Verbal Behavior Weekend

1
Verbal BehaviorWeekend 1

• Syllabus review class structure
• Introductions
• The behavioral approach terminology
• The elementary verbal operants

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Behavioral Approach

• Behavioral takes a natural science approach
• Avoid pitfalls of human bias by using good
  research methods bases decisions on actual data
  (versus inferred data)operational definitions
• What is available for study
• Observables, physiological responses,
  relationships between behavior and environment

3
Behavioral Approach

• Behavioral approach optimistic (all about
  learning) but not sexy
• Evolutionary psych, psychiatry, cognitive psych
  sexy but especially pessimistic when claim
  genetic (nature vs. nuture if you dont got it
  you cant get it)

4
Behavioral Approach

• Two Broad categories of learning
• Respondent Conditioning (pavlovian)
• Important for emotions, reflexes, etc.
• Operant conditioning
• Likely the bulk of human learning
• May interact with respondent conditioning (e.g.
  speak more loudly when angry conditioned
  reinforcers)

5
Behavioral Approach

• What is considered in a behavioral approach

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Behavioral Approach-Antecedents

• Motivative Operations (Michael, 2002)
• (formerly establishing operations)
• Operations have the following effects

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Behavioral Approach - Antecedents

• Some unconditioned (unlearned) motivative
  operations
• Water deprivation, water satiation, food
  deprivation, food satiation, temperature changes,
  activity levels, pain (negative reinforcement),
  etc.

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Behavioral Approach - Antecedents

• Discriminative stimulus Stimulus in the presence
  of which a response has been reinforced, and in
  its absence when the response occurred it was
  not reinforced the response comes to occur in
  the presence of this stimulus and not in its
  absence.
• Signals availability of a reinforcer, note that
  an MO does not.
• Michael, 1993 writes Discriminative variables
  are related to the differential availability of
  an effective form of reinforcement given a
  particular type of behavior motivative variables
  are related to the differential reinforcing
  effectiveness of environment events p. 59

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Behavioral Approach - Antecedents

• Aversive stimulus (negative reinforcer)
• An EO, it produces an unpleasant situation that
  when reduced or eliminated, is reinforcing.

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Behavioral Approach-Behavior

• An instance a response and is hard to
  determine. E.g. is What time is it a single
  response, four responses, two . etc.
• In verbal behavior it is the response-product
  that often serves as a stimulus for the listener
  (not necessarily the response itself)
• Topography based the form of the response
  provides the stimulus for the listener
• Selection-based the response indicates another
  stimulus (points to it, brings to the forefront),
  which is the stimulus for the listener (SP
  86-103)

11
Behavioral Approach - Consequences

• Immediately follow a response
• May increase (or maintain reinforce), decrease
  (punishment), or do nothing (decrease probably as
  the response is effortful, extinction)
• Can have unlearned reinforcers (innate) or
  learned reinforcers (e.g. praise). Each may have
  an associated MO (both learned and innate MOs)

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Behavioral Approach - Consequences

• They are defined only by their effect on
  responses hard to select effective consequences
  in advance (but Premack principle)
• They constantly change (due to maturation, MOs
  etc.)
• Examples Restraint for SIB attention praise
  from disliked audience

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Behavioral Approach - Consequences

• Types of consequences (not neutral/extinction)
• Each may be learned or unlearned

14
Behavioral Approach

• Other aspects of the behavioral approach
• Fading, shaping, chaining (forward and backward),
  schedules of reinforcement, stimulus control
  issues generalization, abstractions/discriminatio
  n, blocking, overshadowing, etc..

15
Behavioral Approach Other issues

• Attention is not necessary for reinforcement,
  punishment or extinction to work
• Any response by an organism produces
  response-produced stimulation or said another
  way, any response you make also causes you to be
  exposed to the stimuli for instance talking
  moving vocal apparatus while exhaling produces
  sounds that have an impact on you. (example
  telling a scary story next verbal expressions,
  chills on spine, etc.) Making up a story - There
  was this big green.. frog (green evoked frog,
  green frog elicited covert visual eliciting
  chills)

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Behavioral Approach Other issues

• Unless you do a careful study you never know what
  aspect of the stimulus causes the response
  affects generalization as well. E.g learning to
  tact Bird but only blueness of birds feathers
  controls the tact wont generalize to a
  cardinal
• Multiple controlling variables seldom does a
  response occur to a single stimulus (for example
  a pure tact is saying apple in the presence of
  apple). But often also ask what is this? and of
  course you nearly always have an audience
  (listener) that you are speaking to.

