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Why behavior should matter to linguists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2003

A. Charles Catania
A. Charles Catania*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland at Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 http://www.umbc.edu/psyc/personal/catania/catania.htm
*
catania@umbc.edu
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Abstract:

Jackendoff's Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution has many points of similarity with Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, though the former emphasizes structure whereas the latter emphasizes function. The parallels are explored in the context of a selectionist account of behavior in general and of verbal behavior in particular. Part of the argument is that behavior drives evolution and therefore also drives brain organization. Another concerns itself with the nature of explanation. Recent experimental developments in behavior analysis are reviewed as potential contributions to an understanding of language that incorporates its functional as well as structural dimensions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 26 , Issue 6 , December 2003 , pp. 670 - 672
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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References

Note

1. Unless otherwise noted, pages refer to Jackendoff (2002).

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