Verbal responses to past events: Intraverbal relations, or tacts to private events?

College students watched slides that paired colors with shapes. Later the researchers asked, "What color went with the triangle?"

The team wanted to know if the answer was a tact to a private memory or just an intraverbal fill-in. They checked how many color names the students got right.

Students recalled the correct color about half the time. That is far above random guessing.

Accuracy varied a lot from person to person. Grades and gender did not predict who did better.

Sarber et al. (1983) treated hallucinations as self-intraverbal chains. Castañe et al. (1993) use the same idea for normal recall. Together they show private talk is usually just verbal behavior, not mystical insight.

Hartmann et al. (1982) showed pigeons will "lie" about a hidden color if lying pays. The human data now hint that our answers about the past can also be intraverbal guesses shaped by what usually gets reinforced.

Nelson et al. (1978) proved echoic primes sway college students. The new study shows intraverbal primes (the shape question) do the same. Both papers warn: verbal answers flow from immediate cues, not hidden pictures in the head.

When a client says, "I felt anxious Tuesday," do not assume perfect self-observation. Treat the statement as you would any intraverbal: look for the cues and reinforcers that shaped it. Probe with neutral questions, check collateral data, and program responses you can publicly verify.