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Bonus Points

• One point per class can be earned for the
  following
• Puns examples of multiple control. Also puns
  based on fragments of a word or phase (usually an
  alternative definition to the word or phrase
  specifying the other controlling variables)
• Interesting fragmentary combinations
• Good examples of eisegesis
• In all cases you must specify the controlling
  variables. Submit all examples to me no later
  than the Thursday night prior to class.

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Bonus examples - puns

• At a meeting in which someone has just called a
  motion and has just said Someone to second
  that? and another person says I wouldnt waste
  a second on that!
• Skinner, - p. 240, The king is not a subject
• How do you know that people who do the station
  identification on radio have small hands? Because
  they always say We pause for station
  identification (from movie Infinity)
• Definitional specifies the other sources of
  control
• Benign  What you be after you be eight.
• Artery  The study of paintings.
• Bacteria  Back door to cafeteria.

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Bonus examples frag combinations

• Intaxication Euphoria at getting a tax refund,
  which lasts until you realize it was your money
  to start with.
• Blamestorming Sitting around in a group
  discussing why a deadline was missed or a project
  failed, and who was responsible.
• Beepilepsy The brief seizure people sometimes
  have when their beeper goes off (especially in
  vibrator mode). Characterized by physical spasms,
  goofy facial expressions and interruption of
  speech in mid-sentence.
• Notice that sign and other forms of VB will have
  different, but similar types of combinations
• From http//www.butlerwebs.com/jokes/definitions
  .htm

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Bonus examples Eisegesis

• Eisegesis one person says (signs, writes, etc.)
  something for one reason, another person hears it
  and responds very differently (as their
  situations the MOs and SDs are quite different)
• Skinner p 270. Lord Jim being lead from his
  trial, overhears look at that wretched cur! and
  believes it is a description of himself, but
  instead the speaker was looking at a stray dog.
• A woman (Jan) is discussing how many clothes a
  female colleague has, exclaiming somewhat
  enviously She gave away more clothes than I own!
  I couldnt afford half of those A guest consoles
  Well her husband contributes a lot. Jans
  husband, who has been searching for a job for
  many months takes the remark personally. In
  reality, the remark was meant to be consolatory
  for Jans somewhat meager salary (she is a
  professor after all!)

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Verbal Behavior - Introduction

• Language verbal behavior is behavior. Like
  all behaviors, it is
• Learned
• Modifiable by consequences
• Caused by antecedent stimuli and a history of
  learning
• Rapid and easily executed (more easily than most
  other behaviors)
• Arbitrary you call it tomato, I call it. But a
  consistent verbal community. (See next slide)
• Phonemes are arbitrary, but the consistent
  sounds for a language, used to facilitate
  writing repertoires (a good example of a
  beneficial structural analysis)
• SP p 11 Appendix 1

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Verbal Behavior - Introduction

• Below is a recent article (3/2003) indicating the
  verbal communities ever-present effects
• Children's obsession with mobile-phone messaging
  is seriously damaging their written
• English, warn experts.. balance of article,
  available online at http//www.sundayherald.com/3
  1826
• By Jenifer Johnston
• cn u trnsl8 a txt sa?
• This is part of an essay written in text language
  by a 13-year-old girl at a secondary school in
  the west of Scotland
• 'My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2 go 2 NY 2C my
  bro, his GF thr 3 -_at_ kds FTF. ILNY, its gr8.
• Bt my Ps wr so -/ BC o 9/11 tht they dcdd 2
  stay in SCO spnd 2wks up N.
• Up N, WUCIWUG -- 0. I ws vvv brd in MON. 0 bt
  baas .
• AAR8, my Ps wr -) -- they sd ICBW, tht they wr
  ha-p 4 the pcqt...IDTS!! I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C
  my M8s again.
• 2day, I cam bk 2 skool. I feel v O-) BC I hv dn
  all my hm wrk. Now its BAU ...'

