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Marshall Lev Dermer
Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee Milwaukee,
WI 53201 dermer@uwm.edu
Below is the set of basic behavior analytic technical terms, points-of-view, and interpretations that I have found useful in teaching my undergraduate courses. Although I have edited this material, I did not author it. The material is attributable to B. F.
Skinner and several generations of behavior analysts. Many terms and the order in which they are arranged are primarily based on Skinner's
Science and Human Behavior .
The material has been edited so that students can produce flash cards to master the terms.
SCIENCE
The process of searching for order, for lawful relations among the events in nature. It begins by observing single episodes but the objective is the discovery of general rules or laws.
ENGINEERING
The process of investigating how to solve problems.
TECHNOLOGY
The process of production and the delivery of goods and services.
ENVIRONMENT
That portion of the universe that is beyond the skin of an organism.
OPERATION
Any environmental procedure or condition, e.g., the withholding of food, or onset of a tone.

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BEHAVIOR
Any action beyond or within the skin of an organism (e.g., walking and seeing, respectively) that is controlled by the environment and other events.
RADICAL BEHAVIORISM
A philosophy of psychology that assumes that environmental events are the causes of behavior that are worthy of study and that reference to hypothetical intra-organismic states is an unwarranted diversion from describing environmental (including historical and contemporaneous) determinants of behavior. [Note: contrast this term with MENTALISM.]
GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS OF RADICAL
BEHAVIORISM
A person is an organism possessing a genetic endowment of anatomical and physiological characteristics, which are the product of the contingencies of survival to which the species has been exposed during evolution. The organism becomes a person as it acquires a repertoire of behavior under the contingencies of reinforcement to which it is exposed during its lifetime. Its behavior at any moment is controlled by the current setting. It is able to acquire such a repertoire under such control because of processes of conditioning which are also part of its genetic endowment.

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BEHAVIORISM IGNORES WHAT IS TRULY
HUMAN
The Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition encourages us to assume that humans are distinct from the other organisms so that man has been given dominion
"over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Genesis I, 28). Empirically, however, we can only know what is human by thoroughly understanding the behavior of other organisms and examining how adequately theories that describe the behavior of other organisms describe the behavior of humans.
MENTALISM
A philosophy of psychology in which it is assumed that behavior and related public data are only a means to studying various hypothetical intraorganismic states, processes, or entities which may be considered neural, psychic, or merely conceptual and that psychology’s goal is understanding these underlying causes. [Note: Contrast this with
RADICAL BEHAVIORISM and PRIVATE
EVENT.]
NEURAL INNER "CAUSE"
An explanation that refers to the nervous system as causing behavior when the nervous system is not observed. For example, "The president is trembling because he has a diseased brain." (See
HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCT)

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PSYCHIC INNER "CAUSE"
An explanation of behavior that refers to mental or psychic entities within a person. These "causes" lack physical dimensions. For example, "The president forgot the lines because of his bad memory." (See HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCT)
In fact, this type of "explanation" is just a way of describing behavior. For example, "The president is trembling because of his excitement." If asked how it is known that the president is excited it might be said, "Look how the president is trembling."
"Excitement" is here just a different name for trembling. (See HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCT)
CONCEPTUAL INNER "CAUSE"
An explanation of behavior that refers to "causes" that are neither neural nor psychic. For example, a person eats BECAUSE of hunger. A single set of facts is described by the statement "a person eats" and "hunger." (Other examples include, "smoking because of a habit," "playing the piano well because of musical ability," etc.) Conceptual terms such as
"hunger" convert relations between the environment and behavior (e.g., food deprivation and eating) into nouns (e.g., hunger).
HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCT
A term referring to an entity or process that is inferred as actually existing though not fully publicly observable and as producing measurable phenomena, including phenomena other than the observables that lead to hypothesizing the construct.
(Note: This kind of construct is the "life-blood" of most traditional psychological theories.)

