A Functional Contextual Account of Background Knowledge in Categorization: Implications for Artificial General Intelligence and Cognitive Accounts of General Knowledge.

Psychology has benefited from an enormous wealth of knowledge about processes of cognition in relation to how the brain organizes information. Within the categorization literature, this behavior is often explained through theories of memory construction called exemplar theory and prototype theory which are typically based on similarity or rule functions as explanations of how categories emerge. Although these theories work well at modeling highly controlled stimuli in laboratory settings, they often perform less well outside of these settings, such as explaining the emergence of background knowledge processes. In order to explain background knowledge, we present a non-similarity-based post-Skinnerian theory of human language called Relational Frame Theory (RFT) which is rooted in a philosophical world view called functional contextualism (FC). This theory offers a very different interpretation of how categories emerge through the functions of behavior and through contextual cues, which may be of some benefit to existing categorization theories. Specifically, RFT may be able to offer a novel explanation of how background knowledge arises, and we provide some mathematical considerations in order to identify a formal model. Finally, we discuss much of this work within the broader context of general semantic knowledge and artificial intelligence research.

Exploring the impact of coherence (through the presence versus absence of feedback) and levels of derivation on persistent rule-following.

Recent developments in relational frame theory (RFT) have outlined a number of key variables of potential importance when analyzing the dynamics involved in derived relational responding. Recent research has begun to explore the impact of a number of these variables on persistent rule-following, namely, levels of derivation and coherence. However, no research to date has systematically examined the impact of coherence on persistent rule-following at varying levels of derivation. Across two experiments, the impact of coherence (manipulated through the systematic use of performance feedback) was explored on persistent rule-following when derivation was relatively low (Exp. 1) and high (Exp. 2). A training protocol based on the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) was used to establish novel combinatorially entailed relations that manipulated the feedback provided on the untrained, derived relations (A-C) for five blocks of trials in Experiment 1 and one block of trials in Experiment 2. One of these relations was then inserted into the rule for responding on a subsequent contingency-switching match-to-sample task to assess rule persistence. While no significant differences were found in Experiment 1, the provision or non-provision of feedback had a significant differential impact on rule persistence in Experiment 2. These differences, and the subtle complexities that appear to be involved in persistent rule-following in the face of reversed reinforcement contingencies, are discussed.

Assessing deictic relational responding in psychosis using the implicit relational assessment procedure

The current study sought to investigate perspective-taking in a group of individuals diagnosed with psychosis. The Psychosis Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (Psychosis-IRAP) contrasted statements and questions referring to 'psychotic' and 'non-psychotic' experiences. The IRAP and a Faux-pas (Theory of Mind) test were presented to two groups of participants: a clinical group with a diagnosis of psychosis and a control group. IRAP effects for each group were in the predicted direction and a ROC analysis showed that the IRAP correctly classified 80% of the individuals with psychosis with a sensitivity level of 84.2% and a specificity level of 27.8%. The IRAP was thus successfully used to correctly classify the population of clinical individuals. However, the study also demonstrated that the two groups were similar with regard to their level of competency on the perspective-taking IRAP. The article also discusses the relationship between the data and recent developments in RFT, in terms of relational flexibility

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Assessing deictic relational responding in social anxiety using the implicit relational assessment procedure

The current study sought to investigate perspective-taking in a group of individuals diagnosed with psychosis. The Social Anxiety Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (SA-IRAP) contrasted statements and questions referring to 'anxious' and 'non-anxious' experiences. The SA-IRAP and a Faux-pas (Theory of Mind) test were presented to two groups of participants: a clinical group with a diagnosis of social anxiety and a group of controls. IRAP effects for each group were in the predicted direction and a ROC analysis showed that the IRAP correctly classified 77% of the individuals with social anxiety with a sensitivity level of 97% and a specificity level of 36%. The IRAP was thus successfully used to correctly classify the sample of clinical individuals. However, the study also demonstrated that the two groups were similar with regard to their level of competency on the perspective-taking IRAP. The article also discusses the relationship between the data and recent developments in RFT

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The Study of Rule-Governed Behavior and Derived Stimulus Relations: Bridging the Gap.