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Verbal Behavior - Introduction

• Verbal Community Effects.
• And this is what it means once it's translated
  into English
• 'My summer holidays were a complete waste of
  time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my
  brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming
  kids face to face. I love New York, it's a great
  place.
• But my parents were so worried because of the
  terrorism attack on September 11 that they
  decided we would stay in Scotland and spend two
  weeks up north.
• Up north, what you see is what you get --
  nothing. I was extremely bored in the middle of
  nowhere. Nothing but sheep and mountains.
• At any rate, my parents were happy. They said
  that it could be worse, and that they were happy
  with the peace and quiet. I don't think so! I
  wanted to go home as soon as possible, to see my
  friends again.
• Today I came back to school. I feel very saintly
  because I have done all my homework. Now it's
  business as usual...'

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Verbal Behavior - Introduction

• Definition (Skinner, 1957)
• Behavior that is reinforced by the actions of
  another person, and that person has been trained
  to respond to those verbal stimuli
• Note that this refinement excludes various
  behaviors as being examples of VB
• being reinforced by startling someone
• hiding behind another person to prevent injury,
  etc.

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Verbal Behavior - Introduction

• Common response forms for VB (response products)

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Verbal Behavior - Introduction

• Some definitions
• A verbal stimulus is defined as the response
  product of someones verbal behavior.
• Formal similarity when a verbal stimulus
  (antecedent) and the response-product evoked are
  in the same sense mode (e.g. both are sounds
  (vocal), or both are visual (signs) and
  look/feel/sound similar
• Point to point correspondence subdivisions of
  the antecedent verbal stimulus control
  subdivisions of the evoked response product (can
  be in same sense mode or not)

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The Elementary Verbal Operants (EVO)

for reference material on the EVOs See also SP
Appendix 1 and the individual chapters for each
EVO
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Elementary Verbal Operants (EVO) the Mand

• Early types of mands a child holding up both
  hands to be lifted (probably Sr and SR),
  pointing to objects (Selection-based)
• One of the first type of relations learned gets
  things for the speaker
• Nonhumans may also demonstrate mands, e.g. your
  dog scratches at the door to get out a cat
  meows when food deprived
• lowercase usually signifies conditioned and
  uppercase unconditioned

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EVOs The Mand

• The controlling variable for the mand
  (antecedent) is a motivative operation
• The response evoked (or response product) can be
  of any form written, spoken (vocal), signed,
  etc.
• The consequence (reinforcer) is usually very
  specific, namely the thing or action manded

30
EVOs The Mand

• Examples
• After several hours of playing tennis a person
  (water deprived) says Water please and his
  friend gives him a bottle of water.
• A mechanic is under a car putting in a new
  starter when she encounters a bolt with an
  Phillips head. She asks Phillips screwdriver
  please and is given one.

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EVOs The Mand

• Conditioned (learned) MOs several particularly
  relevant for applied purposes
• Reflexive CMO an aversive condition (e.g. pain,
  threat, etc.) is paired with a neutral stimulus
  and that stimulus becomes aversive. As an
  antecedent this new aversive stimulus functions
  to evoke behavior that removes it, and causes its
  own removal to be reinforcing.
• Examples The moments after a questions is asked,
  (too long of a delay and the trial may be
  represented, an opportunity for SR might be
  lost), the moment after a reply is given and a
  thanks is given (escapes the social chastising
  of a thank you would be nice), tone of voice
  (rough implied threat), etc.
• See Michael 1993 for a complete description of
  MOs (called EOs in that publication)

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EVOs The Mand

• CMOs continued
• Transitive CMO (once called Blocked response)
  a learned stimulus condition that makes something
  valuable as a reinforcer and evokes behavior that
  has obtained that something.
• Examples a child is dressing a doll and one shoe
  is missing. This makes the shoe valuable and
  evokes responses which have obtained the shoe (an
  opportunity to train the mand Shoe please)

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EVOs The Mand

• Cases in which other stimuli are presented are
  not pure mands. For instance if you hold up the
  shoe and ask what do you want? using the
  preceding example, the response may occur do to
  your mand, labeling the shoe, or a combination of
  these antecedents.
• Soft or concealed mands may facilitate social
  interactions. Soft/concealed refers to
  variations in the form of the mand response that
  do not appear to order the listener (more polite
  versions). For example, instead of Water,
  perhaps Im thirsty, or can you get the
  phone? (appears to mand VB only).

