(Skinner 89). Skinner says that the contingencies are different and that they generate many important differences in the behavior which have long been obscured by mentalistic explanations.
Skinner further notes that the way a speaker depends upon the practices of the verbal community of which he or she is a member, which determines whether a verbal repertoire is rudimentary or displays an elaborate topography under many subtle kinds of stimulus control: "Different verbal communities shape and maintain different languages in the same speaker, who then possesses different repertoires having similar effects upon different listeners" (Skinner 89).
Skinner's approach has several good points: 1) it explains the acquisition of different types of linguistic skills and levels; 2) it applies in all societies and at all times; and 3) it makes a direct link between the verbal behavior that predates language and language acquisition. Skinner's approach also has a number of bad aspects: 1) it necessitates accepting the premises of operant conditioning, which are o
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