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| Int'l Symposium - Derived Relational Responding: Implications for Clinically Relevant Behavior |
| Tuesday, May 31, 2005 |
| 12:00 PM–1:20 PM |
| Private Dining Room 1 (3rd floor) |
| Area: CBM; Domain: Basic Research |
| Chair: Roisin McGuinness (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Discussant: Sarah Craig (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: The current symposium was explored the implications of derived relational responding for clinically relevant behavior. The study presented in Paper 1 employed flexibility training as a means of establishing repertoires of generalized contextually controlled symmetry and asymmetry responding in children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The study presented in Paper 2 attempted to investigate the abilities of children with Asperger’s Syndrome to demonstrate patterns of relational responding that appear to be critical to the development of perspective-taking, understanding false belief, and deception using previously-established relational protocols. The third and final paper attempts to combining the Relational Evaluation Procedure (REP) with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a means of investigating self-attribute relations. The findings from all three papers highlight the utility of relational frame procedures for the investigation of clinically relevant behavior with a range of populations. |
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| Establishing Flexibility in Responding to Contextually Controlled Symmetry and Asymmetry Tasks in Young Children with Autism |
| JENNIFER O'CONNOR (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 was concerned with establishing repertoires of generalized contextually controlled symmetry and asymmetry responding in children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The primary aim of the work was to investigate the effects of explicitly training response flexibility within this type of experimental task. The flexibility intervention was specifically concerned with training the children to appropriately emit either correct or incorrect responses as a means of establishing the initial contextually controlled symmetry and asymmetry repertoires. The findings from the study demonstrated that flexibility training not only established the initial repertoires, but also fostered their generalization in subsequent experimental stages, without the need for additional intervention. The findings are discussed with reference to Relational Frame Theory and the derivation of contextually controlled stimulus relations by autistic populations. |
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| Using Protocols of Relational Responding to Analyze Perspective-taking and Related Repertoires in Children with Asperger’s Syndrome |
| ROISIN MCGUINNESS (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 attempted to investigate the abilities of children with Asperger’s Syndrome to demonstrate patterns of relational responding that appear to be critical to the development of perspective-taking, understanding false belief, and deception. A sample of children with Asperger’s Syndrome was exposed to several protocols adopted from previous Relational Frame research with normally-developing populations. The protocols were used to assess the extent to which these children showed specific deficits in any of the target perspective-taking frames and the subsequent impact this may have on the understanding of false belief and deception. The results of the study offer a functional analytic interpretation of the types of cognitive deficits that characterize Asperger’s syndrome and have important implications for the design of appropriate interventions for the remediation of these deficits. |
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| The Implicit Relational Evaluation Procedure as a Methodology for Examining Self-Related Terms |
| BREN ROCHE (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Ian T. Stewart (National University of Ireland, Galway) |
| Abstract: The current paper presents experimental research that involves combining the Relational Evaluation Procedure (REP) with the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The primary purpose behind combining these two methodologies is to provide a means of assessing specific relational frames that may have been established for individuals or specific populations. The current version of the methodology is called the Implicit Relational Evaluation Procedure (IREP). In contrast to the IAT, and other procedures derived from it, the IREP can assess, at least in principle, any specific relation among sets of stimuli. Previous research using the IAT has shown that it is sensitive to implicit associations between self related terms and other relevant attribute items (e.g., me-good, other-bad). The current study was designed to determine if the IREP was similar to the IAT in its sensitivity to self-attribute relations. Moreover, the study also sought to determine if the sensitivity remains stable across multiple exposures to the IREP. The results of the have indicate that the IREP may provide a means of assessing the types of verbal relations that are established by the wider verbal community with respect to self and others. |
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