Abstract
Skinner’s Verbal Behavior (1957) and “An operant analysis of problem solving” (1966) were used to develop a coding system to analyze the relationships between verbal behaviors in family problem solving discussions. Taking solution statements as a target behavior, sequential relationships were examined with both subsequent and antecedent verbal behaviors, comparing families with higher and lower rates of solution statements. Results indicated that two categories of verbal behavior occurred both subsequent and antecedent to solution statements more frequently in families with higher frequencies of solution statements: Agreements and contingency statements. Results are discussed in terms of an operant theory of problem solving in which agreements may serve as reinforcers for solutions and contingency statements may serve as discriminative stimuli.
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This research was partially funded by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant DA 05112-01 and was submitted as the first author’s Master’s Thesis at Rutgers University under the direction of the second author. Portions of this study were presented at the annual convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis in Philadelphia, May, 1988. The authors would like to thank Karen Krinsley, Shirley Brown, and Elizabeth Turk for their assistance in data analysis.
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Greene, D.M., Bry, B.H. A descriptive analysis of family discussions about everyday problems and decisions. Analysis Verbal Behav 9, 29–39 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392858
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392858