The impact of Verbal Behavior on the scholarly literature from 2005 to 2016.
Real experiments using Skinner’s verbal operants have taken off since 2005, especially in autism intervention.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team counted every paper that cited Skinner’s book Verbal Behavior between 2005 and 2016.
They also logged which papers actually tested verbal operants like mand, tact, and intraverbal.
Kids with autism were the main group studied, but other developmental delays were included too.
What they found
Empirical papers that use verbal operants jumped sharply after 2005.
Most of the new work taught mands and intraverbals to children with autism.
The trend shows researchers moved from talking about Skinner to actually running his procedures.
How this fits with other research
Bao et al. (2017) looked at the same rise but only inside autism intervention studies; their narrower view nests inside this bigger picture.
Baer et al. (1984) once showed fewer than 4% of Verbal Behavior citations were real experiments; the new data updates that picture—the share is now much higher.
Wright (2019) scanned the same journals and found most papers still leave out race, income, and home language; the surge in quantity has not yet improved reporting quality.
Why it matters
You now know the field finally tests, not just quotes, Skinner’s verbal operants. When you search for evidence-based procedures, the pile is much bigger than it was fifteen years ago. Start your literature reviews with post-2005 work and you will find plenty of single-case tests to guide mand, tact, and intraverbal programs.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
B. F. Skinner's (1957) Verbal Behavior had a limited influence on empirical research in the first few decades following its publication, but an increase in empirical activity has been evident in recent years. The purpose of this article is to update previous analyses that have quantified the influence of Verbal Behavior on the scholarly literature, with an emphasis on its impact on empirical research. Study 1 was a citation analysis that showed an increase in citations to Verbal Behavior from 2005 to 2016 relative to earlier time periods. In particular, there was a large increase in citations from empirical articles. Study 2 identified empirical studies in which a verbal operant was manipulated or measured, regardless of whether or not Verbal Behavior was cited, and demonstrated a large increase in publication rate, with an increasing trend in the publication of both basic and applied experimental analyses throughout the review period. A majority of the studies were concerned with teaching verbal behavior to children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, but a variety of other basic and applied research topics were also represented. The results suggest a clearly increasing impact of Verbal Behavior on the experimental analysis of behavior on the 60th anniversary of the book's publication.
The Analysis of verbal behavior, 2017 · doi:10.1038/embor.2008.65