The concept of rule-governed behavior or instructional control has been widely recognized for many decades within the behavior-analytic literature. It has also been argued that the human capacity to formulate and follow increasingly complex rules may undermine sensitivity to direct contingencies of reinforcement, and that excessive reliance upon rules may be an important variable in human psychological suffering. Although the concept of rules would appear to have been relatively useful within behavior analysis, it seems wise from time to time to reflect upon the utility of even well-established concepts within a scientific discipline. Doing so may be particularly important if it begins to emerge that the existing concept does not readily orient researchers toward potentially important variables associated with that very concept. The primary purpose of this article is to engage in this reflection. In particular, we will focus on the link that has been made between rule-governed behavior and derived relational responding, and consider the extent to which it might be useful to supplement talk of rules or instructions with terms that refer to the dynamics of derived relational responding.

Exploring the potential impact of relational coherence on persistent rule-following: The first study.

Rule-governed behavior and derived relational responding have both been identified as important variables in human learning. Recent developments in the relational frame theory (RFT) have outlined a number of key variables of potential importance when analyzing the dynamics involved in derived relational responding. Recent research has explored the impact of one of these variables, level of derivation, on persistent rule-following and implicated another, coherence, as possibly important. However, no research to date has examined the impact of coherence on persistent rule-following directly. Across two experiments, coherence was manipulated through the systematic use of performance feedback, and its impact was examined on persistent rule-following. A training procedure based on the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) was used to establish novel combinatorially entailed relations that manipulated the feedback provided on the trained relations (A-B and B-C) in Experiment 1, and on the untrained, derived relations (A-C) in Experiment 2. One of these relations was then inserted into the rule for responding on a subsequent contingency-switching match-to-sample (MTS) task to assess rule persistence. While no significant differences were found in Experiment 1, the provision or non-provision of feedback had a significant differential impact on rule-persistence in Experiment 2. Specifically, participants in the Feedback group resurged back to the original rule for significantly more responses after demonstrating contingency-sensitive responding than did the No-Feedback group, after the contingency reversal. The results highlight the subtle complexities that appear to be involved in persistent rule-following in the face of reversed reinforcement contingencies.

Exploring the use of pictures of self and other in the IRAP: reflecting upon the emergence of differential trial type effects

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) assesses the relative strength of derived relational responding. A growing body of IRAP research has focused on assessing verbal relations pertaining to the self and others. This preliminary study sought to determine the feasibility of using matched pictures of self and of others across two IRAPs (N= 32). Both the self- and other-IRAPs also presented pictures of pens as the contrast category. The results of the IRAPs were broadly consistent with common-sense expectations. That is, participants confirmed more readily than they denied that a picture of a face was a face and that a picture of a pen was a pen. They also denied more readily than confirmed that a picture of a pen was a face and that a picture of a face was a pen. No significant differences in the sizes of the individual trial type effects, or differences among those effects, emerged between the two (self and other) IRAPs. However, two key differential trial type effects did emerge for both IRAPs, which relate directly to recent and on-going conceptual developments surrounding the IRAP and the analysis of the dynamics of arbitrarily applicable relational responding in general. These developments are considered and discussed in detail toward the end of the article

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Using the Teacher IRAP (T-IRAP) interactive computerized programme to teach complex flexible relational responding with children with diagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

The research used an alternating-treatments design to compare relational responding for five children with diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in two teaching conditions. Both conditions used applied behavior analysis; one was usual tabletop teaching (TT), and one was an interactive computerized teaching program, the Teacher-Implicit Relational Assessment Programme (T-IRAP; Kilroe, Murphy, Barnes-Holmes, & Barnes-Holmes, Behavioral Development Bulletin, 19(2), 60-80, 2014). Relational skills targeted were coordination (same/different), with nonarbitrary and arbitrary stimuli. Participants' relational learning outcomes were compared in terms of speed of responding and accuracy (percentage correct) in T-IRAP and TT conditions. Results showed significantly increased speed for all five participants during T-IRAP teaching across all procedures; however, accuracy was only marginally increased during T-IRAP. Pre- and posttraining comparison of participant scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007), and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990) was conducted. An improvement in raw scores on both measures was evident for one participant who learned complex arbitrary relations; no changes were shown for participants who learned only basic nonarbitrary relations.

