relational frame
a hypothesized unit that permits one to describe the relationships between new entities based on previous experience. Entities can stand in several relationships to one another, such as the relationship of sameness or the relationship of larger than. Through experience with such relationships, frames are learned into which new entities can be placed. For example, after many experiences with conditions in which one thing is larger than another, and having learned in those situations to say, for example, “The cow is bigger than the dog,” one then knows to say “My cat is bigger than yours” when comparing the two animals for the first time.