Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 5: The Tact. Quote 30

The most familiar examples of functional units are traditionally called words. In learning to speak the child acquires tacts of various sizes: words (doll), phrases (on the table), and sentences (Kitty’s going to sleep). These larger units are not composed by the speaker . . . they are unitary responses under the control of particular stimuli. (p. 119)

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