Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 4: Verbal Behavior under the Control of Verbal Stimuli. Quote 18

The young child alone in the nursery may automatically reinforce his own exploratory vocal behavior when he produces sounds which he has heard in the speech of others … The process is important in the automatic shaping up of standard forms of response. This is not echoic behavior, however, because a verbal stimulus of corresponding form does not immediately precede it. (p. 58)

Leave a Reply