Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Quantifying the Empirical Growth of Relational Frame Theory Research: a Cautionary Note

  • Theoretical Article
  • Published:
The Psychological Record Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Relational frame theory (RFT) is a modern, contextual behavioral theory of human language and cognition. A recent article by O’Connor, Farrell, Munnelly, and McHugh (2017) provided an updated citation analysis of data-based and nondata-based articles citing RFT-related terms as a proxy for the influence RFT has had on the scientific literature. Here, we evaluate the claims made by O’Connor et al. and suggest that caution should be exercised when interpreting some of their findings. Progress has, in many ways, clearly been made, but we argue that the growth in RFT outputs is more nuanced than at first appears.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Murphy, A., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Stewart, I. (2010). The implicit relational assessment procedure: exploring the impact of private versus public contexts and the response latency criterion on pro-white and anti-black stereotyping among white Irish individuals. The Psychological Record, 60, 57–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Luciano, C., & McEnteggart, C. (2017). From the IRAP and REC model to a multi-dimensional multi-level framework for analyzing the dynamics of arbitrarily applicable relational responding. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6, 434–445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.08.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, J., Roche, B., Tyndall, I., & Cartwright, A. (2018). Using a novel implicit test methodology to assess the relatedness of equivalence class members. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (in press).

  • Davis, D., & Mason, L. L. (2017). A behavioral phenomenological inquiry of maker identity. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 17, 174–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, M. R., Small, S. L., & Rosales, R. (2007). Extended analysis of empirical citations with Skinner’s Verbal Behavior: 1984–2004. The Behavior Analyst, 30, 197–209.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dymond, S., O’Hora, D., Whelan, R., & O’Donovan, A. (2006). Citation analysis of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior: 1984-2004. The Behavior Analyst, 29, 75–88.

  • Dymond, S., & Roche, B. (Eds.). (2013). Advances in relational frame theory: research & application. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dymond, S., May, R. J., Munnelly, A., & Hoon, A. E. (2010). Evaluating the evidence base for relational frame theory: a citation analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 33, 97–117.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Falla, D., & Alós, F. J. (2016). Contextual control in visuospatial perspective-taking skills in adults with intellectual disabilities. Behavioral Interventions, 31, 44–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, C. A., Ryan, P., & Foster, J. H. (2011). Thematic analysis of Antonovsky’s sense of coherence theory. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 52, 168–173.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S. C. (1996). Developing a theory of derived stimulus relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65, 309–311.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S. C. (2017). RFT research explodes over last seven years. Retrieved from:https://contextualscience.org/rft_research_explodes_over_last_seven_years

  • Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and commitment therapy: the process and practice of mindful change (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S. C., Sanford, B. T., & Chin, F. T. (2017). Carrying the baton: evolution science and a contextual behavioral analysis of language and cognition. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6, 314–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horne, P. J., & Lowe, C. F. (1996). On the origins of naming and other symbolic behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65, 185–241.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2016). Relational frame theory: the basic account. In S. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, R. Zettle, & T. Biglan (Eds.), Handbook of contextual behavioral science (pp. 129–178). New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S., Hussey, I., Corrigan, B., Jolie, K., Murphy, C., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2016). Faking revisited: exerting strategic control over performance on the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 632–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcon-Dawson, A., Vicars, S. M., & Miguel, C. F. (2009). Publication trends in The Analysis of Verbal Behavior: 1999–2008. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 25, 123–132.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • May, R. J., Hawkins, E., & Dymond, S. (2013). Effects of tact training on emergent intraverbal vocal responses in adolescents with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43, 996–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • May, R. J., Stewart, I., Baez, L., Freegard, G., & Dymond, S. (2017). Arbitrarily applicable spatial relational responding. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 107, 234–257. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McPherson, A., Bonem, M., Green, G., & Osborne, J. G. (1984). A citation analysis of the influence on research of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. The Behavior Analyst, 7, 157–167.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miguel, C. F., Frampton, S. E., Lantaya, C. A., Lafrance, D. L., Quah, K., Meyer, C. S., Elias, N. C., & Fernand, J. K. (2015). The effects of tact training on the development of analogical reasoning. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 104, 96–118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, M., Farrell, L., Munnelly, A., & McHugh, L. (2017). Citation analysis of relational frame theory: 2009–2016. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6, 152–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, A. G., Roche, B., & Cartwright, A. (2015). Function over form: A behavioral approach to implicit attitudes. In Z. Jin (Ed.), Exploring implicit cognition: learning, memory, and social cognitive processes (pp. 162–182). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sautter, R. A., & LeBlanc, L. A. (2006). The empirical applications of Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior with humans. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 22, 35–48.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sidman, M. (1994). Equivalence relations and behavior: a research story. Boston: Authors Cooperative.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. D., Dishion, T. J., Moore, K. J., Shaw, D. S., & Wilson, M. N. (2013). Effects of video feedback on early coercive parent-child interactions: The intervening role of caregivers’ relational schemas. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 42, 405–417.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, D., & Hayes, S. C. (1991). Stimulus equivalence and arbitrarily applicable relational responding. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 56, 519–555.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tarbox, J., Zuckerman, C. K., Bishop, M. R., Olive, M. L., & O’Hora, D. P. (2011). Rule-governed behavior: teaching a preliminary repertoire of rule-following to children with autism. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 27, 125–139.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, D., & Duan, Y. (2016). Natural language acquisition: state inferring and thinking. International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools, 25, 165002. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218213016500226.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Park Campus, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Simon Dymond

  2. Department of Psychology, Reykjavík University, Menntavegur 1, Nauthólsvík, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Simon Dymond

  3. School of Psychology, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, CF37 1DL, UK

    Richard May

Authors
  1. Simon Dymond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard May
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Dymond.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human participants.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dymond, S., May, R. Quantifying the Empirical Growth of Relational Frame Theory Research: a Cautionary Note. Psychol Rec 68, 255–260 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-018-0278-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-018-0278-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation