Natural language processing,pragmatics, and verbal behavior

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Natural Language Processing (NLP) is that part of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concerned with endowing computers with verbal and listener repertoires, so that...     

Comparing topography-based verbal behavior with stimulus selection-based verbal behavior

Michael (1985) distinguished between two types of verbal behavior: topography-based and stimulus selection-based verbal behavior. The current research was designed to empirically examine these two types of verbal behavior while addressing the frequently debated question, Which augmentative communication system should be used with the nonverbal developmentally disabled person? Four mentally retarded adults served as subjects. Each subject was taught to tact an object by either pointing to its corresponding symbol (selection-based verbal behavior), or making the corresponding sign (topography-based verbal behavior). They were then taught an intraverbal relation, and were tested for the emergence of stimulus equivalence relations. The results showed that signed responses were acquired more readily than pointing responses as measured by the acquisition of tacts and intraverbals, and the formation of equivalence classes. These results support Michael’s (1985) analysis, and have important implications for the design of language intervention programs for the developmentally disabled.

     

Effect of training different classes of verbal behavior to decrease aberrant verbal behavior

Inappropriate verbal behavior that is labeled "psychotic" is often described as insensitive to environmental contingencies. The purpose of the current study was to establish different classes of rational or appropriate verbal behavior in a woman with developmental disabilities and evaluate the effects on her psychotic or aberrant vocal verbal behavior. Similar to a previous study (Arntzen, Ro Tonnessen, & Brouwer, 2006), the results of the current study suggested that the procedure helped to establish a repertoire of appropriate functional vocal verbal behavior in the participant. Overall, the results suggested the effectiveness of an intervention based on training various classes of verbal behavior in decreasing aberrant verbal behavior.     

Stimulus equivalence, generalization, and contextual stimulus control in verbal classes

Stimulus generalization and contextual control affect the development of equivalence classes. Experiment 1 demonstrated primary stimulus generalization from the members of trained equivalence classes. Adults were taught to match six spoken Icelandic nouns and corresponding printed words and pictures to one another in computerized three-choice matching-to-sample tasks. Tests confirmed that six equivalence classes had formed. Without further training, plural forms of the stimuli were presented in tests for all matching performances. All participants demonstrated virtually errorless performances. In Experiment 2, classifications of the nouns used in Experiment 1 were brought under contextual control. Three nouns were feminine and three were masculine. The match-to-sample training taught participants to select a comparison of the same number as the sample (i.e., singular or plural) in the presence of contextual stimulus A regardless of noun gender. Concurrently, in the presence of contextual stimulus B, participants were taught to select a comparison of the same gender as the sample (i.e., feminine or masculine), regardless of number. Generalization was assessed using a card-sorting test. All participants eventually sorted the cards correctly into gender and number stimulus classes. When printed words used in training were replaced by their picture equivalents, participants demonstrated almost errorless performances.     

A standard methodology for the analysis,recording, and control of verbal behavior

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Lack of a standard methodology has been one of the major obstacles preventing advancement of behavior analytic research in verbal behavior. This article presents a...     

The behavior of the listener,generic extensions,and the communicative adequacy of verbal behavior

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Except for a few words, children first become listeners of a word before becoming speakers of the word. The analysis of listener behavior is therefore of...     

Heading off violence with verbal de-escalation

Respect for the rights and dignity of patients is the underlying principle of therapeutic communication. Its effective practice requires the nurse to identify personal issues, stressors, and one's own anxiety and effectiveness levels. It is important that the caregiver maintain self-control to help others control themselves. By constantly observing patient behavior, the nurse should be able to detect agitation and intervene in a timely fashion, avoiding physical confrontation and the physical restraints that are its usual consequence. To make this outcome possible, the nurse should learn to recognize signs of agitation and escalation; should practice presenting himself or herself as a calm, caring professional; and should maintain poise even when facing a potentially violent patient. The nurse should remain open-minded, knowing that patients frequently react to assumptions made about them, and use the information acquired to find acceptable alternatives to aggression. These alternatives should be presented to the patient, making the choices clear, yet allowing the dignity of choice. Every effort should be made to provide opportunity for patients to be in control of their own behavior. Physical confrontation should always be a last resort, and one used only when there is a clear danger of immediate physical harm to a patient or staff member. Keep in mind that the use of force is an encouragement to aggressive behavior and a hindrance to treatment. Effective use of therapeutic communication encourages patients to express their feelings and become cooperative partners in their treatment.     

Hungarian verbal puzzles and the intensity of language contact

Grammaticality judgments of bilingual Hungarians in Slovakia and Ukraine vs. Yugoslavia show that overt objects are much more acceptable in the northern Slavic countries than in Yugoslavia. Two conflicting hypotheses have been advanced to explain this difference. The structural hypothesis claims that Serbian cliticization is responsible, while the socio-historical hypothesis claims that the difference in grammaticality judgments is due to a difference in the duration of Hungarian–Slavic language contact north of and south of present-day Hungary. Data from a seven-country survey (N = 846) show that there is a split between judgments in the northern vs. southern Slavic countries across a wide range of linguistic variables, which discredits the structural explanation for the object pro-drop variable, at least as the sole cause of change. Moreover, statistical analyses of 24 variables provide substantial empirical verification of Thomason and Kaufman's 'two crucial parameters of intensity of contact in a borrowing situation': time and level of bilingualism. It is shown that the 250 years of contact between Hungarian and Serbian has resulted in much smaller contact effects than the thousand-year-old contact of Hungarian with the northern Slavic languages. Bilingual Hungarians who constitute a local minority in the settlements where they live systematically favor the contact-induced variants of variables vis-a`-vis those who constitute a local majority.     

