Relational Frame Theory

Relational frame theory (RFT) is a modern behavior-analytic account of language and cognition. This approach focuses on derived relational responding, the behavior of relating events that have not been previously trained directly, as a core aspect of how verbal processes work. Such a behavioral account provides a framework for understanding how key components of language and cognition develop and function. The implications of RFT have been extended to a variety of areas, most notably in understanding the verbal processes related to psychological problems and their amelioration, particularly through acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

History

The initial line of research in the 1980s that led to RFT was work on stimulus-stimulus relations. In this line of work, researchers found that if Stimulus A was trained to be ...

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