Abstract
Verbal behaviour and equivalence. In Behaviour Analysis, the topic of equivalence is important because it is related with the explanation of emergent behaviours. Several authors have concluded that verbal behaviour is insuficient and unnecessary for equivalence formation. The objective of this paper is to analyze the experimental basis which were offered to support this conclusion. Seven seminal articles were analyzed, and the following features were found among them: probes were followed by reinforcers; limited number of subjects; verbal procedures and their respective results were not presented. Also, the subjects were left alone with automatic equipment, without no observation of verbal behaviour during training. In most of the articles the conclusions were based on post-experimental tests where the testing conditions differed significantly from the original ones. It is therefore considered premature to judge verbal behaviour as insuficient and unnecessary for equivalence formation.