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INTERVENING VARIABLE
The expression in condensed form of the relation between control conditions (operations in this course) and the dependent variable (behavior in this course). (Note: The intervening variable has no properties except those of the empirical data of which it is an abstraction. In contrast, a hypothetical construct has unobserved properties beyond its public manifestations. See HYPOTHETICAL
CONSTRUCT.)
THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF
BEHAVIOR:
The science concerned with explaining behavior entirely by describing contemporaneous and historical operations. (See FUNCTIONAL
ANALYSIS.)
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS
The major result of an experimental analysis. An experimentally determined relation between behavior and its controlling operations at the level of the single organism. These operations include
REINFORCING STIMULI, PUNISHING
STIMULI, DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI,
ELICITING STIMULI, and ESTABLISHING
OPERATIONS.
THE OBJECTION TO INNER STATES
The objection to inner states (e.g., hunger, thirst, elation) is not that they do not exist, BUT THAT
THEY ARE NOT RELEVANT IN A
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS.
STIMULUS
Any event that changes behavior. (Usually this change is rather immediate.)

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ELICITING STIMULUS
A stimulus whose presentation invariably and with short latency changes (RESPONDENT) behavior.
REFLEX
The relationship between a stimulus and a response such that the presentation of the stimulus invariably and with a short latency, produces the response.
Such stimuli are called "eliciting" stimuli and the controlled response is called a “respondent.”
RESPONDENT
A class of behavior produced by eliciting stimuli.
NEUTRAL STIMULUS
A stimulus that does not control a class of behavior.
RESPONDENT CONDITIONING
The modification of respondent behavior by pairing a neutral stimulus with an eliciting stimulus.
Actually, pairing (or temporal contiguity) is no longer considered a sufficient operation producing respondent conditioning. Rather it appears that if a neutral stimulus is to produce respondent behavior then it must be temporally contiguous with and correlated with an eliciting stimulus.
RESPONDENT EXTINCTION
The presentation of a conditioned eliciting stimulus
(a stimulus that has acquired control of a respondent via a respondent conditioning procedure) without the original eliciting stimulus, with the result that the conditioned stimulus loses its control. This is simply the discontinuation of pairing. According to more recent accounts, the discontinuation of pairing
OR destroying the correlation between the conditioned eliciting stimulus and the original eliciting stimulus is sufficient to eliminate the control of the conditioned eliciting stimulus.

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LAW OF EFFECT
The classic statement of the principle of reinforcement and, in one version, of punishment
(e.g., Thorndike, 1911). Reinforcers and punishers were considered satisfying and annoying events that an organism maintained or terminated, respectively because of the events' hedonic value. (Note: This conception is mentalistic. See THE
EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR for the contemporary approach to explaining behavior.)
REINFORCER OR REINFORCING STIMULUS
An event that follows a response (response contingent event) THAT INCREASES the rate at which similar responses are later emitted.
ESTABLISHING OPERATION
Any change in the environment that alters the effectiveness of some object or event as reinforcement and simultaneously alters the momentary frequency of the behavior that has been followed by that reinforcement. (Jack Michael,
JEAB, 1982)
PROCESS
A change in (the control of) behavior as a result of imposing an operation. For example, reinforcement used as a process refers to an increase in the rate of behavior as a result of behavior being followed by reinforcers.

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NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR A STIMULUS
BEING A REINFORCER
Professor A. Charles Catania (Learning, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1979, pp. 74-75) has discussed the "vocabulary of reinforcement" in some detail. According to Professor Catania, this vocabulary is appropriate if and only if three conditions exist: (1) a response produces some consequence; (2) the response occurs more often than when it does not produce that consequence; and (3) the increased responding occurs BECAUSE the response has that consequence. Professor
Catania has illustrated the use of the term reinforcer in the following ways:
REINFORCER USED AS A NOUN refers to a stimulus as in, "Food pellets were used as reinforcers for the rat's lever presses."
REINFORCER AS AN ADJECTIVE
As an adjective, the term "reinforcing" refers to a property of a stimulus as in, "The reinforcing stimulus was produced more often than the other, non-reinforcing stimulus."
REINFORCEMENT AS AN OPERATION AND A
PROCESS
As a noun, the term "reinforcement" has two meanings. It may refer to an operation, the delivery of a consequence when a response occurs as in,
"The fixed-ratio 5 schedule of reinforcement arranged food deliveries after every fifth peck." Or reinforcement may refer to a process, the increase in responding that results from the reinforcement operation as in, "The experiment with monkeys demonstrated reinforcement produced by social consequences."

