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 "science of verbal behavior" 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, a case is offered for broadening the domain of verbal behavior research to include a 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 a 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 a previous paper (Leigland, 2001), I offered a modest assessment of progress toward Skinner's conception of "a science of verbal behavior" (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 a continuing impediment to the development of a science of verbal behavior (or at least the recognition of developments by those outside behavior analysis), and a 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 a 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 a growing and thriving presence in academia (e.g., in psychology departments), it must become a 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 a 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 a functional analysis of verbal behavior. Obstacle First, it may be time to reconsider a familiar and persistent obstacle to the promotion of a 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 a manuscript on verbal behavior simply because Chomsky had already shown Skinner's program to be unworkable. …