This paper serves as a platform to precisely substantiate the success of "Competitive Team-Based Learning" (CTBL) as an effective and rational educational approach. To that end, it brings to the fore part of the (didactic) theories and hypotheses which in one way or another delineate and confirm the mechanisms under which successful…

After discussing the nature of theory itself, the author explains her concept of the Unified Communication Theory, which rests on the assumption that there exists in all living structures a potential communication factor which is delimited by species and ontogeny. An organism develops "symbol fixation" at the level where its perceptual abilities…

The history of the writing of "Verbal Behavior" (Skinner, 1957), Chomsky's review (1959), and MacCorquodale's rebuttal (1970) are briefly summarized. Chomsky's recent reflections on his review are analyzed: Chomsky's refusal to acknowledge the review's errors or its aggressive tone is consistent with his polemical style but comes at a minor cost…

In Skinner's (1957) conceptual analysis, the process of self-editing is integral to the dynamic complexities of multiply determined verbal behavior, but the analysis has generated little in the way of an experimental analysis. The majority of scientific work on self-editing has taken place within linguistics and cognitive psycholinguistics. Here…

Behavioristic, nativistic, and cognitive theories of language acquisition are discussed. Linguistically-oriented theories are compared with learning-oriented theories, and four controversial issues of frequency of stimuli, imitation expansion, and meaning are reviewed. The theories, according to the author, are rather unsubstantial at present. The…

Earlier version of this paper was read at the Second International Congress of Applied Linguistics, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, in September 1969. (VM)

Some descriptive criteria for identifying rule-governed behavior are identified from the perspective of cognitive psychology. It is suggested that the concept of explanation in psychology be modified from a specification in terms of physical properties of the antecedent events in a causal sequence to a mapping of rules onto behavior or behavior…

This paper raises questions about the significance of errors made by language learners. The discussion is divided into four parts: (1) definition of error analysis, (2) the present status of error analysis research, including an overview of the theories of Lado, Skinner, Chomsky, Corder, Nemser, and Selinker; (3) the subdivisions of error analysis…

The author has developed a functional model for some aspects of language behavior which attempts to link a number of experimental findings within a relatively simple framework. In this paper the author sets out to "axiomatise some features of the model" (which had its origins in an attempt to account for a range of phenomena concerned…

In the study and analysis of cultures we must first examine our ways of thinking about things and formulate the assumptions on which we are working, because many of our results may come to us as direct implications from the assumptions that we make. In theorizing about language, culture, and human behavior, the following hypotheses are examined:…

This paper reviews the psychological theories and research which deal with the meaning of words in the course of human psychological development. The three major premises of the review are: (1) that word meaning is conducive to empirical study, (2) that rules can be produced that apply to most word meanings, and (3) that human development has…

Attempts to reframe current controversies over several aspects of language, including meaning, comprehension, acquisition, reading, and reasoning. Argues that in all these cases the conflicts are rooted in differing assumptions about the relation of meaning to language: whether meaning is extrinsic to language--designated as "utterance"--or…

Presents an essentially Bloomfieldian approach to language and language teaching; sees the concept of language as interplay between stimuli and reactions as the basis of a wholly creditable system of teaching, a tremendous number of textbooks, and a large number of language courses." (FB)

This dissertation examines the thesis that it is the human language system which largely makes possible the human capacity for modifiability of responses called "intelligent" and "adaptive" modes of interaction with the environment. Chapter titles are (1) A Process View of Human Behavior, (2) Aspects of the Multi-Dimensional Nature of Cognitive…

An overview of Noam Chomsky's theories about transformational grammar and phonology is given. Since Chomsky was interested in characterizing what it is to know a language, the ways in which we demonstrate knowledge of our native language are discussed in detail. Particular emphasis is placed on describing how the transformational approach actually…