About Behaviorism, Chapter 14: Summing Up, Quote 23

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About Behaviorism, Chapter 14: Summing Up, Quote 23

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:October 24, 2017
Post category:Skinner's Quote of the Day

“No one thinks before he acts except in the sense of acting covertly before acting overtly.” (p. 259)

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SKINNER'S QUOTE OF THE DAY

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 6: Special Conditions Affecting Stimulus Control. Quote 7
Reinforcing sounds in the child’s environment provide for the automatic reinforcement of vocal forms. Such sounds need not be verbal; the child is reinforced automatically when he duplicates the sounds of airplanes, streetcars, automobiles, vacuum cleaners, birds, dogs, cats, and so on. But among the sounds which become important are the verbal responses of his parents and others. (p. 164)
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“No one thinks before he acts except in the sense of acting covertly before acting overtly.” (p. 259)

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