Faking a race IRAP effect in the context of single versus multiple label stimuli

In this study, white participants were exposed to a single-label or multiple-label racial bias IRAP before and after a faking instruction (i.e., two exposures to the IRAP). The faking instruction involved asking all participants to imagine that they were a black person when completing the second IRAP. The results indicated that participants produced evidence of pro-white and anti-black biases both before and after receiving the faking instruction. Analyses of variance revealed no main or interaction effects for the single- versus multiple-label variable, and trial-type specific paired t-tests yielded no significant differences between the pre- and post-faking instruction IRAPs. The results were consistent with previous racial bias findings using the IRAP and supported the conclusion that faking only occurs when participants are provided with specific information about the task parameters. Implications for faking research, and the impact of instructions generally, on the IRAP are discussed

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The impact of high versus low levels of derivation for mutually and combinatorially entailed relations on persistent rule-following.

The effects of rules on human behaviour have long been identified as important in the psychological literature. The increasing importance of the dynamics of arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR), with regards to rules, has come to be of particular interest within Relational Frame Theory (RFT). One feature of AARR that previous research has suggested may differentially impact persistent rule-following is level of derivation. However, no published research to date has systematically explored this suggestion. Across two experiments, the impact of levels of derivation was examined on persistent rule-following at two stages of relational development: mutual entailment (Exp. 1) and combinatorial entailment (Exp. 2). A Training IRAP was used to establish a mutually entailed relational network in Experiment 1 and a combinatorially entailed network in Experiment 2, and to train these networks to different levels of derivation. This was followed by a contingency switching Match-to-Sample (MTS) task to assess rule persistence. Results from both experiments were generally consistent with the suggestion that lower levels of derivation produce more persistent rule-following. Unexpectedly, however, the findings from Experiment 1 also indicated that persistence was moderated by the type of novel word employed. Variations in results across both experiments and their implications for future research are discussed.

Narrative: Its Importance in Modern Behavior Analysis and Therapy.

The current article considers how the analysis of language and cognition in RFT may be conceptualized as a multi-dimensional multi-level framework (MDML) for understanding how simple units of analysis specified in RFT connect to more complex units, such as the relating of relational networks, which is seen as critical to narrative and story-telling. A brief outline of the framework is used to illustrate the importance of narrative in the treatment of human psychological suffering. In addition, the development of the concepts of verbal functional analysis and the drill-down are presented as examples of how the therapeutic relationship itself can be understood through the lens of the MDML and RFT more generally.

Derived Stimulus Relations and Their Role in a Behavior-Analytic Account of Human Language and Cognition.

This article describes how the study of derived stimulus relations has provided the basis for a behavior-analytic approach to the study of human language and cognition in purely functional-analytic terms, with a focus on basic rather than applied research. The article begins with a brief history of the early behavior-analytic approach to human language and cognition, focusing on Skinner's (1957) text Verbal Behavior, his subsequent introduction of the concept of instructional control (Skinner, 1966), and Sidman's (1994) seminal research on stimulus equivalence relations. The article then considers how the concept of derived stimulus relations, as conceptualized within relational frame theory (Hayes et al., 2001), allowed researchers to refine and extend the functional approach to language and cognition in multiple ways. Finally, the article considers some recent conceptual and empirical developments that highlight how the concept of derived stimulus relations continues to play a key role in the behavior-analytic study of human language and cognition, particularly implicit cognition. In general, the article aims to provide a particular perspective on how the study of derived stimulus relations has facilitated and enhanced the behavior analysis of human language and cognition, particularly over the past 25-30 years.

