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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Modeling Verbal Behavior Deficits with the Stimulus Control Ratio Equation, SCoRE
Published on: May 14, 2019
Can Collateral Behavior Account for Transitions in the Stimulus Control of Speech?
1Department of Psychology, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 USA.
This study extends Skinner's verbal behavior theory by incorporating moment-to-moment stimulus control changes during speech. It highlights how verbal stimuli continuously affect readers, listeners, and speakers, influencing behavior beyond simple echoic or textual responses.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- B.F. Skinner's 1957 interpretation of verbal behavior.
- The need to account for dynamic stimulus control in speech.
- The continuous evocative effect of verbal stimuli.
Purpose of the Study:
- To extend Skinner's theory of verbal behavior.
- To incorporate moment-to-moment changes in stimulus control.
- To account for collateral discriminative responses to verbal stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of verbal behavior.
- Examination of stimulus control during speech.
- Consideration of reader and listener behavior.
Main Results:
- Verbal stimuli exert continuous evocative effects on individuals.
- Collateral discriminative responses are crucial for understanding verbal behavior.
- Skinner's framework requires expansion to include these dynamic controls.
Conclusions:
- A comprehensive account of verbal behavior necessitates including moment-to-moment stimulus control.
- Collateral discriminative responses are significant sources of behavioral control.
- Extending Skinner's theory provides a more complete understanding of verbal and nonverbal behavior.
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