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Relational frame theory (RFT) is a psychological theory of human language. It was developed largely through the efforts of Steven C. Hayes of University of Nevada, Reno and Dermot Barnes-Holmes of National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Relational Frame Theory argues that the building block of human language and higher cognition is 'relating', i.e. the human ability to create links between things. It can be contrasted with Associative Learning, which discusses how animals form links between stimuli in the form of the strength of associations in memory. However, Relational Frame Theory argues that natural human language typically specifies not just the strength of a link between stimuli but also the type of relation as well as the dimension along which they are to be related. For example, a tennis ball is not just 'associated' with an orange, but can be said to be the same shape, but a different colour and not edible. In the preceding sentence, 'same', 'different' and 'not' are cues in the environment that specify the type of relation between the stimuli, and 'shape', 'colour' and 'edible' specify the dimension along which each relation is to be made. Relational Frame Theory argues that while there are an arbitrary number of types of relations and number of dimensions along which stimuli can be related, the core unit of relating is a parsimonious building block for much of what is commonly referred to as human language or higher cognition. Several hundred studies have explored many testable aspects and implications of the theory, such as the emergence of specific frames in childhood, how individual frames can be combined to create verbally complex phenomena such as metaphors and analogies, and how the rigidity or automaticity of relating within certain domains is related to psychopathology. Perhaps most intriguingly, in attempting to describe a fundamental building block of human language and higher cognition, RFT explicitly states that its goal is to provide a general theory of psychology that can provide a bedrock for multiple domains and levels of analysis. Relational frame theory focuses on how humans learn language (i.e., communication) through interactions with the environment and is based on a philosophical approach referred to as functional contextualism. Functional contextualism emphasizes the importance of predicting and influencing psychological events such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, by focusing on manipulable variables in the context in which these events occur. In RFT, functional contextualism is applied as a means for extending B.F. Skinner's radical behaviorism to account for the emergence of complex cognitive and language competencies and capabilities from more basic, precursor learning processes. ==Development== RFT is a behavioral account of language and higher cognition.〔Blackledge, J.T. (2003). An Introduction to Relational Frame Theory: Basics and Applications. ''The Behavior Analyst Today'', 3(4), 421–34 (BAO )〕 In his 1957 book ''Verbal Behavior'', B.F. Skinner presented an interpretation of language. However, this account was intended to be an interpretation as opposed to an experimental research program, and researchers commonly acknowledge that the research products are somewhat limited in scope. For example, Skinner's behavioral interpretation of language has been useful in some aspects of language training in developmentally disabled children, but it has not led to a robust research program in the range of areas relevant to language and cognition, such as problem-solving, reasoning, metaphor, logic, and so on. RFT advocates are fairly bold in stating that their goal is an experimental behavioral research program in all such areas, and RFT research has indeed emerged in a number of these areas including grammar.〔Louise McHugh & Phil Reed (2008) Using Relational Frame Theory to build grammar in children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. ''Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis'' (BAO )〕 In a review of Skinner's book, linguist Noam Chomsky argued that the generativity of language shows that it cannot simply be learned, that there must be some innate "language acquisition device." Many have seen this review as a turning point, when cognitivism took the place of behaviorism as the mainstream in psychology. Behavior analysts generally viewed the criticism as largely off point (for a behavior analytic response to Chomsky, see MacCorquodale (1970), ''(On Chomsky's Review Of Skinner's Verbal Behavior )''), but it is undeniable that psychology turned its attention elsewhere and the review was very influential in helping to produce the rise of cognitive psychology. Despite the lack of attention from the mainstream, behavior analysis is alive and growing. Its application has been extended to areas such as language and cognitive training,〔Cullinan, V. & Vitale, A. (2008). The contribution of Relational Frame Theory to the development of interventions for impairments of language and cognition. ''Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis'', 2(4)–3(1), 122–35 (BAO )〕 animal training, business and school settings, as well as hospitals and areas of research. RFT distinguishes itself from Skinner's work by identifying and defining a particular type of operant conditioning known as ''derived relational responding''. This is a learning process that to date appears to occur only in humans possessing a capacity for language. Derived relational responding is theorized to be a pervasive influence on almost all aspects of human behavior. The theory represents an attempt to provide a more empirically progressive account of complex human behavior while preserving the naturalistic approach of behavior analysis.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Relational frame theory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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