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Exercise 1 hand or email me the finished
product
35
Exercise 1

• Are these mands y/n? Be ready to explain your
  answer.

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EVOs the Tact
37
EVOs the Tact

• Provides a listener with information about the
  environment (whereas the mand provides
  information about the state of the speaker, i.e.
  hungry, etc.)
• Often called Object labels but is broader than
  that (actions, relative relationships such as
  size, abstractions, and more)
• Tact often provides the things that we talk about
  in conversations (implies contact with the
  environment)

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EVOs the Tact

• The controlling variables (antecedents) for the
  tact is an SD, that is nonverbal (not the product
  of someone's VB)
• The response or response product can be vocal,
  written, signed, etc. and topography-based or
  selection-based.
• The consequence is usually generalized
  conditioned reinforcement a stimulus that has
  been paired with many reinforcers, and thus free
  of any particular MO. Examples, approval, money
  or other tokens. For VB, approval/praise is most
  prevalent GCR.
• If this were not the case (tact was specifically
  reinforced)
• then each person would tact the environment
  differently
• based on their current motivations.

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EVOs the Tact

• Examples of tacts
• See apple, say apple, tutor says Great job!
  (does not get apple)
• Feel burner on stove, writes hot, parent
  ruffles childs hair.
• You hear an airplane and tap out in Morse code
  A-I-R-P-L-A-N-E and I immediately give you an A
  for the course (hmmmmm!).
• A young boy sees a car (it is red), signs red,
  and brother says, righto buddy boy!

40
EVOs the Tact

• Tact or not? Why or why not?
• A blind woman feels a slight tickling on her
  wrist and says Spider and her friend says yes
• A man smells meatloaf and signs dinner
• A boy writes cookie upon seeing a cookie, and
  you give him the cookie and he eats it.
• A person says stop upon seeing a stop sign.
• A child signs red upon seeing a red barn

41
EVOs the Tact

• Types of stimuli involved in the tact relation
• Abstractions a few, or a single stimulus
  dimension of an object often shared by other
  objects. E.g. color (red truck, red book) shape
  (squareness) texture touch rough, smooth
  texture visual rough, smooth, more. 
• Object (likely complex combinations of
  properties)
• Multiple properties in combination, (if
  generalized to novel instances concepts)
• Past conditions (recall)
• Relative features (abstraction - size, position,
  weight, temperature, luminosity, whole/part)
• Actions (fleeting running, talking, dancing)
• Function (experience with object)
• Class or Category (Pet, Garbage, Homeowner)

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EVOs the Tact

• Given a Box, how many tacts can you think of
  relating to it?

43
EVOs the Tact

44
EVOs the Tact

• Other relevant aspects of the stimuli used in
  tact training
• Fleeting stimuli may be more difficult to train
  (e.g. tact of actions, loudness of sound, past
  events what color was his shirt?)
• Relative tacts probably need some specialized
  training i.e. for size, have many cups of
  various sizes, train big and small for each
  trial, using each cup (so all but the largest and
  smallest cup will sometimes be called big and
  other times small)

45
EVOs the Tact

• More stimulus control and training issues
• If previously trained objects are used (they can
  tact them, e.g. apple, truck) then when you hold
  them up and say What color is this they are
  likely to say Apple or truck. Prompt needs to
  be more salient/more training (but notice then it
  is not a pure tact). Need many examples for
  training abstractions (probably best to use items
  that do not evoke tacts initially)

46
EVOs the Tact

• Generalization issues
• Generic generalization certain objects share
  stimulus dimensions in common (e.g. chair 1 -
  well trained - and chair 2 which is novel) and
  the child says chair to both. Those stimulus
  dimensions are an essential aspect of the
  objects tacted (e.g. legs of a chair, function
  of the chair)
• Examples Learning to say cup to a coffee cup
  then later saying cup to a tea cup.
• A child learning to sign above to a hat held
  over her head, and later saying above to an
  airplane flying overhead.
• Nonexample Learn to write dog to the family
  pet, then write dog to a cow (essential
  features missing, size, teeth, etc.)

