Recent Issues. Chapter 8: The School of the Future. Quote 4

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Recent Issues. Chapter 8: The School of the Future. Quote 4

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:February 15, 2019
Post category:Skinner's Quote of the Day

“An extraordinary step in the evolution of the human species brought its vocal musculature under operant control. The social environments we call languages then evolved.” (p. 87)

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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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“An extraordinary step in the evolution of the human species brought its vocal musculature under operant control. The social environments we call languages then evolved.” (p. 87)

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