Verbal-Like Effects of Nonverbal Stimuli
Words can guide behavior through their extra ‘get-ready’ layer even when the learner misunderstands the message.
01Research in Context
What this study did
de Souza Barba (2024) looked at how words work when the listener gets the meaning wrong.
The paper uses Skinner’s frame: verbal behavior is action, not mind stuff.
It claims that a hidden ‘supplementary’ function—pre-potent listener habits—can still make the words useful even when understanding fails.
What they found
The author argues that non-verbal cues (tone, context, past pairings) can push the listener to act correctly even if the listener cannot repeat or explain the message.
In short, the stimulus carries two jobs: the usual meaning job and a backup ‘get ready’ job.
How this fits with other research
Fushimi (1990) set the stage by listing Skinner’s three senses of ‘understanding’. de Souza Barba keeps the list but adds the extra ‘supplementary’ sense, so the 2024 piece extends the older paper rather than replaces it.
Fields et al. (2018) show that meaningful pictures or names speed up equivalence class formation. That result lines up with de Souza Barba’s claim: extra functions tied to a stimulus help new learning even when the learner is not aware of them.
Schoneberger (2025) settles the Skinner-versus-RFT definition fight by saying ‘use both’. de Souza Barba’s idea that non-verbal stimuli can act ‘verbal-like’ gives Ted’s dual-definition view a real-time example: the same cue can be tracked as a Skinnerian operant and as an RFT-derived relation at once.
Why it matters
If you run language or social-skills programs, stop waiting for perfect comprehension probes. Instead, watch for useful listener action—following directions, shifting attention, or preparing a response. Those acts may bloom from supplementary stimulation even when the learner cannot paraphrase your words. Build lessons that pair clear cues with rich context (tone, gesture, favorite items) so the backup function can take over while the meaning side is still under construction.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Stimuli produced by verbal responses (verbal stimuli) usually reveal something about the speakers who emitted them and about the environment where the verbal responses occurred (i.e., verbal stimuli can evoke in the listeners responses concerning the speakers and their environments). Verbal stimuli can also constitute supplementary stimulation that evokes responses which are already strong in the repertoire of some listeners or readers. Stimuli not produced by verbal responses (nonverbal stimuli), topographically similar to verbal stimuli, cannot reveal anything about speakers and their environments, but some of them can evoke responses that are already strong in the repertoire of some listeners or readers. Therefore, nonverbal stimuli allow one to distinguish clearly between the two functions of verbal stimuli. This article adopts a Skinnerian perspective and explores the implications of the supplementary function of stimuli for what is usually called understanding (and misunderstanding). Even when verbal stimuli are misunderstood, they can evoke verbal or nonverbal responses that are useful to the listeners. This effect can play a major role when it comes to aesthetic responses made to literary works, for example. Implications of the supplementary function of verbal stimuli for translations of ancient texts are also discussed. As supplementary stimulation, verbal stimuli can produce notable effects on the behavior of listeners and readers (even when the stimuli are misunderstood), although traditional mentalistic approaches to verbal behavior tend to neglect them.
Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2024 · doi:10.1007/s40614-023-00392-z