47
EVOs the Tact

• Metaphorical generalization certain objects
  share stimulus dimensions in common, but those
  dimensions may not be an essential part (and not
  all of the essential parts) of the original tact
  relation but they were present when reinforcement
  occurred and gained some control over the
  response
• Appears to be special type of thinking clever.
• E.g. (Skinner, 1957). A child tasting carbonated
  water for the first time exclaims It tasted like
  my foots asleep. Control by the tingling
  feeling, but foot asleep was trained to immobile
  foot (thus tingling is non essential as it is
  covert to trainer)
• A child signing daddy to a man who is not his
  father.
• Saying Her smile lights up the room lights
  is probably controlled by a similar emotional
  response, warmth, happiness to both the smile and
  a well lighted room.

48
EVOs the Tact

• Metonymical generalization
• Some aspect of a stimulus situation gains control
  over a response, but it only accompanies that
  stimulus and has no essential features of the
  tacted stimulus.
• Examples
• Signing duck to a yellow pillow after learning
  to sign duck to a number of yellow duckies.
• The White House denied the rumor (Skinner,
  1957)

49
EVOs the Tact

• Generic, metaphorical, metonymical or other? (and
  why)
• Writing water upon seeing milk. Trained with
  water in glasses, coming from faucet, in tub,
  etc.
• Signing water upon seeing a glass. Training as
  above
• Saying water upon seeing a lake. Training as
  above
• Finger spelling water after a long hot ride to
  a lake. Training as above.

50
EVOs the Tact

• Tacts of past events
• Trained up verbal community supports it. From
  very young we are challenged to respond to such
  things as What did we do yesterday? With the
  trainer aware of what occurred. Often additional
  prompts are offered In the afternoon, with Judy
  and Bruce? Most likely these trigger private
  responses (recall of past behavior we often are
  recalling behavior, not events), that are then
  tacted.

51
EVOs the Tact

• Tacts of private events (behaviors within the
  skin as well as other stimulation e.g. pain)
• More difficult to train tacts to these stimulus
  conditions as the verbal community does not have
  access to them

52
EVOs the Tact

• Methods of training tacts to private events
  (Skinner, 1957)
• Common public accompaniment a blind person
  learns to name objects as a trainer sees them as
  the blind man feels them a child learns to say
  it hurts when a trainer sees a bruise, sees a
  fall, etc.
• Collateral responses child learns to say
  stomachache when a parent observes them holding
  their stomach, or to tact happy when the child
  is jumping up an down and smiling.
• Generic, metaphorical or metonymical
  generalization occurs e.g. a boy says a sharp
  pain to a stitch is his side, generalizing from
  the same pain to a scissors cut he received.
  Pounding headache.
• Response reduction Tacts of ones own behavior
  (e.g. talking, reading) may be trained up with
  public manifestations then reduce in magnitude.
  Thus we may say we are talking to ourselves or
  thinking. Those responses were trained
  publicly, then when the responses reduce to a
  covert level we can still tact that behavior.

53
EVO The Intraverbal
54
EVO The Intraverbal

• Intraverbal is important for conversation skills,
  problem-solving (e.g. math, and other sciences),
  a fair portion of educational practices attempt
  to develop intraverbal repertoires (Sundberg
  Partington, 1998)
• As speaker and listener in the same body,
  intraverbal repertoires probably constitute a
  fair portion of what we call thinking

55
EVO The Intraverbal

• The controlling variables a verbal stimulus that
  does not have point-to-point correspondence with
  the response product (the response by the
  speaker). Thus the antecedent stimulus and the
  response product of the listener differ
  subdivisions of one do not control subdivisions
  of the other.
• The response or response product any form,
  written, spoken, signed, etc.
• The consequence generalized conditioned
  reinforcers.

56
EVO The Intraverbal

• Intraverbal examples
• hearing 22 and saying 4. Notice how this
  type of intraverbals will facilitate higher math
  skills, such as 24 78.
• Red, white and .. (written, signed or spoken for
  either the stimulus or the response!)
• The first president of the United States was
• A stimulus that immediately follows a response
  and increases the future frequency of that
  response is a ..
• Jung used the word association as insight into
  the human psyche. Hmmmmmm!

