What is Verbal Behavior programming?
Verbal Behavior programming is guided by the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). In addition to using ABA principles, a Verbal Behavior (VB) practitioner also incorporates BF Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior. In 1957, BF Skinner published an important book entitled, Verbal Behavior. Skinner described language as a behavior and illustrated how language could be taught using the principles of operant conditioning. He also expanded the definition of verbal behavior to include any behavior mediated by a listener. A child using sign language to make a request, saying a word to label an item, or having a tantrum because he didn’t get his way are all considered Verbal Behavior according to Skinner’s Analysis. Unfortunately, Skinner’s work in this area was largely ignored for decades until Dr. Jack Michael and his students, Mark Sundberg and James Partington, began to apply it with great success many years later.
