Tact (psychology)
Encyclopedia
Tact is a term that B.F. Skinner used to describe a verbal operant in which a certain response is evoked (or at least strengthened) by a particular object or event, or property of an object or event. More generally, the tact is verbal contact with the physical world.
Chapter five of Skinner's Verbal Behavior discusses the tact in depth. A tact is said to "make contact with" the world, and refers to behavior that is under the control of generalized reinforcement
. The controlling antecedent stimulus
is nonverbal, and constitutes some portion of "the whole of the physical environment".
Less technically, a tact is like a label for something, though the concept of a tact is far more complicated. Some portion of the environment is present, for example a tree, a person makes a particular response pattern (in this case he or she will say "Tree") and a listener will provide some non-specific reinforcer (the listener might say "Correct!").
The tact can be extended, as in generic, metaphorical, metonymical, solecistic, nomination, and "guessing" tact. It can also be involved in abstraction
. Lowe, Horne, Harris & Randle (2002) would be one example of recent work in tacts.
Tacts can be extended metaphor
ically, as when we describe something as "exploding with taste" by drawing the common property of an explosion with the response to our having eaten something (perhaps a strong response, or a sudden one).
Tacts can undergo metonymical extension when things that are paired together frequently are then used to stand for each other; as "The White House
released a statement" when the President
and The White House are paired together frequently so as to be "interchangeable".
When controlling variables unrelated to standard or immediate reinforcement take over control of the tact, it is said to be solecistically
extended. Malapropism
s, solecism and catachresis
are examples of this.
Skinner notes things like serial order, or conspicuous features of an object, may come to play as nominative tacts. A proper name
may arise as a result of the tact. For example, a house that is haunted becomes "The Haunted House" as a nominative extension to the tact of its being haunted.
A guess may seemingly be the emission of a response in the absence of controlling stimuli. Skinner notes that this may simply be a tact under more subtle or hidden controlling variables, although this is not always the case in something like guessing the landing side of a coin toss where the possible alternatives are fixed and there is no subtle or hidden stimuli to control responding.
The tact described by Skinner in chapter five of his book Verbal Behavior includes three important and related events, known as the 3-term-contingency: a stimulus, a response, and a consequence, in this case reinforcement. A verbal response is occasioned by the presence of a stimulus, such as when you say "ball" in the presence of a ball. In this scenario, "ball" is more likely to be reinforced by the listener than saying "cat", showing the importance of the third event, reinforcement, in relation to the stimulus (ball) and response ("ball"). Although the stimulus controls the response, it is the verbal community which establishes the stimulus' control over the verbal response of the speaker. For example, a child may say "ball" in the presence of a ball (stimulus), the child's parent may respond "yes, that is a ball", (reinforcement) thereby increasing the probability that the child will say ball in the presence of a ball in the future. But if the parent never responds to the child saying "ball" in the presence of a ball then that response will cease to be emitted. It is important to note, though, that tact can only occur in the presence of, or immediately after the stimulus; so talking about a ball you saw yesterday would be tacting. While naming is also a form of a tact, saying "the red book" in the presence of a red book, a tact involves more than what is described above. For example, saying "Good morning" to a person for the first time in the morning is also a tact, the presence of that person is the stimulus for the response.
, emotional conditions and personal history may interfere with or change verbal behavior. Skinner mentions alertness, irrelevant emotional variables, "special circumstances" surrounding particular listeners or speakers, etc. (He refers to the conditions which are said to produce objective and subjective responses for example). We would now look at these as motivating operations/establishing conditions.
Under emersion conditions tacts will frequently emerge. However, in children with disabilities, more intensive training procedures are often needed.
may be minor as when a description (tact) is a slight exaggeration. Under stronger conditions of distortion it may appear when the original stimulus is absent, as in the case of the response called a lie. Skinner notes that troubadour
s and fiction writers are perhaps both motivated by similar forms of tact distortion. Initially they may recount real events but as differential reinforcement affects the account we may see distortion and then total fabrication.
Chapter five of Skinner's Verbal Behavior discusses the tact in depth. A tact is said to "make contact with" the world, and refers to behavior that is under the control of generalized reinforcement
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
. The controlling antecedent stimulus
Stimulus (psychology)
In psychology, stimuli are energy patterns which are registered by the senses. In behaviorism and related stimulus–response theories, stimuli constitute the basis for behavior, whereas in perceptual psychology they constitute the basis for perception.In the second half of the 19th century, the...
is nonverbal, and constitutes some portion of "the whole of the physical environment".
