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Updated: Aug 15, 2025

RBDT: A Computerized Task System based in Transposition for the Continuous Analysis of Relational Behavior Dynamics in Humans
Published on: July 17, 2021
Thinking of learning phenomena as instances of relational behavior
Jan De Houwer1, Martin Finn2, Matthias Raemaekers2
1Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. jan.dehouwer@ugent.be.
Abstract:
We explore the idea that some learning phenomena can be thought of as instances of relational behavior-more specifically, arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). After explaining the nature of AARR, we discuss what it means to say that learning phenomena such as evaluative and fear conditioning are instances of AARR. We then list several implications of this perspective for empirical and theoretical research on learning, as well as for how learning phenomena relate to other psychological phenomena in human and nonhuman animals.
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