2.1 Public and Private Language
Understanding language and cognition is key to understanding human behavior. Most of us use language, either publicly (such as talking) or privately (such as thinking) constantly. We are continually describing, categorizing, relating, evaluating, talking about, writing about, reading about, and thinking about everything around us.
Man says, “Let me explain to you what an emoji is…”
Woman thinks, “Keep mansplaining and I will end you.”
This reflection highlights the central role of verbal behavior in understanding human cognition and behavior. From a behavior analytic perspective, language—whether overt or covert—is operant behavior shaped and maintained by environmental contingencies. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior provides a powerful framework for interpreting how individuals tact, mand, intraverbally relate, and engage in rule-governed behavior. Recognizing that much of our private events (i.e., thinking) function similarly to public verbal behavior reinforces the importance of incorporating verbal operants and relational frame theory (RFT) when assessing and intervening in complex human behavior.