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| Why Relational Frame Theory Alters the Relationship Between Applied and Basic Psychology |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 10:00 AM–10:50 AM |
| Beacon F |
| Area: PRA |
| Chair: Eyleen Ortiz (Teachers College, Columbia University) |
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| Why Relational Frame Theory Alters the Relationship Between Applied and Basic Psychology |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| STEVEN C. HAYES (University of Nevada, Reno), Nicholas M. Berens (University of Nevada, Reno) |
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| Abstract: Behavior analysis is an area of psychology that began as a basic field of animal behavior but always aspired to an adequate the analysis of complex human behavior. What made this especially workable was the underlying philosophy and approach of behavior analysis. Behavior analysis seeks the prediction and influence of behavior, which comports unusually well with the applied agenda, and thus principles that come from the experimental analysis of direct contingency streams are thus likely to be relevant to applied problems. However, in the actual analysis of complex human behavior the units of responding are not of basic importance and often have to be determined by empirical analyses of common-sense subunits. Relational frame theory is making good progress on the analysis of human complexity, but it impacts on behavior analysis in a profound way for two reasons. First, it suggests that framing events relationally alters how direct contingencies operate. Second, it alters the relationship between applied behavior analysis and the experimental analysis of behavior, because it suggests units of responding that can only be seen in the context of complex human behavior. Some of these areas are inherently applied, which makes applied behavior analysis a more basic endeavor, and makes the experimental analysis of behavior more dependent on applied results. If this is so, relational frame theory may help unify behavior analysis and produce more of a two-way relationship between applied behavior analysis and the experimental analysis of behavior. Examples and data supportive of this account are provided. |
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