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| International Symposium - Reaching Out from the Lab: Applications of Research on Derived Relational Responding to Complex Behavior |
| Saturday, May 27, 2006 |
| 1:00 PM–2:20 PM |
| Hong Kong |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Basic Research |
| Chair: Simon Dymond (University of Wales, Swansea) |
| Abstract: Behaviour analysts have not systematically investigated the topic of motivational influences on the emergence of derived stimulus relations such as equivalence relations. Within the context of a laboratory experiment on equivalence relations, a range of potential motivational operations exist that may exert control over participants' behaviour, such as the task instructions, the status of the experimenter (student or lecturer), and the physical layout of the setting. In this study, we set out to systematically examine the relative contribution of these motivational operations on the emergence of three, three-member equivalence relations. We manipulated task instructions, apparent authority level of the experimenter and presence or absence of an audience. Results indicate that the emergence of equivalence relations is facilitated by procedures that maximise the motivational operations at work during the session. |
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| How to Raise Your Child's I.Q with Relational Frame Theory (and magic): Putting Multiple Exemplar Training to the Test. |
| SARAH O'CONNOR (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Denis P. O'Hora (University of Ulster) |
| Abstract: The current paper reports on a research program designed to test the utility of multiple exemplar relational training in raising the intellectual abilities of a range of 8 - 12 year old children. Specifically, 8-12 year children were exposed to relational tests for Same/Opposite and More than/Less than responding in order to establish baseline levels of relational skills. They were then exposed to multiple exemplar training on the same relational tests. This served to improve both the accuracy and the fluency of the relational skills by providing feedback and reinforcement on a trial-to-trial basis. Given this training subjects showed modest improvements in similar relational tasks using novel stimulus sets. Changes in I.Q scores are open to interpretation, but results appear to suggest that multiple exemplar training may be of use in interventions for intellectual deficit. |
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| Motivational Influences on the Emergence of Equivalence Relations. |
| SIMON DYMOND (University of Wales, Swansea), Ian T. Stewart (National University of Ireland, Galway) |
| Abstract: Behaviour analysts have not systematically investigated the topic of motivational influences on the emergence of derived stimulus relations such as equivalence relations. Within the context of a laboratory experiment on equivalence relations, a range of potential motivational operations exist that may exert control over participants’ behaviour, such as the task instructions, the status of the experimenter (student or lecturer), and the physical layout of the setting. In this study, we set out to systematically examine the relative contribution of these motivational operations on the emergence of three, three-member equivalence relations. We manipulated task instructions, had both students and academic members of staff conduct sessions, and unobtrusively observed participants via closed circuit cameras. Results indicate that the emergence of equivalence relations is facilitated by procedures that maximise the motivational operations at work during the session. |
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| Playing The Relational Frame Game:An experimental analysis of computer game performance and enjoyment. |
| CONOR LINEHAN (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The current research applied a derived relations approach to understanding on-line game-playing. A computer game was designed that required subjects to respond with a mouse-clicking response to earn points upon the presentation of one stimulus (A1) and to produce an avoidance response in response to the presentation of a second stimulus (A2) associated with loss of points. Subjects were exposed to this game following baseline conditional discrimination training for the formation of two five-member equivalence relations; A1-B1-C1-D1-E1 and A2-B2-C2-D2-E2, where the B, C, D and E stimuli were nonsense syllables and the A stimuli were the discriminative stimuli employed in the game. Subjects were then re-exposed to the game with the important difference that only the E stimuli were presented. For some subjects on-line network delays were also simulated in a controlled manner throughout the game in order to assess their impact on game performance and enjoyment. Subjects’ performances in the final game suggest that computer game-playing performance and enjoyment can be understood partly in terms of derived relational responding. |
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| Derived Relations and Cognitive Neuroscience: Bilateral Redundancy Gain in Equivalence Relations. |
| EOGHAN J. RYAN (Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge), Simon Dymond (University of Wales, Swansea), Bettina Mohr (Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge) |
| Abstract: It has been observed that for many cognitive tasks involving complex processing, subject performance is facilitated by presentation of stimuli to both visual fields simultaneously relative to presentation to one or other field individually. This technique can restrict input to either the left or right cerebral hemisphere, through contralateral presentation to a single visual field. With bilateral presentation, both hemispheres may be involved in processing and a pooling of resources may occur. In the case of simple tasks such as identity matching of letters (e.g., ‘A’ with ‘A’), the costs associated with organising and integrating this interaction appear to outweigh the benefits accrued from the gain in processing power. For more complex tasks such as letter name matching (e.g., ‘A’ with ‘a’) the gain in performance outweighs the attendant costs and a performance advantage is seen relative to unilateral presentations. Previous work in which pseudowords were paired with natural language stimuli suggests that this effect is a function of learning histories and not simply a byproduct of simple increased cognitive load. The current paper presents research conducted in this area within a derived relations framework that extends this work to the use of equivalence relations as a cleaner behavioural model of natural language relations. |
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