Premium
The fruits of a functional approach for psychological science
Author(s) -
Stewart Ian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1002/ijop.12184
Subject(s) - relational frame theory , psychology , generativity , cognitive science , cognition , key (lock) , psychological theory , epistemology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , philosophy , computer security , neuroscience
The current paper introduces relational frame theory ( RFT ) as a functional contextual approach to complex human behaviour and examines how this theory has contributed to our understanding of several key phenomena in psychological science. I will first briefly outline the philosophical foundation of RFT and then examine its conceptual basis and core concepts. Thereafter, I provide an overview of the empirical findings and applications that RFT has stimulated in a number of key domains such as language development, linguistic generativity, rule‐following, analogical reasoning, intelligence, theory of mind, psychopathology and implicit cognition.