Verbal Behavior Analysis

Abstract

One of the commonest forms of behavior that typifies man is verbal behavior. While to a great extent man's pattern of speech is determined by the grammar and rhetoric of the language he speaks, it is reasonable to assume that within this framework the individual's choice of words, themes, and style of speech may reveal something of his personality dynamics and his current emotional state. Indeed, psychiatrists make this assumption daily in their interpretation of what the patient is saying in therapeutic sessions, but the cues he uses are for the most part subjective and unsystematized. Many investigators have engaged in studies of verbal behavior using various stimuli to produce verbal activity, such as the clinical interview, the interpretation of proverbs, and Thematic Apperception Test cards. Also, various methods of categorizing the obtained materials have been utilized. No attempt will be made to review their work here, but interested readers