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TO REINFORCE AS A VERB
As a verb, the term "to reinforce" has two meanings. It may refer to an operation, to deliver a consequence when a response occurs, as in "When a period of free play was used to reinforce the child's completion of class assignments, the child's grades improved." Or it may refer to a process, to increase responding through the reinforcement operation as in, "The experiment was designed to find out whether gold stars would reinforce cooperative play among first-graders."
ARE ORGANISMS REINFORCED?
Please note that it is responses not organisms that are reinforced. “Reinforcement” is not synonymous with "reward."
NATURE OF BEHAVIORISTIC EXPLANATION
Behaviorists consider a change in behavior explained when the physical events that produced the change are described. The term reinforcement, for example, does not explain why a consequence increases the rate of a response. It is simply a name for the increase in responding that resulted from following responses with consequences. If someone asked a behaviorist to explain why an organism's rate of responding increased as a result of reinforcement, the behaviorist would describe all of the operations needed to produce the change.
POSITIVE REINFORCER
A stimulus whose response contingent
PRESENTATION (+) increases the rate at which similar responses are later emitted.
NEGATIVE REINFORCER
A stimulus whose response contingent REMOVAL
(-) increases the rate at which similar responses are later emitted.

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PUNISHER
An event that follows a response (response contingent event) THAT DECREASES the rate at which similar responses are later emitted. (Note: In earlier definitions this term referred to either the response contingent removal of a positive reinforcer or the response contingent presentation of a negative reinforcer.)
POSITIVE PUNISHER
A stimulus whose response contingent
PRESENTATION (+) decreases the rate at which similar responses are later emitted. (Note: In earlier definitions this term was defined as the response contingent presentation of a negative reinforcer.
The effect of this operation on behavior was considered to be an empirical issue. Please be careful for your text may use the older definition.)
NEGATIVE PUNISHER
A stimulus whose response contingent REMOVAL
(-) decreases the rate at which similar responses are later emitted. (Note: In earlier definitions this term was defined as the response contingent removal of a positive reinforcer. The effect of this operation on behavior was considered to be an empirical issue.
Please be careful for your text may use the older definition.)
OPERANT
A class of behavior that is controlled by consequential operations. The class is defined by the features that can result in reinforcement. For example, if money is provided whenever a particular student enters class and it does NOT matter whether the student runs, walks, crawls, or is carried into class and the rate of the student's attendance is controlled by this operation then the operant is "entering class" not merely walking into class, running, etc.

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OPERANT CONDITIONING
Modifying operant behavior by using reinforcement or punishment procedures.
REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE
A rule that specifies the way in which reinforcements are assigned to particular responses within an operant class. (Note: The basic schedules studied include: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixedinterval, and variable- interval schedules and, of course, extinction!)
FIXED-RATIO (FR) SCHEDULE
A schedule in which the last of a specified number of responses is reinforced with the number constant from one reinforcement to the next. Performance is characterized by pauses after reinforcement followed by a relatively high and constant rate of responding.
VARIABLE-RATIO (VR) SCHEDULE
A schedule in which the last of a specified number of responses is reinforced with the number changing from one reinforcement to the next. Performance relative to a FIXED-RATIO SCHEDULE is characterized by short post-reinforcement pauses or no pauses.
FIXED-INTERVAL (FI) SCHEDULE
A schedule in which a constant period of time must elapse before a response is reinforced. The time period is typically measured from the end of the last reinforcement. Performance is characterized by a pause after reinforcement followed by a gradual or an abrupt transition to a moderate level of responding.

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VARIABLE-INTERVAL (VI) SCHEDULE
A schedule in which a variable period of time must elapse before a response is reinforced. The time period is typically measured from the end of the last reinforcement. Performance is characterized by a constant rate of responding relative to FIXED-
INTERVAL schedules.
OPERANT EXTINCTION
The discontinuation of the reinforcement of an operant with the result that it decreases in frequency.
FORGETTING
The reduction in the environmental control of behavior as a function of the passage of time. (Note:
Compare this term with OPERANT EXTINCTION
OR RESPONDENT EXTINCTION.)
CONDITIONED REINFORCER
A stimulus that has acquired a reinforcing function by having been contiguous with and correlated with the presentation of another reinforcer.
GENERALIZED REINFORCER
A stimulus that has acquired a reinforcing function by having been contiguous with and correlated with the presentation of a variety of reinforcers.
SHAPING
The gradual modification of some property of an operant (usually its form) by the reinforcement of successive approximations until an acceptable form occurs.

