Conditioning the behavior of the listener

Abstract

Among the many behaviors of speakers and listeners, perhaps none is more interesting\nfrom a behavior analytic perspective than those that modify the future behavior of the\nlistener. Skinner first mentioned this possibility in Verbal Behavior (1957) in a section\ntitled, �Conditioning the Behavior of the Listener,� in which he described how certain\nrelational autoclitics could produce changes in the future behavior of listeners separate\nfrom their more immediate and straightforward conditioned reflexive and discriminative\neffects. Oddly, Skinner never returned to this topic, even when he described problem\nsolving and rule-governed behavior in the late 1960s. As behavior analysts celebrate the\n50th anniversary of the publication of Verbal Behavior, I believe that it is important to\nrevisit this feature of verbal behavior. In the present article, I (a) describe how the\nbehavior of the listener is �conditioned� by verbal stimuli, (b) address the question of\nwhether these changes in the listener�s behavior represent actual operant conditioning or\nan analog of it, and (c) discuss some implications for rule-governed behavior.

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