Behavioral theories of language did not offer until this moment an adequate conceptual and
empirical treatment for complex verbal behaviors. A contemporary functionalist proposal
concerning complex repertoires in language acquisition and development is the usage-based
theory of language acquisition, by Tomasello and colleagues. This theory has been developed
in the context of Tomasello and colleagues’ wider analysis about the evolution of human
cognition. In this proposal, comprehending and sharing intentionality are key aspects to
human cognitive and linguistic development. The concept of intentionality, however, has led
to several critics to this proposal, mainly because of a possible comeback of mentalist
proposals about cognition and language. Thus, the present paper aimed: (1) to analyze
Tomasello and colleagues’ proposal about the evolution of human cognition and the relation
between this proposal and the acquisition/development of language – analyzing specifically
the role of the concept of intentionality in this proposal and the relation between intentionality
and language; (2) to analyze the treatment of this concept in John R. Searle and Daniel C.
Dennett’s papers, comparing it to Tomasello and colleagues’ one, based on the criteria of: (i)
definition of intentionality and (ii) relation between intentionality and language; (3) to analyze
the treatment of the concept of intentionality in Behavior Analysis, comparing it to Tomasello
and colleagues’ one, based on the same (i) and (ii) criteria. It was expected that these analyses
would allow a better clarification about the usage of the concept of intentionality in
Tomasello and colleagues’ proposal and would allow an interlocution between Tomasello and
colleagues’ proposal and Behavior Analysis, i.e., one approach to cognition and language
without references to mental entities as explicative aspects. Tomasello and colleagues propose
that human cognition is a sort of primate cognition, derived from primate biological
adaptations to comprehend the others intentionally, in terms of actions, perceptions, emotional
states and objectives, and a exclusively human motivation to share intentionality with others.
From these characteristics, human beings became able to engage in collaboration activities
related to cultural cognition (involving the creation and usage of linguistic and mathematic
symbols, cultural artifacts, technologies, cultural practices, and social institutions), that
changed considerably human species’ social interactions, allowing it to accumulate and
modify the knowledge throughout history and to transmit this knowledge to further
generations. Considering analyses of the usage of the concept of intentionality in Tomasello
and coleagues, Searle, Dennett and Behavior Analysis’ proposals, it was established a relation
between Tomasello and colleagues’ and Dennett’s proposals, both of them defining
intentionality as a set of cognitive-behavior skills of organisms, derived from species’
evolutionary history. Furthermore, it was established a relation between the concept of
intentionality in Searle’s and Behavior Analysis’ proposals and the concept of intentional in
Tomasello and colleagues’ one, both of them meaning a referential property (i.e., to be related
to) of certain phenomena according to objects and state of affairs. Concerning to the relation
between intentionality and language, Tomasello and colleagues’, Searle’s and Dennett’s
proposals emphasize the importance of the interaction between intentionality and language to
the evolution of the so-called human cognition. However, Tomasello and colleagues are more
related to Searle’s model because both of them suggest symbolic language is an intentionalityderived
human behavioral skill. Dennett rejects this hypothesis, considering intentionality and
symbolic language as two different behavior phenomena that co-evolved and started to
interact from a certain moment in human species’ evolutionary history. In general, the
present paper suggests that the main concepts used in Tomasello and colleagues’ proposal about the evolution of human cognition and, specifically, in the usage-based theory of
language acquisition, are compatible to some concepts used in others knowledge’s areas, like
the philosophy of mind and behavioral sciences. In addition, the present paper also allowed an
interlocution between Tomasello and colleagues’ proposal and Behavior Analysis. It is
suggested that (a) adopting behavioral vocabulary may contribute to investigate the
phenomena in Tomasello and colleagues’ proposal, rejecting references to mentalists
hypotheses; and (b) Tomasello and colleagues’ proposal may offer relevant contributions to
Behavior Analysis, concerning to the investigation of symbolic processes, specially symbolic
language acquisition and development, since this proposal has investigated more complex
symbolic processes than those traditionally investigated by Behavior Analysis.
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