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PUTTING THROUGH
An alternative to SHAPING in which the initial occurrence of a response is produced by physical guidance and then reinforced. For example the behavior of sitting, given the vocalization "sit", may initially be produced by gently pressing a dog's haunches until sitting and then a “treat” is presented.
RESPONSE INDUCTION OR
GENERALIZATION
In strengthening one operant other operants are increased in strength.
DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULUS (S-DEE)
A stimulus in whose presence a response is reinforced and in whose absence similar responses are not reinforced or reinforced less, with the result that these responses come to be emitted in the presence of the S-DEE but are less likely emitted when the S-DEE is absent (S-DELTA).
STIMULUS INDUCTION OR
GENERALIZATION
Given that behavior has been brought under the control of a particular stimulus, other stimuli may come to exert similar control. The spread of this effect is called induction or generalization.

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MATCHING TO SAMPLE
A task in which only responses to a stimulus which matches a sample stimulus can be reinforced.
Typically, a sample stimulus is presented and then the organism must respond to two or more comparison stimuli. The comparison stimuli may be presented along with the sample stimulus or there may be a delay so that delayed stimulus control
(traditionally called memory) may be studied.
(Note: A very interesting feature of this work is that from trial to trial the form of the stimuli need never be the same. The behavior of the subject, consequently, is not controlled by the form of the stimuli but rather by the relations between the forms!)
ABSTRACTION
Bringing behavior under the control of a single property or special combination of properties of the environment while freeing it from the control of all other properties.
CONCEPT
A particular abstraction such that behavior is controlled by a class of stimuli such that each member of the class produces the behavior whereas stimuli that are not members of the class do not produce the behavior.

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CREATING IMITATION
Use a continuous schedule of reinforcement to increase the rate at which an observer engages in responses matching those of a model. If the observer does not match the response then physically guide the observer's body into the appropriate form before providing reinforcement.
Do this for model's responses that vary widely in form. Eventually, the form of the model's response will occasion observer's matching behavior. (With appropriate variations in the schedule of reinforcement one can establish delayed imitation.)
EPISTEMOLOGY
The branch of philosophy concerned with the origin, nature, methods and limits of human knowledge.
VERBAL BEHAVIOR
Behavior reinforced by the behavior of other organisms. [Note: This definition is far more general than other conceptions of verbal behavior!]
TACT
A verbal operant, emitted by a speaker or writer, in which a response of a given form is evoked (or at least strengthened) by a particular non-verbal stimulus, which is an object or event or a property of an object or event.
GENERIC EXTENSION
The generalization of a tact in which the property responsible for the extension of the response from one instance to another is the property which enters into the contingency respected by the verbal community. For example, a speaker calls a new kind of chair a chair.

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METAPHORICAL EXTENSION
The generalization of a tact in which the property responsible for the extension of the response from one instance to another was present when the response has been reinforced, but the property does not enter into the contingency respected by the verbal community. For example, a speaker calls a man (who moves like a mouse) a mouse, or a child who has drunk soda water for the first time reports that it "tastes like my foot's asleep."
MAND
A verbal operant, emitted by a speaker or writer, in which a response of a given form is reinforced by a characteristic consequence and is, therefore, under the functional control of relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation.
"AFRAID" AS A TACT
A discriminated verbal operant in which the form of the response is "afraid" or some variant and the discriminative stimuli may include such public behavior as: panting, crying, frowning, sweating, trembling and attempts to escape; and such private behavior as: increases in muscle tension, heart rate and pain as well as a "sinking" stomach responses.
In principle, the behavior is acquired by a child's initially imitating a caretaker's saying "afraid" when the child or other organisms engage in the public behavior described above.

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"WANTS" AS A TACT
A discriminated verbal operant in which the form of the response is "wants" and the discriminative stimuli may include: disposing operations, discriminative stimuli, and other behavior of the organism which has typically antedated some behavior but the behavior has not yet occurred. In principle, the tact is acquired by a child's initially imitating a caretaker's saying "wants" (as in "Billy wants to drink water") when the conditions described above are in effect for the child or another organism. (Note: Private stimulation can also come to control the verbal operant "wants.")
"LIKE X" AS A TACT
A discriminated verbal operant in which the form of the response is "like X" or some variant and the discriminative stimulus is approximately the pattern of stimulation that results in a behaviorist saying that X is a reinforcer. In principle, the behavior is acquired by a child's initially imitating a caretaker's saying "like X" when the child's or another organism's behavior increases in frequency as a consequence of being followed by X.
RESPONSE CHAIN
A sequence of discriminated operants such that responses in the presence of one stimulus are followed by other stimuli that reinforce these responses and set the occasion for subsequent responses. The parts of the chain may be called components, links, or members. If the responses are formally similar (e.g., repeated depressions of the lever of a Skinner Box), the chain is homogeneous.
If the responses are formally dissimilar (e.g., driving a car with a standard transmission--depress clutch pedal, shift gear, release clutch pedal, etc.), the chain is heterogeneous.

