Teaching Verbal Behavior to Pigeons

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Pigeons were taught simple analogs of verbal behavior by replicating and extending the procedures presented by Michael, Whitley, and Hesse (1983). A student lab,...     

Erratum to: Token Reinforcement of Verbal Responses Controlled by Temporally Removed Verbal Stimuli

In the present study we examined the effects of token reinforcement on the convergent control of immediate and temporally removed verbal stimuli over the verbal behavior of three school-age children with autism who showed specific deficits in intraverbal responding. Throughout the study, participants were systematically introduced to a series of visitors to a university-based autism center, and subsequently probed for information about the visitor they had most recently met. Results show that contingent token reinforcement was effective at establishing control by temporally removed verbal stimuli.     

Reply to davis

The basic premise of this article is that the revival and increasing acceptance of the concept of cultural pluralism (and its contemporary variant, multiculturalism) in popular and academic discourses today should be investigated as a problem in the sociology of knowledge. In this context, this article discusses briefly how cultural pluralism is used in popular and academic discourses today. Then, it identifies the normative structure of, and the domain assumptions underpinning, the concept. The article constructs an argument that the concept lacks conceptual precision and analytical rigor; that its ontological claims for race and ethnicity cannot be justified; and that it is epistemologically incoherent, as shown by its internal contradictions. The article concludes that the ideological implications of the concept should be investigated and that discourses on cultural pluralism, generally, would benefit by resurrecting Milton Gordon's concept of the eth - class.     

Reply to Kolm

This paper mentions some of the points of agreement between Serge-Christophe Kolm and me, and explains the one point of disagreement. It also explains why I concentrated on this one point.     

Reply to Klein

Many “theoretical” writings in sociology and in the social sciences use conceptual frameworks (perspectives, paradigms). Developments in family sociology are used as a case study to explore the role of conceptual frameworks in the growth of scientific theory. The claim that conceptual frameworks are necessary for theory building is evaluated. Using writings in family sociology and in the philosophy of science, the claim is found wanting. Social scientists are therefore cautioned to avoid conceptual work that is only rhetorically related to the development of theory.