ABSTRACT
The verbal repertoire is perhaps the largest, most complex and most elaborately developed set of human operant responses. Many of the problems of marital partners and parents and children involve the verbal repertoires of the family members. When family members seek help with such problems, the therapist must address the portions of verbal repertoires of two or more individuals that may be intricately patterned and interdependent in the interpersonal relationship. The task of assessment is unusually complex. Furthermore, the family members involved are often unable to describe precisely the problems of verbal behavior for which they seek assistance. Thus clients and patients frequently refer to their family verbal problems simply as “communication difficulties,” “family arguments,” or as “talking past each other.” For his part, the therapist has very few procedures to assist him in specifying behaviorally the verbal responses that may be the focus of modification.