57
EVO The Intraverbal

• With say/do correspondence, intraverbals often
  help us achieve effective verbal and nonverbal
  behavior (e.g. mnemonics)
• Pretty please my dear Aunt Sally
• Righty tighty, lefty loosie
• High to Low, look out below. Low to high, clear
  blue sky. Used by pilots when weather conditions
  are changing makes them aware of potential
  altitude discrepancies due to weather conditions.
  

58
EVO Textual
59
EVO Textual

• In laymens terms textual VB is reading, but with
  no understanding implied. That is, one can read
  text aloud, but it does not imply that the reader
  is responding as a listener.
• For most languages, learning to read after
  learning to speak is more efficient due to the
  phonetic type alphabets.
• Michael (1993) calls this general category
  codic as it is like encoding something (taking
  dictation), or reading a code (textual).

60
EVO Textual

• The controlling variables for this response is a
  visual, written verbal stimulus that has point to
  point correspondence with the evoked response
  product, but the response product and the
  antecedent stimulus are in different sense
  modalities (no formal similarity).
• The response product is vocal
• The consequences are generalized conditioned
  reinforcement

61
EVO Textual

• Examples
• Reading this sentence out loud!
• Note that some minimal response units are useful
  is aiding textual responses (scanning a large
  word and finding coherent units).
• Read diaminodiphenylmethane

62
EVO Textual

• Most of us read covertly the response of
  reading out loud is often punished and becomes
  covert.
• Reading is not limited to a word by word response
  speed reading often takes advantage of this
  (multiple words responded to at once). That is,
  the minimal response unit is increased in size
  (but reacting as an effective listener?
  comprehension) (see example next slide)
• Writing and textual behaviors allow us to have
  permanent records of things learned. Allows for
  us to progress more quickly in an area.

63
EVO Textual

•  A quick test of intelligence for advanced
  students.
• Don't cheat! Because if you did, the test would
  be no fun. I promise, there are no tricks to the
  test.Read the sentence below and count the F's
  in that sentence. Count them ONLY ONCE. Do not go
  back and count them again.See solutions for your
  score.FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-SULT OF YEARS
  OF SCIENTIF-IC STUDY COMBINED WITHTHE
  EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

64
EVO Textual

• There are six F's in the sentence.A person of
  average intelligence finds three of them. If you
  spotted four, you're above average.If you got
  five, you can turn your nose at most anybody.If
  you caught six, you are a genius.There is no
  catch.Many people forget the "OF"'s.The human
  brain tends to see them as V's and not F's.
  Pretty weird, huh?
• From http//www.world-english.org/puzzles.htm

65
EVO Taking Dictation

• Transcribing what is heard into text, such as
  what you do in class to take notes from your
  professors lecture.
• Useful later sometimes we transcribe rapidly
  and do not function as a listener until the
  transcription is complete.
• Good students are familiar with the fact that
  less than 15 of a lecture is recalled later,
  most likely as it is fleeting vocal VB is
  completed in seconds and not easily recalled.

66
EVO Taking Dictation

• The controlling variable is vocal verbal behavior
  (speech).
• The response is written with point to point
  correspondence to the antecedent stimulus.
  Handwritting is topography-based. For an
  experienced typist the response is likely TB as
  well, but for a novice, it is partially SB (hunt
  and peck) and TB (the final response product)
• The consequence is generalized conditioned
  reinforcement

67
EVO Taking Dictation

• Examples writing down the name of your friends
  favorite restaurant, a telephone number,
  directions, etc. upon hearing them say these
  things.

68
EVO - Echoic
69
EVO Duplic in General

• In laymans terms we are referring to imitation
  vocal, sign, etc.
• For most humans, gestural imitations may be an
  innate capability (babies will mimic facial
  expressions soon after birth it has been
  demonstrated within a few hours)
• Imitation makes teaching much easier - if
  imitation exists, then shaping each individual
  response is not necessary. Notice that gestural
  imitation is easier to account for the response
  is visible. However, vocal responses are mostly
  covert - only visible is some movement of the
  tongue and lips) other vocal apparatus is
  hidden from view.