Recommendations for using the IRAP with a medicated in-patient population with a diagnosis of psychosis

The current professional interest brief aims to outline the feasibility of using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) in a pilot study of individuals who heard voices and of whom the majority had been given a diagnosis of psychosis, and a comparison sample of non-voice hearing controls against which the clinical data could be compared (clinical voice hearers, N= 9; controls, N= 9). The IRAP assessed acceptance and avoidance of positively versus negatively valenced voices. All clinical participants completed the IRAP in terms of reaching the standard accuracy and latency criteria, thus demonstrating that a clinical (specifically psychosis) sample can complete content-specific IRAPs. Indeed, some procedural modifications were required and these have been outlined in the current manuscript. Preliminary results at both the group and individual levels appear to be in a meaningful direction for the psychosis sample, but not for the controls, which was consistent with our predictions. Our preliminary data support the view that the IRAP may be used effectively with a resident in-patient population (AU)

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Persistent Rule-Following in the Face of Reversed Reinforcement Contingencies: The Differential Impact of Direct Versus Derived Rules.

Rule-governed behavior and its role in generating insensitivity to direct contingencies of reinforcement have been implicated in human psychological suffering. In addition, the human capacity to engage in derived relational responding has also been used to explain specific human maladaptive behaviors, such as irrational fears. To date, however, very little research has attempted to integrate research on contingency insensitivity and derived relations. The current work sought to fill this gap. Across two experiments, participants received either a direct rule (Direct Rule Condition) or a rule that involved a novel derived relational response (Derived Rule Condition). Provision of a direct rule resulted in more persistent rule-following in the face of competing contingencies, but only when the opportunity to follow the reinforced rule beforehand was relatively protracted. Furthermore, only in the Direct Rule Condition were there significant correlations between rule-compliance and stress. A post hoc interpretation of the findings is provided.

Hearing voices, dissociation, and the self: A functional-analytic perspective.

In the current article, we review existing models of the etiology of voice hearing. We summarize the argument and evidence that voice hearing is primarily a dissociative process involving critical aspects of self. We propose a complementary perspective on these phenomena that is based on a modern behavioral account of complex behavior known as relational frame theory. This type of approach to voice hearing concerns itself with the functions served for the individual by this voice hearing; the necessary history, such as trauma, that establishes these functions; and the relevant dissociative processes involving self and others. In short, we propose a trauma-dissociation developmental trajectory in which trauma impacts negatively on the development of self through the process of dissociation. Using the relational frame theory concept of relations of perspective taking, our dissociation model purports that trauma gives rise to more coordination than distinction relations between self and others, thus weakening an individual's sense of a distinct self. Voice hearing experiences, therefore, reflect an individual's perceptions of self and others and may indicate impairments in the natural psychological boundaries between these critical related concepts. One clinical implication suggested by this model is that therapeutic intervention should understand the behaviors associated with a sense of self that is fragile and threatened by others. Relations with self and others should be a key focus of therapy as well as interventions designed to enhance a coherent distinct sense of self.

The Impact of Mindfulness and Perspective-Taking on Implicit Associations Toward the Elderly: a Relational Frame Theory Account.

Perspective-taking interventions have been shown to improve attitudes toward social outgroups. In contrast, similar interventions have produced opposite effects (i.e., enhanced negativity) in the context of attitudes toward elderly groups. The current study investigated whether a brief perspective-taking intervention enhanced with mindfulness would be associated with less negativity than perspective-taking alone. One hundred five participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions which comprised of an active or control perspective-taking component and an active or control mindfulness component. Participants were then administered an Implicit Associated Test to assess implicit biases toward the elderly. Results supported previous findings in that the condition in which perspective-taking was active but mindfulness was inactive was associated with greater negative implicit bias toward the elderly; however, some of this negativity decreased in the active perspective-taking and active mindfulness condition. The current findings and other mixed effects that have emerged from perspective-taking interventions are discussed from a Relational Frame Theory perspective.

