The topography of the verbal behavior that results in the verbal stimulus is not important. Our first example involved vocal verbal behavior, but if we had written the word “dog,” then the resulting visual pattern or sequence would also be a verbal stimulus.
A physical energy change capable of affecting an organism’s sensory receptors that has the following features:
It has a specific form or pattern which, as a unit, has controlling effectiveness
It is the result of verbal behavior
Modality: auditory, visual, etc.
Dynamic characteristics such as size, intensity, etc.
Function: discriminative, reinforcing, punishing, etc.