Quantifying the Empirical Growth of Relational Frame Theory Research: a Cautionary Note

Relational frame theory (RFT) is a modern, contextual behavioral theory of human language and cognition. A recent article by O’Connor, Farrell, Munnelly, and McHugh (2017) provided an updated citation analysis of data-based and nondata-based articles citing RFT-related terms as a proxy for the influence RFT has had on the scientific literature. Here, we evaluate the claims made by O’Connor et al. and suggest that caution should be exercised when interpreting some of their findings. Progress has, in many ways, clearly been made, but we argue that the growth in RFT outputs is more nuanced than at first appears.