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AVERSIVE STIMULUS
A stimulus that has one or more of the following functions: NEGATIVE REINFORCER, POSITIVE
PUNISHER, AN ESTABLISHING OPERATION
EVOKING ESCAPE, ELICITING STIMULUS for
RESPONDENTs that are NEGATIVE
REINFORCERs.
ESCAPE
The termination of an AVERSIVE STIMULUS by a response.
SKINNER'S THEORY OF AVOIDANCE
BEHAVIOR
Suppose two stimuli, FIRST and SECOND, are repeatedly presented. Also suppose that SECOND is an aversive stimulus. (For example, FIRST might be the dentist's office and SECOND might be the dentist operating on a decayed tooth!) With repetition, FIRST will acquire the stimulus functions of SECOND. FIRST will, therefore, become a conditioned negative reinforcer. In the presence of FIRST any behavior that terminates
FIRST will, therefore, be negatively reinforced.
With repeated presentations of FIRST, behavior which terminates FIRST will increase in frequency and SECOND will, therefore, not occur. In short, by terminating FIRST--SECOND is avoided!
TEXTUAL
A discriminated verbal operant in which a series of graphic stimuli (e.g., d-o-g) occasion a verbal response of a given form (e.g., "dog").
ECHOIC
A discriminated verbal operant in which an acoustical stimulus of a given form occasions a verbal response of similar form. This is just a particular case of imitation.

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PROBE
A supplementary stimulus that evokes a response but the response cannot be specified in advance. For example, the Rorshach test.
PROMPT
A supplementary stimulus that evokes a response and the response can be specified in advance. For example, the aural stimulus “First president of the
United States.” evokes the oral response “George
Washington.”
FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE
Stimulus control in which there is a formal or structural similarity between the form of a stimulus and the form of a response. For example, the aural stimulus “George Washington” evokes the oral response “George Washington.”
THEMATIC CORRESPONDENCE
Stimulus control in which there is no formal similarity between the form of stimulus and the form of response. For example, the aural stimulus
“George Washington” evokes the oral response
“Father of our country.”
BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF
"IDENTIFICATION"
To behave as another organism. The behavior may or may not be imitative. In reading a novel, we may come to respond in a way that is similar to one of the characters but before the character is described as so behaving.

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BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF
"PROJECTION"
Operations are in effect that make verbal behavior of a given form strong but a speaker does not emit the behavior. Subsequently, another person provides additional stimulation which does make the speaker's behavior strong but the basis for the other person providing the additional stimulation is unrelated to the original operations controlling the speaker's behavior. For example, suppose that there are operations in effect that result in Jack no longer loving his wife. Consequently, Jack is disposed to say "no longer love," but he does not say this. Later he watches his sister interacting with her husband; she does not provide as many reinforcers as rapidly to her husband as she once did. This additional stimulation results in Jack saying "you 'no longer love' your husband." But suppose that Jack's sister's problem is not love but that she is unknowingly suffering from cancer!
CONTROLLED RESPONSE
The response that is controlled in "self- control."
This response presumably is reinforcing or mediates rapid reinforcement, but the long-term consequences of this response are aversive. (See
CONTROLLING RESPONSE)
CONTROLLING RESPONSE
The response that manipulates the variables of which the controlled response is a function. (See
CONTROLLED RESPONSE)
THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF "SELF-
CONTROL"
The environment!

