Translated from the Portuguese original. Read the original (Português)
Verbal behavior is any behavior that only produces an effect because another person reacts to it. Saying “water” only works if someone hears and responds. In 1957, B. F. Skinner proposed analyzing language by its function — why the person said that, at that moment — rather than by the form of the word. From this come the verbal operants: mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal, textual, transcription, and autoclitic. And note: verbal does not mean spoken — signs, pictures, and communication boards are also verbal behavior.
For Skinner (Verbal Behavior, 1957), verbal behavior is behavior reinforced through the mediation of another person — a listener whose way of responding was itself shaped by a verbal community. Unlike other behaviors, it does not act directly on the physical world: it acts on the world through someone. That is why it is classified by function (which antecedent controls it and which consequence maintains it) rather than by form (the word, the gesture, or the channel used).
Verbal is not the same as vocal
In everyday language, “verbal” has become a synonym for “spoken.” In Behavior Analysis, it is not. What defines verbal behavior is the path of the effect: if the consequence only arrives because a listener behaved, it is verbal — the modality hardly matters.
- A child who says “juice”: verbal behavior.
- A child who hands over a picture of juice (as in PECS): also verbal behavior.
- A person who points, makes a sign, or touches a symbol on an augmentative and alternative communication tablet: equally verbal.
- But opening the fridge alone and grabbing the juice is not verbal: here the person acts directly on the environment, with no intermediary.
This distinction clears up a common confusion: teaching communication is not synonymous with teaching speech. A nonspeaking person can have a rich verbal repertoire — and expanding that repertoire is a legitimate goal, with or without voice.
The same word, different functions
This is the heart of Skinner's proposal. Two children can say exactly the same word — “water” — and be emitting different behaviors, because the causes and the effects are different. Analyzing language means looking at what comes before and what comes after, as in the three-term contingency.
The verbal operants
Skinner described different “types” of verbal behavior, each with a characteristic antecedent and reinforcer. Explore the four most used in clinic and school settings:
Mand — requesting
It is under the control of a motivating operation (hunger, thirst, pain, wanting to play) and specifies its own reinforcer: whoever says “open” wants it opened. It is the only operant that directly benefits the speaker — which is why it is usually the first one taught in communication programs.
Tact — naming
It is under the control of a nonverbal stimulus present in the environment: an object, an action, a smell, a sensation. The reinforcer is social and generalized — attention, approval, someone confirming it. It is the basis for commenting, describing, and sharing what is perceived.
Echoic — repeating
Responding to a verbal stimulus from another person by reproducing it with formal similarity: the adult says “ball,” the child says “ball.” It is a powerful teaching step — it works as a prompt for installing other operants, and is later faded out.
Intraverbal — conversing
Responding to a verbal stimulus without reproducing it: “What's your name?” → “Peter”; “One, two...” → “three.” It is the operant behind answering questions, telling a story, and holding a conversation — and it usually requires specific teaching; it does not come “for free.”
Three more complete the picture:
- Textual — reading aloud: the antecedent is a written text and the response corresponds to it point to point, but without resembling it (the letter and the sound do not share the same form).
- Transcription — writing down what is heard, as in dictation.
- Autoclitic — the verbal behavior that “comments” on the speaker's own verbal behavior and adjusts its effect on the listener: “I think it will rain,” “I do not want to,” “many cars.” It is what gives speech nuance, doubt, quantity, and order.
Each operant is learned separately
A practical — and counterintuitive — consequence of this analysis: verbal operants are relatively independent. Learning to request a cracker does not guarantee that the child can name a cracker in a picture, nor answer “what do you eat for a snack?” Each function may need its own teaching, followed by deliberate work on generalization across them.
Tap the cards to see what changes from one operant to another:
How this becomes practiceIntervention programs organized by verbal operants assess and teach each function separately. Instruments such as the VB-MAPP (Sundberg, 2008) map milestones for mand, tact, echoic, and intraverbal to guide what to teach next — always with ABA and progress measurement.
An ethical cautionTeaching verbal behavior means expanding a person's power to influence their own world — not training them to speak “the way others expect.” Respecting the modality that works for them (voice, signs, pictures, device) and accepting all forms of request, including “no,” is part of the work. See ethics.
A proposal that sparked debate
Skinner's book was the target of a famous critique by linguist Noam Chomsky, published in 1959, and of a detailed reply by Kenneth MacCorquodale in 1970. The debate helped delimit the scope of the proposal: the analysis of verbal behavior is not a theory of grammar and does not aim to describe the structure of languages. It is a functional analysis — useful precisely for teaching communication to those who have not yet developed it, which is why it remains active in clinics, schools, and journals dedicated to the topic, such as The Analysis of Verbal Behavior.
Test your understanding
Quick quiz
Three questions to reinforce the concept. You see the explanation right away.
Further reading
- Skinner, B. F. Verbal Behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.
- Cooper, J. O.; Heron, T. E.; Heward, W. L. Applied Behavior Analysis. 3rd ed., 2020 — chapter on verbal behavior.
- MacCorquodale, K. “On Chomsky’s Review of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior.” Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1970.
- Sundberg, M. L. VB-MAPP: Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program. AVB Press, 2008.
- The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB) — journal of the Association for Behavior Analysis International dedicated to the topic.
This entry is educational and does not replace assessment, diagnosis or treatment by a qualified health professional. Every person is unique — for a specific case, seek individual guidance.