Verbal Conditioning

Verbal conditioning is a psychological term for influencing, or conditioning, a particular verbal response. This can be accomplished by either reinforcing or rewarding the response with some form of positive verbal attention, or by deterring it with a negative verbal response.

Verbal conditioning can also be used in the context of establishing or reinforcing certain behaviors or viewpoints by means of verbal responses. Telling a child "Great job!" after the completion of a task as a means of encouraging him or her to perform the task again is an example of this use of verbal conditioning.

Experiments

American clinical psychologist and behaviorist Joel Greenspoon conducted some of the earliest experiments into the ability of an examiner to influence the verbal responses of a subject. During tests performed in the 1950s, Greenspoon asked subjects to name all the words they could in fifty minutes. With some subjects, the examiner offered simple positive reinforcement in the form of an "mmm-hmm" (an affirming murmur) every time the subject said a plural noun. With others, the examiner murmured "huh-uh," a subtle negative reinforcement, when the subject said a plural noun. Other subjects received neither positive nor negative murmurs.

The results showed that the positive murmurs increased the frequency with which the subject used plural nouns, with more than twice as many plural nouns used by these subjects, while the negative murmurs decreased the frequency. Those who received neither positive nor negative reinforcement served as a control group; no change was detected in their use of plural nouns. The adjustments in frequency happened even though nearly all of the subjects remained unaware of the examiner’s technique. This became known as the Greenspoon effect and was seen by some as an indication that verbal behavior could be modified through reinforcement.

Subsequent studies have mostly replicated Greenspoon’s results; however, it has been found that the rate of response is greater when subjects are aware that some form of reinforcement will be offered. Some researchers have also conducted experiments that have shown that similar types of reinforcement can result in attitude changes on behalf of the subject.

Verbal conditioning can also impact a person’s behavior in other ways. In one experiment, a patient with cardiac disease consistently reported pain and showed measurable indications of a physical response when he completed forty-four repetitions of a motion during an exercise electrocardiogram. He was aware of the point when he reached forty-four because of verbal counting during the procedure. However, when the count was off and the subject thought he had reached forty-four even though he had not, he experienced the pain at an earlier point in the test. However, there was no indication of pain when the count was correct and the patient passed the point where he had previously complained of pain.

Verbal conditioning is a form of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is based on the concept that people naturally tend to behave in ways that increase the positive effects and decrease the negative effects of their words or actions.

Applications

Psychologists use the principles of the Greenspoon effect during therapy sessions. For example, a psychologist working with a sociopath, or a person with antisocial behaviors and demonstrated lack of conscience, might offer an encouraging "mmm-hmm" every time the person uses "I" in a way that indicates taking responsibility for his or her actions. This encourages positive behavior in a patient who has a tendency to blame problems on everyone but himself or herself. Other outcomes can be similarly encouraged; for example, indecisive patients can be encouraged by positively reinforcing their mentions of problem-solving and decision-making activities.

The Greenspoon effect can also have a detrimental effect if the interviewer inadvertently reinforces verbal responses that encourage the reporting of false or exaggerated claims. This was shown to be a factor in the McMartin preschool case in the 1980s. Allegations of child sexual abuse were made at the California preschool, and psychologists interviewed many children from the school. However, reviews of the interview tapes showed that the interviewers inadvertently reacted with positive reinforcement when children made allegations; this reaction encouraged the children to make more such allegations, even if they were not true. The children who had been subjected to unintentional positive reinforcement made nearly three times as many accusations.

Alternative Uses

In some cases, people who use the term verbal conditioning are referring to the use of verbal rewards or punishments to encourage desired behavior. In this context, praise and affirmation are used as verbal conditioning to predispose someone to repeat an action, such as children cleaning their rooms. The technique can also be applied in the negative; scolding or other expressions of disapproval can discourage undesired behavior.

This type of verbal conditioning also encompasses attitudes that are attached to certain words and evoke a specific response. For example, researchers have determined that profanity causes a negative reaction in the human mind even if the word is merely read aloud and not spoken with any significant emotion. Other words can inspire positive reactions, such as "holiday" or any word that has happy associations.

Verbal conditioning can be applied to the process of developing an attitude or viewpoint about a particular thing or concept by how it is described. For instance, if a person repeatedly hears others say that spinach tastes bad or hears it described in negative terms, that person may be likely to develop a negative impression of spinach, even before tasting it. Likewise, positive descriptions of a movie or a play can make people eager to see it and influence their opinions of it afterward.

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