Understanding and Remediating Social-Cognitive Dysfunctions in Patients with Serious Mental Illness Using Relational Frame Theory.

Impairments in social cognition and perspective-taking play an important role in the psychopathology and social functioning of individuals with social anxiety, autism, or schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, among other clinical presentations. Perspective-taking has mostly been studied using the concept of Theory of Mind (ToM), which describes the sequential development of these skills in young children, as well as clinical populations experiencing perspective-taking difficulties. Several studies mention positive results of ToM based training programs; however, the precise processes involved in the achievement of these improvements are difficult to determine. Relational Frame Theory (RFT) is a modern behavioral account of complex cognitive functions, and is argued to provide a more precise approach to the assessment and training of perspective-taking, among other relational skills. Results of RFT-based studies of perspective-taking in developmental and clinical settings are discussed. The development of training methods targeting perspective-taking deficits from an RFT point of view appears to provide promising applications for the enhancement of current treatments of people with social-cognitive dysfunctions.

Riding the waves: A functional-cognitive perspective on the relations among behaviour therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy.

Different types of therapy explain psychopathology and the effects of psychotherapy differently. Different explanations are, however, not necessarily mutually exclusive. Based on the idea that functional and cognitive explanations are situated at different levels, we argue that functional therapies such as traditional Behaviour Therapy (BT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are not necessarily incompatible with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). Whether a functional and a cognitive therapy actually align depends on whether they highlight the same type of environmental causes. This functional-cognitive perspective reveals various differences and communalities among BT, CBT and ACT.

Acting in Light of the Future: How Do Future-Oriented Cultural Practices Evolve and How Can We Accelerate Their Evolution?

Despite extensive knowledge of how to prevent or ameliorate serious diseases, natural disasters, environmental degradation, and a wide range of other problems, we often fail to take action that that would prevent or mitigate these problematic outcomes. In short, although we may have sound scientific knowledge about threats to future wellbeing, we appear to have limited insight into how to benefit from this knowledge. With this paper, we argue that our current scientific understanding of how to act in light of the future is limited, but we offer a theoretical analysis of future-oriented behavior at both individual and organizational levels. Specifically, the paper draws on a functional contextualist account of human language and cognition, Relational Frame Theory (RFT), and its integrated therapeutic approach, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and extends this framework to analyzing the evolution of the practices of groups and organizations. This framework can provide an understanding of how human behavior may be modified in the present to serve improving human wellbeing in the future at individual, organizational, and even national levels.

Comparison of acceptance and distraction strategies in coping with experimentally induced pain.

BACKGROUND: This study compared an acceptance-based strategy with a control-based strategy (distraction) in terms of the ability of participants to tolerate a painful stimulus, across two experiments. In addition, participants were either actively encouraged, or not, to link pain tolerance with pursuit of valued goals to examine the impact of pursuing a personally meaningful goal or value on the extent to which pain will be tolerated. METHODS: Participants in experiment 1 (n=41) and experiment 2 (n=52) were equally assigned to acceptance or distraction protocols. Further, half the participants in each group generated examples from their own lives in which they had pursued a valued objective, while the other half did not. In experiment 2, the values focus was enhanced to examine the impact on pain tolerance. RESULTS: There were no significant differences overall between the acceptance and distraction groups on pain tolerance in either experiment. However, in experiment 2, individuals classified as accepting in terms of general coping style and who were assigned to the acceptance strategy showed significantly better pain tolerance than accepting individuals who were in the distraction condition. Across both experiments, those with strong goal-driven values in both protocols were more tolerant of pain. Participants appeared to have more difficulty adhering to acceptance than to distraction as a strategy. CONCLUSION: Acceptance may be associated with better tolerance of pain, but may also be more difficult to operationalize than distraction in experimental studies. Matching coping style and coping strategy may be most effective, and enhancement of goal-driven values may assist in pain coping.