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Private Behaviors: Thinking and Feeling
In 1978, B.F. Skinner wrote “Verbal behavior…will, I believe, prove to be…my most
important work.” (Cooper et al., 2020). In 2022, an Applied Behavior Analysis professor at the
University of North Dakota stated that verbal behavior is a “huge topic” that could easily span an
entire semester, and even an entire ABA program (Ryan, 2022). When most people consider
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verbal behavior, they think of language, and language is an immense part of the human
experience. With these three aspects considered, it becomes easier to comprehend why verbal
behavior has such a great significance in our world. While valuable, these opinions do little to
define or clarify what verbal behavior actually is. From this viewpoint, we begin a deeper dive.
Skinner defined verbal behavior “as behavior reinforced through the mediation of other
persons” (Cooper et al., 2020). Going further, verbal behavior is identified as an “operant
behavior that requires the presence of another person for reinforcement.” (Ryan, 2022). Like all
operant behaviors, verbal behavior perpetuated by reinforcement and punishment (Ryan, 2022).
In the case of verbal behavior these consequences are delivered by listeners who are receiving
behavior from speakers (Ryan, 2022). It is important to note that verbal behavior is not always
vocal speaking (Ryan, 2022). Signing, gestures, making noises, and making movements can all
also be considered verbal behavior, as long as they cause change in the environment by the
listener who responds to the verbal behavior with reinforcement (or punishment) (Ryan, 2022).
The significance of a speaker is directly tied to verbal communities. If verbal behavior is
mediated by another person -- the listener -- a verbal community is the grouping of all of the
people who have surrounded the speaker over the course of their life (Ryan, 2022). This verbal
community has reinforced and punished the speaker’s verbal behavior, essentially shaping their
verbal behavior (Ryan, 2022). As life changes, so do verbal communities. Verbal communities
can span work, school, hobbies and subcultures, etc. Additionally, we can assume that an
individual belongs to several verbal communities at one time (Ryan, 2022).
The acts of thinking and feeling are also considered verbal behaviors (Ryan, 2022). Since
verbal behavior requires a speaker and a listener, in regards to thinking, the thinker operates as
both. In thinking, an individual is speaking, listening and providing automatic reinforcement for
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themselves all within the private event of a thought (Ryan, 2022). For example, a person has a
thought that their foot is falling asleep, they listen and respond with the behavior of moving their
foot to relieve the sensation, and they are automatically reinforced. Although thinking is a private
event that does not involve another person, it is still influenced by our verbal communities who
have shaped our thoughts through consequences of the behavior that results from our thoughts
over the span of many years (Ryan, 2022).
Feelings are important to consider in the topic of verbal behavior because thinking makes
way for feelings. Private events such as feelings can often be dismissed in science, but when
viewed through a behavior analytic lens, feelings are genuine, “internal sensations” that must be
considered for treatments (Ryan, 2022). Although the sensation of feelings is internal, they are
still real, physical sensations that can be studied. A crucial point is that feelings are not directly
related to actions, that is, there is no “mechanical cause-effect relationship between feelings and
behavior.” (Ryan, 2022). This means that we do not act because of feelings, but because of our
histories with reinforcement and punishment in situations. For example, a person turns in their
homework not because they are told to (cause and effect), but because there is a history of
reinforcement and punishment in turning in your work (good and bad grades).
As stated previously, verbal behavior, including private events is a vast topic that will
likely continue to develop as psychology and ABA expands and grows. It important to continue
to study these phenomena for the sake of optimal treatments and the human experience as a
whole.
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References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis. (3rd ed.).
Pearson.
Ryan, J. (2022). Verbal behavior!.
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