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- Anal Verbal Behav
- v.29(1); 2013
- PMC3659503
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Anal Verbal Behav. 2013; 29(1): 137–155.
Published online 2017 Jul 8. doi:10.1007/BF03393131
PMCID: PMC3659503
PMID: 23814374
Ian Stewart,114 John McElwee,214 and Siri Ming314
Author information Copyright and License information PMC Disclaimer
This article has been corrected. See Anal Verbal Behav. 2017 April 7; 33(1): 176.
Abstract
Language generativity can be described as the ability to produce sentences neverbefore said, and to understand sentences never before heard. One process oftencited as underlying language generativity is response generalization. However,though the latter seems to promise a technical understanding of the former at aprocess level, an investigation of definitions and approaches to the term“response generalization” that appear in the literature suggeststhat it does not do so. We argue that a more promising candidate for the role ofkey process underlying language generativity is derived relational responding.We introduce the latter concept and describe empirical research showing itsconnection with language. We subsequently present a relational frame theory(RFT) conceptualization of derived relations as contextually controlledgeneralized relational responding. We then review a series of recent studies onderived manding in developmentally delayed children and adults that arguablydemonstrate the applied utility of a derived relations-based approach withrespect to the phenomenon of generative language.
Key words: language generativity, response generalization, derived relational responding, relational frame theory, manding
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