Further evidence of automatic reinforcement effects on verbal form

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - The form of a verbal response allows for reinforcement mediation and language transmission across cultures. Reinforcement, in turn, plays a decisive role in...     

Joint control and the generalization of selection-based verbal behavior

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Although the acquisition of selection-based verbal behavior can be ascribed to the acquisition of a conditional discrimination, such an account cannot explain any...     

Children's understanding of emotional facial expressions and verbal labels

Preschool, kindergarten, first and second-grade children were told twelve stories describing emotion-inducing events. After each story the subjects were presented either with three emotion labels (e.g., happy, sad, surprised) or with facial expressions of three emotions. Subjects were asked to choose the label or expression appropriate for the story's main character. Data analysis showed that children's accuracy increased with age. Performance was high on both response measures but recognition of labels exceeded that of facial expressions. Some of the six emotions studied (e.g., happiness and sadness) were recognized more easily than others (surprise, fear, and anger), with disgust being correctly identified least often.The authors wish to thank the children, staff, and parents of St. Chrysostom's Day School and St. Clement's School for their generous cooperation in this study.     

Post-session verbal reports and the experimental analysis of behavior

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Experimental analyses of the performance of verbal subjects often include verbal reports, obtained during post-session interviews, about within-session covert...     

Quantified trends in the history of verbal behavior research

The history of scientific research about verbal behavior research, especially that based on Verbal Behavior (Skinner, 1957), can be assessed on the basis of a frequency and celeration analysis of the published and presented literature. In order to discover these quantified trends, a comprehensive bibliographical database was developed. Based on several literature searches, the bibliographic database included papers pertaining to verbal behavior that were published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behaviorism, The Behavior Analyst, and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. A nonbehavioral journal, the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior was assessed as a nonexample comparison. The bibliographic database also included a listing of verbal behavior papers presented at the meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis. Papers were added to the database if they (a) were about verbal behavior, (b) referenced B.F. Skinner’s (1957) book Verbal Behavior, or (c) did both. Because the references indicated the year of publication or presentation, a count per year of them was measured. These yearly frequencies were plotted on Standard Celeration Charts. Once plotted, various celeration trends in the literature became visible, not the least of which was the greater quantity of verbal behavior research than is generally acknowledged. The data clearly show an acceleration of research across the past decade. The data also question the notion that a “paucity” of research based on Verbal Behavior currently exists. Explanations of the acceleration of verbal behavior research are suggested, and plausible reasons are offered as to why a relative lack of verbal behavior research extended through the mid 1960s to the latter 1970s.

     

On the difference between verbal and nonverbal behavior

Language theorists have often proposed lists of the defining properties of language. This account reviews some of these and offers as an alternative a three-item list consisting of instructional control, equivalence classes, and autoclitic processes.

     

Words matter: The impact of workplace verbal aggressiveness on workgroup relationship conflict,work-life conflict,and employee-organization relationships

Workplace verbal aggressiveness is detrimental to employees and organizations and is perceived as unwanted and unproductive. This study examined whether and how verbal aggressiveness from supervisors and coworkers influences workgroup relationship conflict, employees’ work-life conflict, and employee-organization relationships. An online survey was conducted with 392 full-time employees in the United States. The key findings of this study showed that when verbal aggressiveness abounds in a workgroup, it creates workgroup relationship conflict, which triggers individual employees’ work-life conflict and tarnishes their trust, satisfaction, commitment, and sense of shared power with their organizations.     

Examining verbal and physical retaliation against kinship insults

This study examined how different types of insults-social status insults and reproductive status insults--toward one's family and friends influenced the likelihood of verbal and physical retaliation. Participants were given a questionnaire containing scenarios in which a hypothetical person insulted each participant's sibling, cousin, or friend. Participants indicated they were significantly less likely to verbally retaliate when a cousin was insulted than when a sibling or friend was insulted. Men were more likely to physically retaliate toward male insulters. Women were more likely to physically retaliate toward female insulters. Women were more likely to verbally retaliate than men, but only when the insulter was female. Both men and women were more likely to retaliate when a woman was insulted.     

The relationship between stimulus equivalence and verbal behavior

Despite the apparent similarity between stimulus equivalence and verbal behavior, these phenomena have been described in different terms. With different terminologies for each phenomenon, the precise nature of their relationship is difficult to determine. To explore this relationship, this paper first defines stimulus equivalence using a synthesis of the mathematical definition of the equivalence relation and Sidman and Tailby’s (1982) definition. Selected examples of stimulus equivalence are then described as verbal behavior using Skinner’s (1957) terminology. The paper then cites instances of verbal behavior that cannot be described as stimulus equivalence and considers whether there are instances of stimulus equivalence that cannot be described as verbal behavior.

     

Nonverbal behavior correlated with the shaped verbal behavior of children

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Children under 6 years old pressed on response windows behind which stimuli appeared (star or tree). Presses occasionally lit lamps arranged in a column; a present...