Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 15: Self-Editing. Quote 15

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:December 3, 2025
Post category:Skinner's Quote of the Day

One form of editing which involves an obvious process of review and revision consists of emitting the response but qualifying it with an autoclitic which reduces the threat of punishment . . . Many autoclitics express the speaker’s faith that he will receive a nihil obstat: Perhaps you will not take it amiss if I say …, If you will pardon the expression …, and so on. (pp. 377-378)

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SKINNER'S QUOTE OF THE DAY

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