A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGE AS BEHAVIOR

Abstract

A functional analysis of language must take into account the difference between interactions among individuals and the products or vestiges of these interactions. Although morphological features of language as conventional behavior are important, they are not sufficient to distinguish between linguistic and non-linguistic behavior. This paper examines several aspects involved in the functional analysis of language as behaviour: a) the acquisition of conventional reactional systems, b) the functional detachment of  responses, c) linguistic behavior as substitutional contingency  interactions, d) the identification of functional stages in the development of conventional behaviour as language behavior, and, e) the analysis of language as an interactive process. Key words: language, conventional behavior, functional detachment, substitutional contingency, dyadicinteractions