Back to the future with an up-dated version of RFT: More field than frame?

The current chapter presents an overview of a line of research that focuses on the behavioral dynamics of arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARRing), and the implications of this research for the on-going development of relational frame theory (RFT) itself. Specifically, the integration of two recent conceptual developments within RFT are described. The first of these is the multi-dimensional, multi-level (MDML) framework and the second is the differential arbitrarily applicable relational responding effects (DAARRE) model. Integrating the MDML framework and the DAARRE model emphasizes the transformation of functions within the MDML, thus yielding a hyper-dimensional, multi-level (HDML) framework for analyzing the behavioral dynamics of AARRing. The HDML generates a new conceptual unit of analysis for RFT in which relating, orienting, and evoking (ROEing) are seen as involved in virtually all psychological events for verbally-able humans. Some of the implications of the ROE as a unit of analysis for RFT are explored, including the idea that it may be useful to conceptualize the dynamics of AARRing as involving a field of verbal interactants.

The Moderating Impact of Distal Regularities on the Effect of Stimulus Pairings

Throughout much of the past century psychologists have focused their attention on a seemingly simple question: How do people come to like or dislike stimuli in the environment? Evaluative Conditioning (EC) – a change in liking due to the pairing of stimuli – has been offered as one avenue through which novel preferences may be formed and existing ones altered. In the current article, we offer a new look at EC from the perspective of Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS) and, more specifically, Relational Frame Theory (RFT). We briefly review the EC literature, introduce Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS), Relational Frame Theory (RFT), and then describe a behavioral phenomenon known as arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). Afterwards, we examine the relationship between EC and AARR. This novel perspective offers ways to organize existing as well as predict new EC effects, contributes to debates on “genuine” EC, human versus nonhuman EC, and further facilitates the development and refinement of cognitive theories of EC.