Symbolic Behavior, Behavioral Psychology, and the Clinical Importance of Evolution Science

57 minutes

Evolutionists have recognized the importance of the symbolic domain to an account of human behavior but in the absence of a technically adequate and evolutionarily sensible account have miscast its nature. In this paper I argue that modern behavioral psychology contains such an account, Relational Frame Theory (RFT), which defines symbolic behavior in a precise and innovative way and provides experimental data on how it develops and why it matters. The applied importance of a contextual, selectivist account of symbolic behavior is explored in a discussion of a clinical extension of RFT and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). I argue that acceptance, mindfulness, and values provide an evolutionarily sensible guide to the development of cooperation within people and between people that comports with what we know about symbolic behavior.