On January 4, 2016, the B. F. Skinner Foundation launched a new project – Skinner’s Quote of the Day. Quotes from B. F. Skinner’s works, selected by renowned scientists, appear daily Monday-Friday in order, starting with Chapter 1 of each book and running all the way through the last chapter. We started with the Science and Human Behavior (January-December 2916), followed by About Behaviorism (January-November 2017), Contingencies of Reinforcement (January-October 2018), Recent Issues (October 2018-May 2019), Reflections on Behaviorism and Society (May 2019-February 2020), and now moving on to Upon Further Reflection (from February 10 2020).

You can leave your comments here (registered users only), or join the discussion on our open Facebook forum. Please keep your comments brief and directly related to the quote.

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 15

Together with other disciplines concerned with verbal behavior, psychology has collected facts and sometimes put them in convenient order, but in this welter of material it has failed to demonstrate…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 15

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 13

A science of behavior does not arrive at this special field to find it unoccupied. Elaborate systems of terms describing verbal behavior have been developed. The lay vocabulary abounds in…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 13

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 12

The extent to which we understand verbal behavior in a “causal” analysis is to be assessed from the extent to which we can predict the occurrence of specific instances and,…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 12

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 11

The basic processes and relations which give verbal behavior its special characteristics are now fairly well understood. Much of the experimental work responsible for this advance has been carried out…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 11

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 10

It would be foolish to underestimate the difficulty of this subject matter, but recent advances in the analysis of behavior permit us to approach it with a certain optimism. (p.…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 10

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 8

[The behavior of the listener] cannot, in fact, be distinguished from behavior in general, and an adequate account of verbal behavior need cover only as much of the behavior of…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 8

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 6

The term “verbal behavior” has much to recommend it. Its etymological sanction is not too powerful, but it emphasizes the individual speaker and, whether recognized by the user or not,…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 6

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 5

“Language” is now satisfactorily remote from its original commitment to vocal behavior, but it has come to refer to the practices of a linguistic community rather than the behavior of…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 5

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 4

Unfortunately, the term “speech” emphasizes vocal behavior and is only awkwardly applied to instances in which the mediating person is affected visually, as in writing a note. (p. 2)

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 4

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 3

Behavior which is effective only through the mediation of other persons has so many distinguishing dynamic and topographical properties that a special treatment is justified and, indeed, demanded. (p. 2)

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 3

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 2

Behavior alters the environment through mechanical action, and its properties or dimensions are often related in a simple way to the effects produced ... Much of the time, however, a…

Continue ReadingVerbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 1: A Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Quote 2

The Peculiar, Potential Relation Between Choosing to Do Hard Things and Having the Choice in the First Place

Adithyan RajaramanTRIAD – The Autism Institute at Vanderbilt Kennedy CenterDepartment of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center I struggled my whole life to have a consistent fitness routine. Despite my elementary…

Continue ReadingThe Peculiar, Potential Relation Between Choosing to Do Hard Things and Having the Choice in the First Place