Skinner's verbal behavior, Chomsky's review, and mentalism.
Skinner's Verbal Behavior (1957) is a comprehensive treatise that deals with most aspects of verbal behavior. However, its treatment of the learning of grammatical behavior has been challenged repeatedly (e.g., Chomsky, 1959). The present paper will attempt to show that the learning of grammar and syntax can be dealt with adequately within a behavior-analytic framework. There is no need to adopt mentalist (or cognitivist) positions or to add mentalist elements to behaviorist theories.
Stemmer
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Department of Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
D001527:Behaviorism; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012660:Semantics; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014825:Vocabulary