chomsky n 1959 a review of b f skinners verbal behavior
Chomsky Verbal Behavior reviewSkinner behaviorism critique1959 linguistics debatecognitive science originslanguage acquisition theory
Noam Chomsky's influential 1959 review of B.F. Skinner's "Verbal Behavior" served as a pivotal critique in the history of linguistics and cognitive science. This groundbreaking analysis systematically challenged Skinner's behaviorist account of language acquisition, arguing for an innate, rule-governed system over environmental conditioning. The review is widely recognized for catalyzing the shift from behaviorism to cognitivism, fundamentally reshaping how language and the human mind were understood.