Editing Language acquisition (section)

===Relational frame theory===
{{Main|Relational frame theory}}
The [[relational frame theory]] (RFT) (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, Roche, 2001), provides a wholly selectionist/learning account of the origin and development of language competence and complexity. Based upon the principles of Skinnerian behaviorism, RFT posits that children acquire language purely through interacting with the environment. RFT theorists introduced the concept of [[functional contextualism]] in language learning, which emphasizes the importance of predicting and influencing psychological events, such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, by focusing on manipulable variables in their own context. RFT distinguishes itself from Skinner's work by identifying and defining a particular type of operant conditioning known as derived relational responding, a learning process that, to date, appears to occur only in humans possessing a capacity for language. Empirical studies supporting the predictions of RFT suggest that children learn language through a system of inherent reinforcements, challenging the view that language acquisition is based upon innate, language-specific cognitive capacities.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Steven C. Hayes |editor2=Dermot Barnes-Holmes |editor3=Brian Roche |title= Relational Frame Theory: A Post-Skinnerian Account of Human Language and Cognition (Hardcover)|publisher= Plenum Press |year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-306-46600-7 |oclc= 51896575}}</ref>