16.8 Intraverbal Example #4
When you first begin learning a foreign language, most of your behavior is intraverbal. The English “good day” evokes the French “bonjour” and vice versa. Some critics have claimed that the examples of intraverbals you have just read represent trivial language behavior. While it is true that many intraverbal relationships are “trivial,” much of our learning is in the form of definitions, instructions, and associations that are also intraverbal.
Intraverbal
A form of verbal behavior with the following features:
A verbal response
The prior controlling variable is a verbal stimulus
There is NO point-to-point correspondence between the stimulus and the response
The specific topography and dynamic characteristics of the vocal response
The musculature involved in executing the response
The modality of the prior verbal stimulus (usually either visual or auditory)
Dynamic features of either the stimulus or the response
The “correctness” of the response
