Introductory Concepts
Elementary Relationships
Extensions of Verbal Behavior
Multiple Controlling Relationships
Building on the Elementary Relationships
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17.8 The Tact and Reference

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When we say that a speaker uses a word to “refer” to an object, we are usually talking about a tact relationship. To say that a word refers to something often simply means that the word is a response controlled by a non-verbal discriminative stimulus.

A pink poodle with a speech bubble showcasing the tact and reference.

Tact

A form of verbal behavior with the following features:

A verbal response

The controlling variable is a non-verbal stimulus, which is an object or event or a property of an object or event

The musculature with which the response is executed (vocal, written, gestural, etc.)

The modality of the stimulus (auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory, etc.)

Whether or not there is any reinforcement for the current response

The “correctness” of the response

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