70
EVO - Echoic

• The controlling variable for the echoic response
  is a vocal verbal response product. The speakers
  response should have point to point
  correspondence with this antecedent stimulus and
  it should be in the same sense modality (formal
  similarity). Thus, you hear a verbal stimulus and
  you repeat it.
• The response is vocal verbal behavior, the
  response product is auditory.
• The consequence is generalized conditioned
  reinforcement.

71
EVO - Echoic

• An echoic response does not imply that the
  speaker is also acting as a listener
  (understands what is said). Self echoic (i.e.
  repeating a telephone number over and over is a
  useful memory tool as well as learning
  technique). Also, self echoics may be involved in
  what has been called joint control (Lowenkron,
  2003)
• The unit of response for the echoic can be very
  small (e.g. biology is echoed as bi owl o
  gee) or large (entire response is echoed)
• Echoing responses that others emit may be
  automatically reinforcing (Skinner, 1957) or the
  similarity with anothers response may be
  reinforcing (called parityDonahoe Palmer,
  1994).

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EVO Echoic

• Automatic reinforcement reinforcement that
  occurs due to some history making the response
  products of your responses a conditioned
  reinforcer. E.g. learning to sing like a famous
  singer (particular type of style, etc.), using a
  phrase that someone you admire uses (e.g. my
  name is Inigo Montoya(Princess Bride) Its
  conceivable that. (Jack Michael). A simple form
  of automatic reinforcement may be responses that
  have been paired with other reinforcers (the
  definition of conditioned reinforcement)
• Notice that the reinforcer is automatically
  delivered no other person is needed.

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EVO - Echoic

• Examples
• Hearing Stick your head in a bucket of water
  and saying Stick your head in a bucket of water

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EVO Copying a text

• In laymans terms this is seeing something
  written down and you copy what is written, in
  written form.
• We often do this for important information we
  will use later a telephone number, a gate
  number at an airport, an address or name, notes
  that we missed from the day the waterbed broke
  and flooded the apartment.
• This may be a more complex skill than it appears
  at face value for instance, computers have a
  difficult time in handwriting recognition. Also,
  some people in copying a text may make a textual
  response first, (overt or covert) then a
  transcription response to their textual response.
  This can be evidenced by spelling errors that are
  in the copied response, or are corrected in the
  copied version.
• No understanding is implied.

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EVO Copying a text

• The controlling variable for copying a text
  response is a visual verbal stimulus. The
  stimulus and the response product have point to
  point correspondence and are in the same sense
  modality (formal similarity).
• The response product is a visual verbal stimulus
  usually produced by handwriting. However, typing
  may be considered copying a text, but with some
  additional components based on skill level (e.g.
  a skilled typist is probably engaging in TB
  verbal behavior and a less skilled typist in SB
  verbal behavior)
• The consequence is generalized conditioned
  reinforcement and possibly automatic
  reinforcement.

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EVO Copying a text

• Example
• Writing Example as a result of seeing the word
  above.

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EVO Mimetic

• In laymans terms this is repeating a sign that
  you saw someone else make.
• From a practical point of view, self mimetic
  behavior serves the same functions as
  self-echoic, memory aid (really a bridging
  response), and possibly in terms of joint control
  issues.
• No understanding is implied.

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EVO Mimetic

• The controlling variable is a visual verbal sign
  (the visual stimulation provided by a verbal
  sign).The stimulus and the response product have
  point to point correspondence and formal
  similarity.
• The response is a sign (the response product of a
  gesture)
• The consequence is generalized conditioned
  reinforcer and possibly automatic reinforcement,
  or reinforcement via parity.

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EVO Mimetic

• Example
• Someone signs Cat and you sign Cat

80
Exercise 2

• Send to me via email - wpotter_at_csustan.edu - the
  following by March 22 (two weeks)
• An example of EACH of the following
• Reinforcement, punishment, extinction. Clearly
  label each example. Dont forget that a
  reinforcer must be delivered within a few seconds
  of the response Thus an example such as getting a
  good grade on a test reinforcing studying is
  incorrect.
• A two UNIQUE examples of EACH of the EVOs (thus
  dont use the examples I have provided, or use
  any in your text)(thus sixteen total). Clearly
  label each example and make sure you specify the
  controlling variables of each, the behavior and
  the consequences.

