Abstract
Relational frame theory (RFT) sees operant acquisition of various patterns of relational framing (frames) as key to linguistic and cognitive development, and it has explored the emergence of a range of psychological phenomena (e.g., analogy, perspective-taking) in these terms. One potentially important advance for RFT research is to obtain more detailed information on the normative development of relational framing in childhood. This was one of the aims of the present study, which sought to measure relational responding of various types and at various levels of complexity in young children across a range of ages. A second aim of the study was to focus in particular on analogy, or the relating of relations, as one particularly important pattern of relational responding. The present study examined a range of frames including coordination, comparison, opposition, temporality, and hierarchy at a number of different levels of complexity (nonarbitrary relating, nonarbitrary relating of relations, arbitrarily applicable relating, and arbitrarily applicable relating of relations) in young children ranging in age from 3 to 7. Performance overall as well as under various subheadings was correlated with both age and intellectual ability. Outcomes and their implications are discussed.