Main description:

Relational Frame Theory: What is it? Why is it important? How can I use it? This book dispels the confusion surrounding Relational Frame Theory and provides an easy-to-understand briefing of Relational Frame Theory and its' components, with examples to enhance and ease understanding. Recent research has indicated that Relational Frame Theory may form the cornerstone of language and intelligence and this textbook integrates this information into an easily digestible format, considering the importance of each relational frame from coordination to analogy. Relational Frame Theory provides a potentially useful framework for teaching language and academic skills and the current textbook provides some examples of how to do this and offers some considerations for future research in this area.

This book makes Relational Frame Theory easy to understand and, unlike previous books, assumes no prior knowledge of the theory amongst readers and clarifies some of the jargon used within this body of work. This book provides the most up-to-date outline of previous work within Relational Frame Theory and gives an overview of how this theory could be applied within psychology. To date, no previous book has attempted to integrate research, application and an easy-to-understand overview of the theory together - this book aims to integrate all of these aspects into one easily comprehensible guide.

The current textbook is aimed towards graduate students and practitioners of applied behavior analysis. Given the proposed changes to the Behavior Analysis Certification Board which will focus more on Relational Frame Theory than in the past, a book of this nature will be helpful for those pursuing certification and may also be helpful for use within the applied field.

Contents:

Foreword

Preface - An overview of how this book has come to fruition and the people that helped to realise it.

Chapter 1: The World of Psychology Before Relational Frame Theory

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter provides an overview of how behavioural psychology attempted (and failed) to provide an account of language and cognition and gives an account of the conflict between psychologists Noam Chomsky and Burrhuus F. Skinner on this topic. It provides a context for why Relational Frame Theory was needed and exactly what came before it.

Chapter 2: What is Relational Frame Theory?

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter outlines the components of relational frame theory and clarifies a number of terms, including mutual entailment, combinatorial entailment etc. with the use of examples. This chapter also outlines how relational frame theory addresses the issues outlined by Chomsky and Skinner. Ends with a brief outline of the various relational frames that exist.

Chapter 3: Relational Frames of Coordination and Sameness

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter provides an outline of what the relational frame of coordination (or sameness) looks like and provides information regarding the contextual cues for this frame. The chapter provides an overview of work in this area and gives a basic account of how you would apply this as a practitioner with illustrations to clarify points.

Chapter 4: Relational Frames of Opposition and Distinction

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter clarifies what is meant by relational frames of opposition and distinction using examples from real life (e.g., Sesame Street's "One of these things is not like the other"). Work in the field of Relational Frame Theory is outlined in addition to examples of how to facilitate this behavioural repertoire.

Chapter 5: The Relational Frame of Comparison

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter outlines what may be the most extensive relational frame - comparison which includes understandings of "more than", "less than", "bigger than", "smaller than". This frame may form the basis of a number of important academic skills. Previous work in this area is simplified and examples are provided in order to give a context as to how to employ this in both applied work and research.

Chapter 6: The Relational Frame of Temporality

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter outlines the importance of the relational frame of temporality (i.e., before and after) and provides an overview of some of the work in this area. The chapter also outlines some suggestions for future work in this area and provides some suggestions for applications of this relational frame within applied settings.

Chapter 7: The Relational Frames of Containment and Hierarchy

Author: Teresa Mulhern

This chapter provides a summary of the importance of the relational frames of containment and hierarchy and outlines research within the area. Suggestions for future research and applications of this work are also outlined. This is a burgeoning area of research within the applied field and details of the impact of teaching in the area of developmental disabilities are also provided.

Chapter 8: Analogy: Relating Relations

Author: Elle B. Kirsten

Analogy is a complex skill and is often used within assessment tools to determine intelligence. Relational Frame Theorists posit that the ability to engage in analogical reasoning involves a complex combination of relational framing abilities - namely, the ability to relate relations. This chapter provides an overview of analogy, with examples to clarify this concept. The importance of this skill to both research and applied work is also outlined with some examples for work.

Chapter 9: Relational Frame Theory and Language

Author: Teresa Mulhern

Relational Frame Theorists have long contended that a relational framing repertoire is paramount to language ability. This chapter provides an overview of work in this area that supports this view and offers some suggestions for both applied work and research.

Chapter 10: Relational Frame Theory and Intelligence

Author: Shane McLoughlin

What is intelligence and how does it relate to Relational Frame Theory? The current chapter explores this idea and further posits the question - can we increase IQ? Research in this area is compiled and discussed while suggestions for how practitioners may utilise knowledge in this area are presented. Future directions for research are also outlined.