Relational Frame Theory

Definition: Building block of human language and higher cognition is relating links between stimuli of
objects or events. Link components include strength between link, type of relation, and dimension in
which they relate.
Ex: Tennis ball is the same shape as an orange, but is a different color, texture, and isnt edible.

How we communicate is as important as what we are explicitly saying.

Relational Frame Theory explains how people organize interpersonal messages to support inferences
about the relationship that exists between the communicators.
People make sense of rational messages by interpreting them as indicators and help people
process social messages, resolve ambiguities, and draw relational inferences
Dominance/Submissive degree to which one person controls or influences or has status
over another ex: parent telling a child to clean his room
Affiliation/Disaffiliation appreciation, esteem, or solidarity one person has for another
ex: a person receiving a love letter from a cherished partner
Relationships have a degree of intensity (familiar or stranger?) Relational Frames are
mental structures that consist of organized knowledge about social relationships.

Relational Responding: Responding to one stimulus based on its relation to another stimulus or stimuli
Mutual Entailment: Trained A>B Derived B<A
Combinatorial Entailment: Trained A>B and B>C Derived: A>C and C>A

What separates humans from other animals? Animals are only able to learn about events that predict
the onset of something, while humans associate words within specific time frames. Ie: Saying treat
after giving a dog a treat would not elicit a response, but a child could associate treat with a
cookie regardless if statement is uttered before or after. Humans can relate neutral events to
important events bi-directionally.

Humans can associate words give a child a cookie and call it cookie, then explain that another word
for it is biscuit he will associate the two words as meaning the same or similar idea. Likewise, we
group cookies as a category regardless if its oatmeal, chocolate chip, peanut butter, etc. This idea is
termed symmetry showing the word chocolate and giving a piece of chocolate will associate the
words with each other.

Topics for Inclusion?
Definition and basic overview
Components of applying RTF
Compare and Contrast with Skinners theory
Video/Audio Activity
Main room Activity
Breakout Room
Criticisms of RTF
Summary

Activities:
Breakout: Place audience into breakout rooms. Each room will have a common event (sitting on
a beach, standing in a crowded bar, sitting in a library, etc.) written on the wall (maybe have
three or four slideshows) groups will write their evoked emotional feelings surrounding the
word. Each person should write their own emotions in a different color, then discuss why
persons have similar/dissimilar emotional reactions.
Ambiguous Phrases: Place a word/phrase on the screen that could have multiple meanings
(Youre hair looks good today. At least you tried your best. I had a friend for lunch today.)
and discuss how we know what the sentences true meaning is how do we know if its friendly,
cruel, humorous, etc. Could also do same activity with different perspectives images
Video: Watch Seeing Things Differently (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQ3k7NcdJo) and
discuss the changing visual perspectives, how might the person see the environment differently
than the bug? OR Watch the fan reaction highlights of Real v. Atletico and discuss why the fans
of two different teams are reacting differently to the same event, what stimuli variables are
present and how do they affect fan behavior
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaAM77RzZRM or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abDjcxgFAB8)
Audio (May be better): Listen to Two Sides to the Same Story regarding an encounter two
people have and how their reactions are very different depending on their perspective despite
being engaged in the same conversation and encounter. http://vimeo.com/10810541
Deciding Indicators: A series of small clips or pictures of communication (mother yelling at child,
friend greeting another friend, a despised politician, manager talking to worker, etc.) and
students will have to decide the degree of dominance/submissiveness and
affiliation/disaffiliation
Making Sense of Sentences: RFT relates to reading a sentence. If a word is unfamiliar or difficult
to read, a proficient reader will use context clues (surrounding words, topic, or pictures) to
decipher what the word possibly means. Have sentences with a difficult or unfamiliar word, or
possibly a nonsense word, then have readers determine the meaning based on context clues.
How can we communicate? Using the action, Requesting the salt how many ways can you
communicate your demands? (happy, polite, angry, hand gestures, etc.)


Links:
Vocabulary: http://quizlet.com/6808927/relational-frame-theory-flash-cards/
What is RTF? http://contextualscience.org/what_is_rft
Criticisms: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779078/
RTF Simplified: http://www.actmindfully.com.au/upimages/rft_simplified.pdf
http://www.sagepub.com/ciel/study/articles/Ch06_Article.pdf