He also helped start the cognitive revolution in psychology through his review of B. F. Skinner 's Verbal Behavior . In 1959 , Chomsky published a widely influential review of B. F. Skinner 's theoretical book Verbal Behavior . In this review and other writings , Chomsky broadly and aggressively challenged the behaviorist approaches to studies of behavior and language dominant at the time , and contributed to the cognitive revolution in psychology .