Verbal Regulation of Motor Behavior – Soviet Research and Non-Soviet Replications

Soviet investigations of the development of verbal inhibition of perseverative manual behavior are reviewed; and Luria’s theroretical analysis is critically examined within the broader context of the Soviet psycho-philosophical position on the development of voluntary behavior. Unsuccessful non-Soviet attempts to replicate the Soviet work are then discussed; and it is suggested that failure to replicate may be traced to inappropriate methodology deriving from misinterpretation of the nature of verbal-inhibitory phenomena and lack of appreciation for underlying Soviet psycho-philosophical assumptions. Lastly, non-Soviet investigations of verbal-manual interaction are considered in relation to the Soviet view of the development of voluntary behavior; and it is argued, on the basis of this evidence, that the Soviet position need not stand or fall on the replicability of the specific verbal-inhibition-of-perseveration phenomena described by Luria.