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THE BEHAVIOR OF MAKING A DECISION
Manipulating variables until either one of several pre-specified behaviors occurs or some behavior that evokes pre-specified behavior occurs.
BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF A
PROBLEM
Exposure to conditions which dispose an organism to engage in behavior that cannot be emitted.
BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF
PROBLEM SOLVING AND A SOLUTION
Responses that provide stimulation that occasions the response which could not be emitted. (See
BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF A
PROBLEM.)
BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF
"HAVING AN IDEA"
Emitting a response that provides stimulation that permits a response to occur that heretofore the organism was disposed but unable to emit.
BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF
"HAVING AN ORIGINAL IDEA"
Emitting a response that solves a problem where the emitted response is not occasioned by a rigid formula and whose control is difficult to specify.

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CREATIVITY?
From a behavioristic standpoint a human is creative when he or she engages in behavior that is novel and that functions as a reinforcer for the human or others. Creativity is not due to an inner "self."
Creativity results from the ever changing relations between the environment, the human, and his or her history. Because behavior is a function of the environment and the human's history, variations are produced which may be reinforcing (creative!).
(Note: Although this interpretation has been written from the standpoint of humans other organisms can also be creative.)
RADICAL BEHAVIORISM AND THE WORLD
WITHIN THE SKIN
A small part of the universe is contained within our skin. Radical behaviorism does not call these events unobservable and it does not dismiss them as subjective. What is felt or introspectively observed is not some nonphysical world of mental life but the observer's own body. This does not mean that introspection is a kind of physiological research, nor does it mean (AND THIS IS THE HEART OF THE
ARGUMENT) that what are felt or introspectively observed are the causes of behavior.
PRIVATE EVENT
An event with limited accessibility. An organism's skin makes many events private but the skin should not be used as the defining feature of a private event since technical advances make events beneath the skin publicly accessible.
COVERT BEHAVIOR
Behavior that is of such limited accessibility that it only stimulates the behaving organism.

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BEHAVIORISTIC INTERPRETATION OF "I SEE
A RAINBOW"
A discriminated operant in which the stimulus is the private response of seeing a rainbow and the operant is a response of the form "I see a rainbow."
CONDITIONED SEEING
A conditioned visual respondent produced by respondent conditioning. For example, in principle, an apple is an eliciting stimulus for the response of seeing an apple. Stimuli that are temporally contiguous with and correlated with the presenting an apple may come to elicit the response of seeing an apple.
OPERANT SEEING
A conditioned visual operant produced by operant conditioning. For example, the behavior of looking at food (when food deprived) produces the private behavior of seeing the food that is then followed by the reinforcement of consuming the food. This sequence is repeated again and again. The behavior of seeing food (which is assumed to be an operant) becomes strong as a consequence of reinforcement and is controlled by the appropriate establishing operation, food deprivation. (Note: In principle seeing food should function as a conditioned reinforcer.)

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IS COVERT VERBAL BEHAVIOR A CAUSE OF
OVERT BEHAVIOR?
To report that a man salivates when he hears the dinner bell may be to overlook the fact that the dinner bell first "makes him think of dinner" and that he then salivates BECAUSE he thinks of dinner. But there is no evidence that thinking of dinner, as that expression has been defined here, is more than a collateral effect of the bell and the conditioning process. We cannot demonstrate that thinking of dinner will lead to salivation regardless of any prior event, since a man will not think of dinner in the absence of such an event." (Skinner,
S&HB, p. 279) Even when covert verbal behavior appears causal as in what you may privately do if you are to specify the twelfth word in the U.S. pledge of allegiance, the covert behavior may be necessary but it is never considered a sufficient explanation for overt behavior, in this case
"America."
"ATTENTION" AS A TACT
A discriminated verbal operant in which the form of the response is "attention" or some variant and the discriminative stimulus is merely some form of stimulus control. For example, the introduction of a bone may produce a dog's salivation. This may produce a speaker's saying "The bone has got the dog's attention." Sometimes, the behavior that is under stimulus control is not public. Hearing (which is behavior!) is a good example. A friend may tell you something and then ask you to repeat what was said. If you can repeat what was said your friend may say that you were "attending."

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IMPLOSIVE THERAPY
A therapy for reducing the extent environmental stimuli are aversive i.e., the environmental stimuli function as negative reinforcers, punishers, eliciting stimuli, and discriminative stimuli occasioning escape. The therapy involves the patient talking about and imagining the aversive environmental stimuli without the therapist producing other aversive stimuli. In theory, the procedure utilizes extinction operations to eliminate the aversive functions of the client's behavior and assumes that stimulus generalization will occur so that the environmental stimuli will no longer be aversive.