Less technically, a tact is like a label for something, though the concept of a tact is far more complicated. Some portion of the environment is present, for example a tree, a person makes a particular response pattern (in this case he or she will say "Tree") and a listener will provide some non-specific reinforcer (the listener might say "Correct!").
The tact can be extended, as in generic, metaphorical, metonymical, solecistic, nomination, and "guessing" tact. It can also be involved in abstraction
Abstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
. Lowe, Horne, Harris & Randle (2002) would be one example of recent work in tacts.
Extensions
The tact is said to be capable of generic extension. For example, something might be called a car; then something like the old object called a car is also called a car.Tacts can be extended metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
ically, as when we describe something as "exploding with taste" by drawing the common property of an explosion with the response to our having eaten something (perhaps a strong response, or a sudden one).
Tacts can undergo metonymical extension when things that are paired together frequently are then used to stand for each other; as "The White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
released a statement" when the President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and The White House are paired together frequently so as to be "interchangeable".
When controlling variables unrelated to standard or immediate reinforcement take over control of the tact, it is said to be solecistically
Solecism
In traditional prescriptive grammar, a solecism is something perceived as a grammatical mistake or absurdity, or even a simply non-standard usage. The word was originally used by the Greeks for what they perceived as mistakes in their language...
extended. Malapropism
Malapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s, solecism and catachresis
Catachresis
Catachresis is "misapplication of a word, especially in a mixed metaphor" according to the Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory...
are examples of this.
Skinner notes things like serial order, or conspicuous features of an object, may come to play as nominative tacts. A proper name
Proper name
"A proper name [is] a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is that we are talking about" writes John Stuart Mill in A System of Logic , "but not of telling anything about it"...
may arise as a result of the tact. For example, a house that is haunted becomes "The Haunted House" as a nominative extension to the tact of its being haunted.
A guess may seemingly be the emission of a response in the absence of controlling stimuli. Skinner notes that this may simply be a tact under more subtle or hidden controlling variables, although this is not always the case in something like guessing the landing side of a coin toss where the possible alternatives are fixed and there is no subtle or hidden stimuli to control responding.
The tact described by Skinner in chapter five of his book Verbal Behavior includes three important and related events, known as the 3-term-contingency: a stimulus, a response, and a consequence, in this case reinforcement. A verbal response is occasioned by the presence of a stimulus, such as when you say "ball" in the presence of a ball. In this scenario, "ball" is more likely to be reinforced by the listener than saying "cat", showing the importance of the third event, reinforcement, in relation to the stimulus (ball) and response ("ball"). Although the stimulus controls the response, it is the verbal community which establishes the stimulus' control over the verbal response of the speaker. For example, a child may say "ball" in the presence of a ball (stimulus), the child's parent may respond "yes, that is a ball", (reinforcement) thereby increasing the probability that the child will say ball in the presence of a ball in the future. But if the parent never responds to the child saying "ball" in the presence of a ball then that response will cease to be emitted. It is important to note, though, that tact can only occur in the presence of, or immediately after the stimulus; so talking about a ball you saw yesterday would be tacting. While naming is also a form of a tact, saying "the red book" in the presence of a red book, a tact involves more than what is described above. For example, saying "Good morning" to a person for the first time in the morning is also a tact, the presence of that person is the stimulus for the response.
Special conditions affecting stimulus control
Skinner deals with factors that interfere with, or change, generalized reinforcement. It is these conditions which, in turn, affect verbal behavior which may depend largely or entirely on generalized reinforcement. In children with developmental disabilities, tacts may need intensive training procedures to develop. Factors such as deprivationDeprivation
Deprivation may refer to:* Poverty* Relative deprivation* Sleep deprivation* Maternal deprivation...
, emotional conditions and personal history may interfere with or change verbal behavior. Skinner mentions alertness, irrelevant emotional variables, "special circumstances" surrounding particular listeners or speakers, etc. (He refers to the conditions which are said to produce objective and subjective responses for example). We would now look at these as motivating operations/establishing conditions.
Under emersion conditions tacts will frequently emerge. However, in children with disabilities, more intensive training procedures are often needed.
Distortion
Distorted stimulus controlStimulus control
Stimulus control is the phenomenon of a stimulus increasing the probability of a behavior because of a history of that behavior being differentially reinforced in the presence of the stimulus...
may be minor as when a description (tact) is a slight exaggeration. Under stronger conditions of distortion it may appear when the original stimulus is absent, as in the case of the response called a lie. Skinner notes that troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
s and fiction writers are perhaps both motivated by similar forms of tact distortion. Initially they may recount real events but as differential reinforcement affects the account we may see distortion and then total fabrication.