It was in the spring of 2001 that I first picked up an issue of The Analysis of Verbal Behavior (TAVB). I was a first-year graduate student at Western Michigan University, had recently started working in Jack Michael's lab, and was enrolled in his famous Verbal Behavior course. Jack suggested that reading articles from TAVB might be helpful to those of us who were in need of inspiration for our master's theses. As a result, I twisted the arm of fellow graduate student (and now former editor) Caio Miguel into lending me a few of his issues so that I could browse them in the spring sun on my balcony, instead of going to the library. As I sat there and devoured its contents, with burning interest but in some cases with limited comprehension, it never would have occurred to me that a mere 10 years later, I would be assuming editorship of this journal. Even now, I sometimes find it hard to believe that I have been entrusted with it. But I am grateful for and truly honored by the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the line of highly dedicated editors who have shaped and molded TAVB over the last three decades.
It has probably never been easier to take over the editorship of TAVB. During Caio Miguel's tenure as editor, the rate of submissions more than doubled, and this trend appears to be continuing, with a new submission record achieved in 2011. Although an increased volume of submissions calls for an increased amount of work, it also makes it easier for a new editor to put together a high-quality volume. In addition, Caio and his wife and editorial assistant, Danielle LaFrance, did an excellent job streamlining and facilitating data collection on the manuscript review process, which made for an effortless transition between editors. The two of them are to be commended for the countless hours they have spent on the journals over the last few years.
The preparation of the current volume was facilitated by the assistance of a highly effective team of associate editors, guest associate editors, and reviewers. After years of tireless service, Mark Sundberg and Dave Palmer decided to step down from their associate editor positions; however, both continued to handle manuscripts for this volume and remain on the editorial board. As many readers know, Mark was the original founder of TAVB and has served the journal for a full 30 years. Dave, likewise, has served on the editorial board since 1988. I thank them for all of their past and continuing contributions. I am please to announce that in their place, James E. Carr and Einar T. Ingvarsson have been appointed associate editors. Both of them have published extensively on verbal behavior, and in addition, bring years of editorial experience to the table. Former editor Caio Miguel has also agreed to serve a term as associate editor, and Matt Normand continues his term. In addition to thanking them and other editorial board members for their assistance and support, I would like to thank Charlotte L. Carp for volunteering to serve as an editorial assistant for this volume. Her outstanding organizational skills have played a large part in its timely publication.
The current volume contains six full research articles, six empirical brief reports, and one conceptual article. In my opinion, it showcases some fantastic examples of the breadth and quality of current verbal behavior research. Three research articles (Sigurðardóttir, Mackay, & Green; Karsina, Thompson, Rodriguez, & Vanselow; DeGraaf & Schlinger) describe laboratory studies on the verbal and rule-governed behavior of human adults. Two articles (Østvik, Eikeseth, & Klintwall; Speckman & Greer) describe experimental research on children's acquisition of grammatical structures, a topic also addressed in the article by Sigurðardóttir et al. Although the independent variables differ across studies, all three studies suggest that grammar can be accounted for in terms of functional relations between verbal behavior and its environmental antecedents and consequences, with no need to appeal to innate structures. The sixth research article (Guzinski, Cihon, & Eshleman) extends the existing literature on treating vocal stereotypy in individuals diagnosed with autism, as does the brief report by Vandbakk, Arntzen, Gisnaas, Antonsen, and Gundhus. The other five brief reports also describe strategies for enhancing verbal skills in children diagnosed with autism; specifically, strategies for generating untaught speaker and listener behavior (Sprinkle & Miguel; Davis, Kahng, & Coryat), the use of lag schedules of reinforcement to increase the variability of verbal responding (Susa & Schlinger; Heldt & Schlinger), and the establishment of peer-directed mands (Kodak, Paden, & Dickes). Finally, the conceptual article by Abreu, Hübner, and Lucchese deals with verbal behavior in adult psychotherapy; specifically, it describes how the shaping of clients' descriptions of contingency-specifying stimuli may play a role in functional analytic psychotherapy.
The quality of any journal is a function of the quality of the work that is submitted to it, and its impact on the field a function of its quality and distribution. To support the continued growth of TAVB, I encourage all investigators who do research on verbal behavior to continue submitting their work to the journal. In addition, I hope readers will encourage their colleagues, their students, and their institutions to subscribe to TAVB.