Maybe We Are, But … : Occasion Setting in Intraverbal Behavior

Anna Ingeborg Petursdottir

University of Nevada, Reno

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Abstract

Verbal behavior researchers study language and cognition from an operant learning perspective. In the process, they likely study the effects of stimuli that function as occasion setters. One possible example includes certain instances of intraverbal responses to multiple verbal stimuli. Control over intraverbal behavior in natural language may not lend itself well to tests that distinguish occasion setting from direct control, and this distinction may be unnecessary to accomplish some of the practical goals of applied research. However, experimental models of occasion setting in language could provide information of relevance to fine-tuning language interventions, in addition to having broader theoretical implications.

Keywords: language, intraverbal, occasion setting, verbal behavior

Author Note: Anna Ingeborg Petursdottir, Department of Psychology, 1664 N. Virginia St., Mail Stop 0296, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Anna Ingeborg Petursdottir at apetursdottir@unr.edu.