Chomsky obliterates Skinner

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I found this message board while looking for a way to let Cecil know he had not done his usual first rate job in his column about the fate of B.F. Skinner. I hope this is in the right place to post it.

Skinner and behaviorism never recovered from Noam Chomsky’s review of Skinner’s 1957 book, “Verbal Behavior”. Chomsky demonstrated that it is impossible to explain language acquisition with the behaviorist stimulus/response model and in general that intermal, innate mental structures need to be considered for any coherent, non-trivial theory of language and behavior. I am not aware of any behaviorist response, and Chomsky’s views (on this matter) have carried the day. Stephen Pinker for example writes best sellers that adopt Chomsky’s views.

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Link to the article you referred to, jonr:
Whatever became of B. F. Skinner?

Welcome to the SDMB.

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It is an enormous exaggeration to say that Chomsky obliterated Skinner with a single book review.

B.F. Skinner’s theories encompass far more than how people learn to speak, which is essentially what Chomsky’s research was about. Skinner was studying behavior in general, including pigeons, who don’t talk at all.

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Some pigeons not only talk, they get elected to the U.S. Senate… or run for Governor of California.

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Behaviorism is not stymulus response psychology, at least not Skinner’s radical behaviorism. Watson’s on the other hand, was.