The chapter discusses the recent history and current status of verbal behavior research, focusing on three major themes: operant conditioning of adult verbal behavior, learning to be an effective speaker and listener, and developments related to Skinner's *Verbal Behavior*. Other topics include Kurt Salzinger's work, ape-language research, and human operant research related to rule-governed behavior. 1. **Operant Conditioning of Adult Verbal Behavior**: Early research by Joel Greenspoon and others demonstrated that adult verbal behavior is affected by reinforcement, but this line of research has largely died out due to the lack of significant breakthroughs and methodological challenges. 2. **Learning to Be an Effective Speaker and Listener**: This area focuses on understanding and improving the development of verbal behavior in humans, including language acquisition in infants and remediation of defective verbal repertoires. Research has shown that social responses from adults can influence infant vocalizations and that imitation is crucial for acquiring new verbal behaviors. 3. **Skinner's *Verbal Behavior***: This book, while influential, has had limited direct impact on research due to its speculative nature and cognitive orientation. However, it has inspired a philosophical and theoretical development in behavioral epistemology and has been revised and refined by others. 4. **Verbal Behavior in Nonhuman Animals**: Research on teaching language to nonhuman animals has been limited, with some success in teaching sign language to chimpanzees. Recent work by Savage-Rumbaugh and colleagues has shown more complex forms of verbal behavior in apes, but the research is heavily cognitive in nature. 5. **Rule-Governed Behavior and Human Operant Research**: This area explores the effects of verbal stimuli on nonverbal behavior and the self-generation of verbal stimuli. It is seen as a way to study rule-governed behavior and the interaction between verbal and nonverbal behavior. The chapter highlights the ongoing challenges and future directions in the field of verbal behavior, emphasizing the need for more behavioral research and the integration of behavioral theory with cognitive perspectives.The chapter discusses the recent history and current status of verbal behavior research, focusing on three major themes: operant conditioning of adult verbal behavior, learning to be an effective speaker and listener, and developments related to Skinner's *Verbal Behavior*. Other topics include Kurt Salzinger's work, ape-language research, and human operant research related to rule-governed behavior. 1. **Operant Conditioning of Adult Verbal Behavior**: Early research by Joel Greenspoon and others demonstrated that adult verbal behavior is affected by reinforcement, but this line of research has largely died out due to the lack of significant breakthroughs and methodological challenges. 2. **Learning to Be an Effective Speaker and Listener**: This area focuses on understanding and improving the development of verbal behavior in humans, including language acquisition in infants and remediation of defective verbal repertoires. Research has shown that social responses from adults can influence infant vocalizations and that imitation is crucial for acquiring new verbal behaviors. 3. **Skinner's *Verbal Behavior***: This book, while influential, has had limited direct impact on research due to its speculative nature and cognitive orientation. However, it has inspired a philosophical and theoretical development in behavioral epistemology and has been revised and refined by others. 4. **Verbal Behavior in Nonhuman Animals**: Research on teaching language to nonhuman animals has been limited, with some success in teaching sign language to chimpanzees. Recent work by Savage-Rumbaugh and colleagues has shown more complex forms of verbal behavior in apes, but the research is heavily cognitive in nature. 5. **Rule-Governed Behavior and Human Operant Research**: This area explores the effects of verbal stimuli on nonverbal behavior and the self-generation of verbal stimuli. It is seen as a way to study rule-governed behavior and the interaction between verbal and nonverbal behavior. The chapter highlights the ongoing challenges and future directions in the field of verbal behavior, emphasizing the need for more behavioral research and the integration of behavioral theory with cognitive perspectives.