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| Int'l Symposium - Novel Interventions and Procedures in the Study of Derived Relational Responding |
| Sunday, May 29, 2005 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| Boulevard A (2nd floor) |
| Area: EAB; Domain: Basic Research |
| Chair: Robert Whelan (APU) |
| Discussant: Simon Dymond (APU, Cambridge UK) |
| Abstract: Researchers have recently developed a number of new procedures and interventions in the study of derived relational responding. In the current symposium a number of papers on this topic will be presented. The first paper describes the Relational Completion Procedure (RCP), and an empirical investigation that compared the probability of emergence of derived Same and Opposite relations for subjects who were exposed to either the RCP or to an MTS task. In the second paper, results indicated that emergence was more likely if subjects attended to the sample, and that the RCP lowered the probability of overselectivity. The third paper presents results that suggest that the emergence of stimulus equivalence relations is constrained by the functional classes that stimuli participate in, and that furthermore the resistance of specific stimulus classes to re-organisation in phobic populations may be based on the functional similarity across members of those classes rather than the emotional potency of the stimuli per se. In the final paper, the utility of multiple exemplar relational training in raising the intellectual abilities of a range of 8 - 12 year old children was reported. Following given this training, subjects showed modest improvements in similar relational tasks using novel stimulus sets. |
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| The Relational Completion Procedure: A New Method for Training and Testing Multiple Stimulus Relations |
| ROBERT WHELAN (APU), Simon Dymond (APU, Cambridge UK) |
| Abstract: Match-to-sample (MTS) is the preferred procedure for training and testing for derived relations. There are, however, some limitations to MTS procedures, which are particularly pertinent to researchers studying multiple stimulus relations. In the present paper, a new type of experimental procedure is described, called the Relational Completion Procedure (RCP). The RCP employs drag-and-drop responding, the stimuli are displayed from left to right, and five comparisons are presented. In order to test the efficacy of the RCP, two groups of subjects were trained and tested in accordance with Same and Opposite relations on an MTS procedure or on the RCP. The probability of successful emergence was greater for subjects who were exposed to the RCP. Findings will be discussed in the context of facilitative interventions for derived relational responding. |
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| Effects of Emotional and Neutral Stimulus Functions on the Emergence of Derived Stimulus Relations |
| IAN TYNDALL (American College, Dublin), Bryan T. Roche (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Jack E. James (National University of Ireland, Galway) |
| Abstract: Previous research (Plaud, 1995, 1997) has demonstrated that subjects who show phobic reactions to stimuli have difficulty partitioning classes of those stimuli into arbitrary equivalence relations. The current study systematically investigated this effect. In a four-condition between-subjects design subjects (N = 40, 10 per condition) were exposed to a respondent conditioning procedure, associating pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) catalogue (UCS) and nonsense syllables (CS+s) designed to establish one of four separate stimulus function classes: 1) six similar arousing (aversive) functions; 2) six different neutral functions; 3) six different arousing functions; and 4) six similar neutral functions. Subjects were then exposed to an equivalence training and testing procedure employing an array of the CS+s as samples and comparisons. It was found that the emergence of stimulus equivalence relations is constrained by the functional classes that stimuli participate in. The results suggest that the resistance of specific stimulus classes to re-organisation in phobic populations may be based on the functional similarity across members of those classes rather than the emotional potency of the stimuli per se. |
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| The Quest to Raise IQ: Finding Hope in Multiple Exemplar Relational Training |
| 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. Key components of popular intelligence tests for children are analyzed conceptually in terms of their relational properties and relational training interventions for intellectual deficits are suggested. Preliminary data in support of a multiple exemplar relational training approach will also be reported. Specifically, 8-12 year children were exposed to a relational test in order to establish baseline levels of relational skills. They were then exposed to multiple exemplar training on the same relational test. This phase was designed to improve both the accuracy and the fluency of the relational skill 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. The relevance of these findings to efforts to raise I.Q test scores will be discussed. |
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