Functional contextualism is a scientific philosophy proposed by Steven Hayes and that has been developed fundamentally in the field of psychology, particularly in its behavioral aspect. At the same time, it is closely related to the theory of relational frameworks and acceptance and commitment therapy, both the work of Hayes.
To understand the approaches of functional contextualism, it is important to become familiar with its most direct antecedents: pragmatist and contextualist philosophical traditions and radical behaviorism by Burrhus F. Skinner, one of the key figures in the history of behavioral counseling and scientific psychology in general.
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that dates back to the end of the 19th century and proposes that the best way to analyze and understand most facts is to focus on their functions, that is, on their effects, consequences or results. Some of the classic theorists of this tradition are Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey.
For its part, The term “contextualism” was first used by Steven C. Pepper in 1942 to refer to the proposals of pragmatic philosophers. However, this author emphasized to a greater extent the relevance of analyzing acts in relation to the context in which they take place.
Pepper also stated that people have “hypotheses about the world” consisting of a series of interrelated approaches shared by other members of our cultural group. These perspectives determine different ways of understanding reality and defining truth, which for Pepper is everything that entails effective action.
Finally, it is worth talking about Skinner’s radical behaviorism, a philosophy very close to his proposals regarding operant conditioning. Without denying the key influence of biology, Radical behaviorism focuses on the role of context in observable behavior and works with mental contents in an equivalent way to the rest of behavior.
Hayes’s functional contextualism
Steven C. Hayes is one of the most important psychologists today. Functional contextualism is the scientific philosophy that supports its two main contributions to the social sciences: relational frames theory and acceptance and commitment therapy.
In a very summary way, Hayes and the rest of the functional contextualists defend the relevance of focusing on the precise and profound manipulation of variables that can be modified when predicting or changing the behaviors and mental contents of a person in a given context.
Unlike the descriptive variant of contextualism, associated with constructionism, narrativism or hermeneutics, functional contextualism aims to formulate general laws through the empirical or inductive method that is, studying observable phenomena to define rules and check to what degree they can be extrapolated to other facts.
In recent years, the application of functional contextualism as a philosophical basis for applied behavioral analysis has become popular. This psychological discipline, which is based on research on operant conditioning, studies the relationships between behavior and environmental variables that may be relevant to it.
In this way, functional contextualism seeks to understand the laws (of a verbal nature) that govern behavior through the use of inductive methods in order to modify non-adaptive behaviors. For this the manipulation of contingencies is mainly used that is, the relationships between a behavior and the appearance of reinforcers.
Hayes explains the development of language, and consequently cognition, through his theory of relational frames. According to this author, people acquire these functions by forming mental links between two or more aspects of reality, which happens from the beginning of life and gives rise to a growing accumulation of relationships.
These relational frameworks do not depend only on learning by association, but also include information about the characteristics of the relationship. Thus, as children we establish links between objects such as plates, forks and spoons because we interact with them simultaneously but also because they fulfill similar functions.
The mental associations we make become progressively more complex and explain the internalization of behavioral norms, the formation of a sense of identity and many other verbal phenomena. The rigidity or impracticality of relational frameworks are very frequent causes of psychopathology, for example in cases of depression and anxiety.
Hayes developed acceptance and commitment therapy as an intervention for this type of emotional disorders. This third generation therapy is based on confronting and naturalizing negative emotions and promoting value-oriented activity regardless of life difficulties, such as one’s own psychological discomfort.
