A Tutorial on the Applications of Lowenkron’s Joint Control to Language Acquisition Programs

Mediating one’s behavior through covert or overt verbal behavior is a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has had to remember a phone number with no way to write it down, follow a recipe without consulting the cookbook for each step, or solve a math equation without a calculator or pencil and paper. Jointly controlled responding is a type of multiply controlled responding that may provide a behavioral analysis of such mediating responses. Joint control, as we will discuss in detail, involves one or more verbal responses bringing other verbal or nonverbal responses to strength under appropriate controlling conditions. The present article will provide guidance for practitioners on how to apply evidence-based methods to teach jointly controlled responses, provide guidance for development of instructional programming, and suggest future applications for using the concept of joint control.