Having read Skinner's, Chomsky's and Pinker's theory on this subject I am finding it difficult to arrive at a conlusion. I know you can 'sit on the fence' but would rather choose who I lean towards most. Can anybody offer any advice on the matter? Cheers!

-- Julie Wright (10052914@hope.ac.uk), March 18, 2004

Answers

Of course, all you'll get here are people's best judgments (i.e., opinions). The matter is hardly settled.

In my opinion, however, Skinner's theory of language was utterly undermined by Chomsky's famous review of _Verbal Behavior_ (though, of course, Skinnerians disagree). There are now some interesting new twists on the idea of nativism with the advent of connectionism and genetic algorithms, but the underlying notion that human have got *something* innately that enables them to learn language more or less effortlessly and that (1) other animals don't have and (2) that isn't just general intelligence, is IMHO undeniable at this point. Have a look at Randy Harris's book _The Linuistics Wars_ for an enagaging account of the the rise and fall and rise again of Chomskyan fortunes over the past 50 years.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), March 18, 2004.

Thanks for the swift response! I shall follow your advice, cheers!

-- julie wright (10052914@hope.ac.uk), March 18, 2004.

I hope I have not "tuned in too late" for Julie Wright to see this. A balanced consideration of Chomsky vs. Skinner, should include some of Skinner's defenders views. Below are two such references, one by Catania and one by MacCorquodale, and references cited by Catania as well as McCorquodale should be examined.

Catania, A. C. (1997). An orderly arrangement of well-known facts: B. F. Skinner's "Verbal Behavior." Contemporary Psychology, 42, 967- 970.

McCorquodale, K. (1970). On Chomsky's review of Skinner's "Verbal Behavior." Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 13, 83- 99.

-- Roger K. Thomas (rkthomas@uga.edu), March 24, 2004.

Almost too late! My essay is due in on Monday. Although, I am still 'fine tuning' it. Would I be able to access these references on the internet? Thanks for the info anyway. Cheers.

-- julie wright (10052914@hope.ac.uk), March 25, 2004.

I would just like to add that I have now been prompted to explore 'Verbal Behaviour' further. Thanks for tip! You may see my name pop up from time to time as I am a first year student and appreciate all the help I can poosibly get. Regards.

-- julie wright (10052914@hope.ac.uk), March 25, 2004.

I would just like to add that I have now been prompted to explore 'Verbal Behaviour' further. Thanks for tip! You may see my name pop up from time to time as I am a first year student and appreciate all the help I can possibly get. Regards.

-- julie wright (10052914@hope.ac.uk), March 25, 2004.