The next 28 papers comprise a set that begins with a theoretical paper by Pauline J. Horne and C. Fergus Lowe on the acquisition of naming by children. The authors consider naming to be a higher order behavioral unit that enables a wide range of linguistic and other complex behavioral competencies to emerge. Their ideas are examined, amplified, clarified, and criticized in an accompanying set of 26 commentaries and a subsequent reply to those commentaries by the authors.
This is not the first time JEAB has published a collection of this sort, but it surely is the largest and most ambitious. Much of the credit for organizing and honing this project goes to the Review Editor, Philip N. Hineline (with the able assistance of Margaret Paterson).
The target-commentary-reply format is most useful if the commentaries cover the range of reasonable viewpoints and are not unduly redundant (cf. Hineline, 1993). My impression is that the present set goes a long way toward this ideal, thanks to the careful selection of commentators and, especially, to the good, thoughtful work of the commentators and authors.
Inevitably, however, there are gaps. Some potential commentators are not included here, either because they were unable to accommodate the time line of this project or because we did not think to invite them. For this as well as other reasons, we are considering the possibility of publishing a follow-up discussion in a later issue. It will be worthwhile to do so if the discussion is not redundant with what is already included here. If you are interested in raising some new point that has not yet been addressed, then please contact Philip N. Hineline, either by E-mail (hineline~astro.ocis.temple.edu) or conventional mail (Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122), and provide a paragraph or two indicating what your commentary might contain. No decision will be made on whether to go ahead with the follow-up discussion, or regarding what specific items to include, until after dune 1, 1996.
A final comment concerns the placement of the reference list. Instead of separate reference lists for the papers in the collection, there is a single combined reference list immediately after the reply. The combined list includes all the references cited in the collection. Abbreviations in brackets indicate which paper or papers in the collection cited a particular entry.
REFERENCE
Hineline, P. N. (1993). Quickening the pace of our discussion. (Editorial). Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Bchavior, 60, 437-438.