81
Sample Test Questions

• Summarize the behavioral approach. To do this you
  should be refer to the guiding principles, as
  well as each of the items provided in the 6th
  slide (What is considered in a behavioral
  approach) (6 pts)
• For each of the following specify the type of EVO
  indicated (1 point each). When not indicated, you
  can assume that GCR followed the response.
• A person signs Cat upon seeing a dog.
• A boy writes Cookie upon seeing a cookie box,
  so you give him one but he does not eat it.
• List and describe each of the conditioned
  motivative operations that we covered in class.
  Recall the first was called Reflexive CMO and
  the second Transitive CMO (4)
• Define, then provide an example of each of the
  following generalization types, for the tact
  relation

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Objectives for the first exam

• Carefully explain the behavioral approach and
  explain why I refer to it as optimistic (slides
  3-5 SP appendix 1)
• Know the components of a behavioral approach,
  that is summarized in slide6 What is considered
  a behavioral approach.
• Be able to define a motivative operation in terms
  of its four effects (two each for value altering
  and behavior altering). Be able to recognize and
  provide examples of each. (Slide 7 SP 241-254)
• Know the difference and be able to
  recognize/provide examples of the difference
  between MOs and SDs.(slide 9)
• Know how negative reinforcement works, and be
  able to provide examples and recognize examples
  (slide 10)
• Be able to distinguish SB and TB VB, as well as
  provide examples and recognize examples (slide 11
  SP 86-103)
• Know the definition of reinforcement, punishment
  and extinction. Be able to provide examples and
  recognize examples for each of the consequences
  displayed in slide 14 (slides-12-14)
• Explain what is meant by response-produced
  stimulation, response product, multiple
  controlling variables (slides 16-18)
• Be able to describe the characteristics of
  language as I have done on slide 22. No need to
  list and describe all of them, but you should be
  able to write a short paragraph specifying at
  least four of the six items covered.
• Know what a verbal community is, and of what
  relevance is it to verbal behavior (namely to
  maintain response forms) (slide 22)
• Be able to define VB as Skinner has. Slide (Slide
  25)
• Be able to list and describe at least four of the
  common response forms listed in slide 26.
  Also,make sure you can specify the senses
  involved for the listener.

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Objectives for the first exam

• 13. Know the definitions of verbal stimulus,
  formal similarity and point to pint
  correspondence. (slides 27-28)
• 14. Be able to describe the MOs covered in
  slides 7, 32 and 33. Provide and recognize
  examples.
• 15. What is a soft or concealed mand and of what
  function does it serve? (slide 34)
• 16. Be able to define abstractions and
  provide/recognize examples.(slide 41 Sp 216
  and chapter 10)
• 17. Be able to list and describe at least four
  of the types of tacts covered in slide 41 (SP
  chapter 10)
• 18. Know some of the problems one might
  encounter in training tacts (slides 45-46 SP
  chapter 10)
• 19. Be able to define and provide examples of
  the three types of generalization covered in
  slides 47-49 (tact only)
• 20. Know how tacts of private stimuli may come
  to be trained (four ways, slide 53)
• 21. Be able to describe what automatic
  reinforcement is (slide 71)
• 22. For each of the eight EVOs you should be
  able to describe it in layman's terms, then
  provide the antecedents, the responses (and the
  forms it can take) and the consequences. For each
  you should be able to proved and recognize
  examples. (a bunch of slides and SP appendix 1)

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References

• Donahoe, J. W. Palmer, D. C. (1994) Learning
  and Complex Behavior. Boston Allyn Bacon
• Lowenkron, B. (2003). See http//www.calstatela.ed
  u/faculty/zlowenk/ for a variety of articles and
  summaries.
• Michael, J. (1993). Concepts and principles of
  behavior analysis. Kalamazoo Association for
  Behavior Analysis.
• Michael, J. (2002). Motivation and early language
  training a tutorial. Presentation at the annual
  meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis.
  
• Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. New York
  Appleton-Century-Crofts.