Language is one of the most important capacities for human beings. It is part of our way of communicating and even our thought processes (after all, when we reason we usually do so through subvocal speech). This ability has been studied from very different points of view and theoretical currents. How do we acquire it? How is it possible for us to establish relationships between the symbol and reality, or between constructs or concepts?
Some of the currents that have asked these questions are behaviorism and its derivatives, and in this sense different theories have been developed that can explain it. One of them is Hayes’ theory of relational frames
Steven C. Hayes’ theory of relational frames is an attempt to offer an explanation as to why we are able to make different associations between language and reality, affecting both communicational and cognitive processes. It is therefore a theory that explores and tries to explain language, cognition and the relationship between the two.
Be part of a conception derived from operant conditioning and behavioral analysis, with the challenge of trying to explain the complexity of language and thought as a result of the association between our behaviors and their consequences. Unlike classical behaviorism and the first versions of the operant, this theory is based on the idea that every word, acquisition of meaning, thought or cognitive process is considered an act or behavior acquired through learning throughout our life.
This is Hayes’ theory of relational frames
For Hayes’ theory of relational frames, our cognitive and linguistic capacity are based on the existence of relational behaviors, that is, mental acts in which we relate various information or stimuli. Relational behavior is what allows us to generate networks of mental content, known as relational frames.
The beginning of these networks is found in conditioning. We learn to associate a word or a set of sounds with an element, such as the word ball with a ball. This fact is simple and allows us to establish a relationship between both stimuli. In this relationship, an equivalence is established between both stimuli. The word is equivalent to the meaning, and the meaning is equivalent to the word.
This property is known as mutual binding. Furthermore, these same stimuli can be paired with other and from said relationship extract the possible relationship between the previously associated stimuli, also known as combinatorial linking. In turn, the capture of these relationships can cause changes and variations to be generated in the use and meaning of the stimulus in question, causing a transformation of its functions as more and more examples of different relationships between stimuli are acquired.
During our development we learn little by little to respond to the different equivalences observed throughout our growth, and over time the human being is capable of establishing a network of relationships or relational framework, the basis that allows us learn, enhance and make our language and cognition increasingly more elaborate
For example, we learn that a specific word has a consequence at a given moment and over time we observe that it has others in other places, so that we associate associations and generate new interpretations and functions of language and thought.
Where do relational frames come from?
The relational framework would therefore be a network of relationships established and reinforced based on contextual clues. These relationships are arbitrary, not always depending on the stimulus itself and its characteristics but on the relationships we have made between it and other stimuli.
The relational framework does not appear out of nowhere but is generated through the processing of information from the environment and the social context. We learn the different keys that allow us to establish these relationships so that we understand whether we are dealing with similar, different or comparable stimuli.
For example can start from the use of hierarchies, spatio-temporal links, the work, family or social environment or the observation of the effects of one’s own or others’ behaviors. But not only does the environment participate, but there is also influence from aspects such as our will or the intention we have to do, say or think something.
Thus we can speak of relational context as the set of keys that indicate the meaning and type of relationship between stimuli. We also have a functional context, which starts from our own psyche and which means that from our mind we can select the meaning we want to give it independently of the medium itself.
Properties of relational frames
Although we have talked about the set of properties that allow establishing a relational framework, these frameworks also have their own properties that are interesting to take into account.
As a result of conditioning and learning processes it should be noted that relational frameworks are constructions that are acquired throughout development and that also develop over time as new relationships and associations are added.
In this sense, it also highlights the fact that These are very flexible and modifiable networks After all, the transformation of stimulus functions acts continuously and can introduce changes.
Finally, the relational framework can be controlled both before and after its emergence, depending on whether the subject is exposed to different stimulations whose consequences are manipulated or established. This last aspect is a great advantage when carrying out different types of treatment, such as in psychological therapy in cases of subjects with mental disorders.
Operating rules are generated
The establishment of relational frameworks allows human beings to add and link the different meanings and signifiers that appear in their lives. The different relational frameworks are also linked to each other so that an understanding of stimulation is established, so that our thinking and language are becoming increasingly complex
From this language and the relationships established between stimuli, we generate invariants and behavioral norms from which we can regulate our behavior and adapt to the environment in the best possible way. And not only our behavior, but we also generate our identity, personality and way of seeing ourselves and the world.
Link with psychopathology
However, it must be taken into account that the links between words and stimuli can give rise to relational frameworks that are harmful to the subject himself or to the generation of excessively lax or rigid rules of behavior that can degenerate in the suffering from different psychological disorders this being the explanation that the theory gives to the various disorders and the origin of currently remarkably successful therapies such as acceptance and commitment.
And it is that during the emergence it is possible that a network of associations is generated through the functional context that causes the patient to suffer, such as the consideration that one’s own behavior does not have an effect on the environment, that the environment is an inhospitable place and harmful or that the subject himself has bad regard for himself.
They can also be generated negative categorizations that cause aspects such as stereotypes or the lack of a sense of belonging. Also generate the need to control the environment or the fight to maintain the equivalences and norms generated by the language itself through relational frameworks and one’s own behavior. All of this can cause us to evaluate the world or ourselves in a non-adaptive and dysfunctional way.
