural language might be analyzed empirically in terms of the variables, conditions, and contingencies of which they may be observed to be a function. Such an analysis would enable discriminations to be made between different classes of variables that enter into the control of the term. In this way, the analysis would clarify what is traditionally called the "meanings" of such terms as they occur as properties of verbal behavior. Despite his expressed confidence in the success of such a program, Skinner largely abandoned the functional analysis of psychological terms in favor of the development of a promising new field; the experimental analysis of behavior. The present paper argues that the original program is of great importance as well, and for the following reasons: (a) to make full, immediate, and (most importantly) effective contact with the range of issues and terms of central importance to the traditionally and culturally important concepts of "mind" and "mental life" (and thereby demonstrating the relevance of radical behaviorism to the full range of human and verbal behavior); and (b) to extend the methodology of the functional analysis of verbal behavior more generally. Such a research program would demonstrate, through an empirically-based scientific analysis, that the philosophical problems concerning "mental life" may be productively analyzed as problems of verbal behavior. Issues of methodology are discussed, and possible methodological strategies are proposed regarding the confirmation of behavior analytic interpretations of mentalistic terms.

Comments on Skinner’s grammar

The strong tradition of "school room" grammars may have had a negative influence on the reception given a functional analysis of verbal behavior, both within and without the field of behavior analysis. Some of the failings of those traditional grammars, and their largely prescriptive nature were outlined through reference to other critics, and conflicting views. Skinner's own treatment of grammatical issues was presented, emphasizing his view of a functional unit and his use of the autoclitic and intraverbal functions to describe alternatives to a formal or structural analysis. Finally, the relevance of stimulus control variables to some recurring questions about verbal behavior and, specifically grammar, were mentioned.

Aspects of conversational style—linguistic versus behavioral analysis

Skinner's functional analysis of verbal behavior has been contrasted with formal linguistic analysis which studies the grammatical structure and "meaning" of verbal response-products, regardless of the circumstances under which they are produced. Nevertheless, it appears that certain areas of linguistic analysis are not entirely structural. In her recent books That's Not What I Meant (1986) and You Just Don't Understand (1990), the linguist Deborah Tannen purports to explain how people exhibit different "conversation styles"-that is, how they speak and achieve effects on listeners in different ways. There are indications, however, that the linguistic model may not be the most functional and precise one that could be used in analyzing conversational style. This paper takes concepts presented in Deborah Tannen's book That's Not What I Meant (1986), analyzes them from a linguistic and a behavioral perspective, and compares the relative utility of the two approaches.

The Relational Definition of Reinforcement: Comments on Circularity

Several authors argue that Skinner’s definition of reinforcement is not circular if such a definition is either ostensive (“pointing” to changes in operant probabilities defines “reinforcement”), stipulative (establishment of the usage of the concept is in a given discussion), or empirical (the definition is not circular if it is testable). Skinner’s (1957) functional analysis of verbal behavior has also been suggested to eliminate circularity in that definition: The definition of reinforcement is not circular if it is viewed as a case of verbal behavior controlled by environmental contingencies. This paper argues that Skinner’s definition of reinforcement is inherently circular because it is relational, and all relational definitions are inherently tautological. This paper concludes that circularity in that definition is not a problem “waiting” for the best solution, but a fact similar in nature to that found when defining relational concepts in economics, evolutionary theory, genetics, geometry, statistics, and physics.

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS DISCOVERS THE OPERANT: A REVIEW OF ROGER BROWN'S A FIRST LANGUAGE: THE EARLY STAGES1

Brown's book is selectively reviewed with the aim of noting points of similarity between Brown's psycholinguistic analysis of language acquisition and a functional analysis of verbal behavior. Brown divides early language acquisition into five stages, based on mean length of utterance in samples of child speech. His book concentrates on Stage I, when mean length of utterance first rises above 1.0, indicating that children are beginning to speak in multi‐morphemic utterances, and Stage II, when mean length of utterance in morphemes is about 2.25. Multi‐morphemic utterances in Stage I consist mainly of ordered sequences of uninflected nouns and verbs, the order being that of the simple declarative sentence (agent‐action‐indirect object‐direct object‐locative). The review attempts a theoretical analysis of the functional stimulus control of Stage I syntactic order, concluding that the control must originate partly in relations among events in the environment and partly in covert autoclitic verbal behavior. Increases in mean length of utterance in Stage II are mainly due to the appearance of several “grammatical morphemes” such as the progressive ‐ing inflection on verbs and the plural ‐s inflection on nouns. The review attempts a behavioral paraphrase, again in terms of tacts and autoclitics, of Brown's psycholinguistic analysis of grammatical morphemes, concluding that Stage II displays the further development, building on Stage I, of the combined control of verbal behavior by relations in the environment and covert self‐generated verbal stimuli. Similarities between Brown's psycholinguistic analysis and a functional analysis of language acquisition suggest that the two viewpoints are converging on a common concern with the stimulus control of verbal behavior.