| Abstract: Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior remains largely a theoretical endeavor. However, recent research in the areas of stimulus equivalence, relational frame theory, the naming hypothesis and joint control suggest that derived relational responding (i.e., the emergence of complex and untrained stimulus-stimulus relations) may be a viable explanation for the acquisition and maintenance of verbal behaviors. This panel will discuss Skinner's verbal behavior in the context of this research. Of particular import will be the degree to which each of these lines of research can account for the emergence of untrained and novel verbal behaviors. Additionally, the panel will discuss how stimuli that were documented to be under a specific form of stimulus control in one context (e.g., echoic or tact control) can come under the control of other forms of stimulus control (e.g., mand or intraverbal control) in another in the absence of direct training. Finally, the panel will discuss the role of the listener in the emergence of derived relational verbal behaviors, an area that may be viewed as under-investigated by verbal behavior researchers. |