Frame of reference theory

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The frame of reference theory (English: Relational frame theory (RFT)) is a psychological theory about human language and cognition . It was mainly developed by Steven C. Hayes and Dermot Barnes-Holmes in the early 1980s. It is based on the philosophical roots of functional contextualism and deals with cognition and language and their interaction. Another important source is the theory of linguistic behavior according to Burrhus Frederic Skinner .

overview

The frame of reference theory was presented for the first time in 1985 during the conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis ( see above , p. 98); the first publication took place in 1989 as a book chapter. In 2001 the first book on the topic was finally published. The Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) was founded in 2005.

The overall goal of the behavioral research on which frame of reference theory is built was to integrate a number of seemingly different psychological phenomena, including stimulus equivalence, naming, understanding, analogy, metaphor, and rule-following. The core defining element in all of these and many other linguistic activities is the idea that organisms can learn to respond relationally to various stimulus events at random. In addition, such an “answer” should obey the laws of a learning or reinforcement analysis.

Frame of reference theory treats relational responses as a generalized reinforcer. This indicates the formation of multiple specimens in the past. The different types of relational responses, called frames of reference, are defined in terms of three properties: mutual reference (bidirectionality), combinatorial reference and transformation of stimulus functions. Frames of reference are arbitrary, but typically are not necessarily arbitrarily applied in the natural language context. Put simply, the frame of reference theory sees the creation of relationships as learned behavior. This enables a response to an event (a stimulus) with simultaneous reference to another event (stimulus) without the two events (stimuli) ever being directly related to one another. Example: I avoid fatty sausage, even without ever having had a heart attack while consuming it or afterwards. This may be because of a rule in your head such as "Beware of unsaturated fat or you risk a heart attack".

The most important application of the frame of reference theory is acceptance and commitment therapy .

The frame of reference theory is currently supported by over 150 scientific studies. Simon Dymond and colleagues searched the literature databases for articles on frame of reference theory. They found 174 articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 1991 and 2008. 112 of these articles (64%) were non-empirical papers, 62 (36%) were empirical articles. Since 2001 the number of articles has risen sharply.

Difficulties in applying it to relational learning in children weaken this evidence.

The frame of reference theory is controversially discussed within behavioral analysis . Among other things, she is accused of turning away from epistemological realism .

An alternative theory that also deals with derived stimulus relationships, Sidman's primary process theory, in contrast to the frame of reference theory, makes no distinction between humans and other living beings.

Properties of frames of reference

There are three main characteristics of relating as a learned class of behavior:

  1. Mutual referencing (bidirectionality):
    If a person learns in a certain context that A is related to B in a certain way, some form of relationship between B and A must arise in that context. For example, if Alan is taller than Bob, then Bob must be shorter than Alan.
  2. Combinatorial Referencing:
    When a person learns in a certain context that A is related to B in a certain way and B is related to C in a certain way, there must be some kind of interrelationship between A and C. For example, if Bob is taller than Charlie, then Alan is taller than Charlie too.
  3. Stimulus Function Transformation:
    If you need a person to knock down an opponent and Charlie is known to be a good helper for that sort of thing, Alan is probably even more useful.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Simon Dymond, Richard J. May, Anita Munnelly, Alice E. Hoon: Evaluating the evidence base for relational frame theory: A citation analysis . In The Behavior Analyst . Kalamazoo Mich 33.2010, no. 1, pp. 97-117. ISSN  0738-6729
  2. ^ Stefen C. Hayes, LJ Hayes: The verbal action of the listener as the basis for rule governance . In Steven C. Hayes (Ed.): Rule-governed behavior: Cognition, contingencies and instructional control . Plenum, New York 1989, ISBN 1878978489 , pp. 153-190.
  3. ↑ Steven C. Hayes, Dermond Barnes-Holmes, Bryan Roche (Eds.): Relational Frame Theory: A Post-Skinnerian Account of Human Language and Cognition . Kluwer Academic / Plenum, New York 2001. ISBN 0-306-46600-7 .
  4. ^ Steven Hayes: Empirical Support . Association for Contextual Behavioral Science website, January 12, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  5. ^ Pauline J. Horne, C. Fergus Lowe: Toward a theory of verbal behavior . In Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior . Indianapolis 68.1997, no. 2, pp. 271-296. PMC 1284635 (free full text).
  6. ^ Amy C. Fox, Eric J. Fox: Relational Frame Theory: An overview of the controversy . In The Analysis of Verbal Behavior . Concord Ca 25.2009, pp. 87-98. ISSN  0889-9401
  7. ↑ Francois Toneau: anti-realist arguments in behavior analysis . In Behavior and Philosophy . Concord Ca 33.2005, pp. 55-65 (PDF 59 kB). ISSN  1053-8348
  8. ^ Joseph E. Spradlin: Alternative theories of the origin of derived stimulus relations . In: The Analysis of Verbal Behavior . Concord Ca 19.2003, pp. 3-6. PMC 2755411 (free full text).

swell

  • Steven Hayes: What is RFT? August 5, 2005, accessed April 3, 2010 .
  • Workshop documents on acceptance and commitment therapy in March 2010 by Dr. Rainer F. Sunday
  • Hayes, SC, Strosahl, KD & Wilson, KG (1999). Acceptance and commitment therapy: An experiential approach to behavior change. New York: Guilford. German translation by Rainer Sonntag (2004). Acceptance and commitment therapy. An experiential approach to behavior change . Munich: CIP-Medien, ISBN 978-3932096372 .

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