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| Int'l Symposium - Derived Relations, Implicit Associations and Clinically Relevant Stimuli |
| Monday, May 30, 2005 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| Williford A (3rd floor) |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Mary Lyons (University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The current session presents a series of studies that investigate the role of derived stimulus relations and implicit associations in the context of clinically relevant events. The first study involves comparing the implicit association test (IAT) and matching to sample (MTS) as methods for measuring pre-experimentally established verbal relations. The second paper employs the IAT) as a method for examining attitudes to food related stimuli in participants who provide either high or low scores on two psychometric instruments relevant to eating disordered symptomatology. The third paper employs a stimulus equivalence paradigm to investigate individual differences in self-esteem. And the final paper examines the transformation of respondent elicitation in accordance with equivalence relations employing a differential aversive conditioning procedure. All four studies indicate that the investigation of derived relations and implicit associations may provide some insight into the behavioural processes involved in clinically relevant behaviors. |
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| Comparing the IAT and MTS as Methods for Measuring Pre-Experimentally Established Verbal Relations |
| MARY LYONS (University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: This study compared two experimental procedures for measuring pre-experimentally established verbal relations with clinically relevant stimuli. This study compared performance on Greenwald’s Implicit Association Test (IAT) with performance on a test for equivalence relations using a matching-to-sample (MTS) procedure. Participants exposed to the IAT were presented with categorization tasks that involved associating stimuli that would have a high or low probability of association prior to the experiment; an IAT effect was recorded if a participant produced longer mean response latencies on the low-probability relative to the high-probability tasks. Participants exposed to the MTS procedure were trained on a series of emotionally neutral conditional discriminations, but the testing tasks presented; (1) non-equivalent comparisons that had a high probability of pre-experimental association, and (2) equivalent comparisons that had a low probability of pre-experimental association. If a participant failed the equivalence test this indicated an IAT-like effect. The implications of the results for developing a behavior-analytic interpretation of the IAT effect are considered. |
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| Implicit Associations and Food Related Stimuli |
| MARCIA WARD (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The current study employed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a method for examining attitudes to food related stimuli in participants who provide either high or low scores on two psychometric instruments relevant to eating disordered symptomatology. Participants were screened using both the EDI-2 (Eating Disorders Inventory 2) (Garner,et al 1990) and the EAT (Eating Attitudes Test) (Garner & Garinkel, 1985) .They were then categorized into two high- and low-groups on the basis of their score. All participants then completed an IAT which measured in order to identify individual differences in the strength of the associated links with food related stimuli. The implications of the results for the experimental analysis of pre-experimentally established clinically relevant verbal relations are discussed. |
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| Equivalence Relations, Self-Evaluations and Self-Esteem |
| JULIET M. QUINLAN (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The current study is a replication of Mervin and Wilson’s (in press) research. An initial screening using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg 1965) gave rise to two experimental groups: high self-esteem and low self-esteem. A series of automated match-to-sample procedures (alternating loaded and standard equivalence stimuli) compared self-evaluations and the formation of equivalence classes across the two groups. The results are discussed in relation to the relevant literature on derived relations and self-esteem, and the broader implications for the role of verbal behaviour in the formation of either positive or negative self-concept will be considered. |
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| Transfer of Respondent Elicitation Established Through Aversive Conditioning |
| MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ-VALVERDE (University of Almeria, Spain), Carmen Luciano Soriano (University of Almeria, Spain), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: This study examines the transformation of respondent elicitation in accordance with equivalence relations employing a differential aversive conditioning procedure. Previous work of this kind (Dougher et al., 1994) has obtained the transfer of both respondent elicitation and extinction with long durations CSs and long inter-trial intervals. The current study replicates Dougher er al’s (1994), but also attempts to extend it by controlling two concerns that can be argues to constrain the validity of its results: (1) conditioning effects were not assessed during acquisition trials, but on the basis of a single probe trial after the transfer test; (2) transfer tests of a derived CS-were always presented prior to any tests of a derived CS+, in order to avoid a shift –in-contingencies effect. The conditioning procedure employed in this study is more similar to the procedures usually employed in psychophysiology research on autonomic conditioning, with shorter CS durations that allow the measurement of anticipatory conditioned responses during acquisition trials. Additionally, we employed 5-member equivalence classes in order to establish conditioning with two members and assess transfer effects with another two, as a means of controlling the shift in-contingencies effect reported by Dougher et al., 1994. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for a functional analytic account of human emotional responding. |
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