ABSTRACT
A Functional Analysis To understand language most people look at what people say or write-the words expressed and their grammatical structure. Skinner calls this the form or topography of a response. While form is important, to understand why people express what they do
and the meaning of what is expressed, you need a functional analysis that looks at the contingencies responsible for the form observed. Even the meaning of a single word depends on the circumstances surrounding its expression. What is the meaning of “fire”? You cannot find the answer to this question in the sequence of letters or sounds. Nor can you find meaning in a dictionary. A dictionary gives synonyms of the word like “combustion,” or “one of four medieval elements,” or “to dismiss an employee,” or “to discharge a gun or other weapon.”
These do not tell you what a person means when he says, “fire.” Meaning lies in the circumstances under which “fire,” is said and in the consequences that come from saying it. “Fire,” said to a firing squad has a very different meaning than “fire” said in answer to the question, “What does the Spanish “fuego” mean in English?” The meaning of “fire” lies in contingencies over the form uttered. In the 470 pages of his book, Skinner gives a functional analysis of the variables that determine what is said, written, or otherwise expressed at a particular time. Skinner identifies three prime sources of control.
