?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=A+Review+of+B.+F.+Skinner's+Verbal+Behavior&rft.creator=Chomsky%2C+Noam&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Behavioral+Analysis&rft.subject=Syntax&rft.description=+I+had+intended+this+review+not+specifically+as+a+criticism+of+Skinner's+speculations+regarding+language%2C+but+rather+as+a+more+general+critique+of+behaviorist+(I+would+now+prefer+to+say+%22empiricist%22)+speculation+as+to+the+nature+of+higher+mental+processes.+My+reason+for+discussing+Skinner's+book+in+such+detail+was+that+it+was+the+most+careful+and+thoroughgoing+presentation+of+such+speculations%2C+an+evaluation+that+I+feel+is+still+accurate.+Therefore%2C+if+the+conclusions+I+attempted+to+substantiate+in+the+review+are+correct%2C+as+I+believe+they+are%2C+then+Skinner's+work+can+be+regarded+as%2C+in+effect%2C+a+reductio+ad+absurdum+of+behaviorist+assumptions.+My+personal+view+is+that+it+is+a+definite+merit%2C+not+a+defect%2C+of+Skinner's+work+that+it+can+be+used+for+this+purpose%2C+and+it+was+for+this+reason+that+I+tried+to+deal+with+it+fairly+exhaustively.+I+do+not+see+how+his+proposals+can+be+improved+upon%2C+aside+from+occasional+details+and+oversights%2C+within+the+framework+of+the+general+assumptions+that+he+accepts.+I+do+not%2C+in+other+words%2C+see+any+way+in+which+his+proposals+can+be+substantially+improved+within+the+general+framework+of+behaviorist+or+neobehaviorist%2C+or%2C+more+generally%2C+empiricist+ideas+that+has+dominated+much+of+modern+linguistics%2C+psychology%2C+and+philosophy.+The+conclusion+that+I+hoped+to+establish+in+the+review%2C+by+discussing+these+speculations+in+their+most+explicit+and+detailed+form%2C+was+that+the+general+point+of+view+was+largely+mythology%2C+and+that+its+widespread+acceptance+is+not+the+result+of+empirical+support%2C+persuasive+reasoning%2C+or+the+absence+of+a+plausible+alternative.&rft.date=1959&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1148%2F1%2Fchomsky.htm&rft.identifier=++Chomsky%2C+Noam++(1959)+A+Review+of+B.+F.+Skinner's+Verbal+Behavior.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1148%2F