One 1959 book review helped end behaviorism's grip on the study of language

B.F. Skinner's 'Verbal Behavior' (1957) argued language was just habit, shaped entirely by reinforcement. Noam Chomsky's 1959 review in the journal Language tore into that model, arguing language must involve innate mental structure no amount of conditioning could explain. The review is widely credited as the spark that launched the 'cognitive revolution' against behaviorism.

— Noam Chomsky, A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior — Language, vol. 35, no. 1, 1959