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| Int'l Symposium - Derived Relational Research and Education |
| Monday, May 31, 2004 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| Hampton |
| Area: DEV/EAB; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Louise A. Mchugh (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Establishing Derived Relational Responding with Young Children Using a Multiple Exemplar Procedure |
| NICHOLAS M. BERENS (University of Nevada, Reno), Steven C. Hayes (University of Nevada, Reno), Eden M. Beesley (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: Relational Frame Theory (RFT) views derived relational responding as operant behavior. If this proposition is correct then it should be possible to establish derived relational responding with reinforcement procedures when it has been determined that such responding does not exist in an individual's repertoire. The current study investigated the use of a multiple exemplar procedure to facilitate the development of derived relational responding in accordance with a frame of comparison. Four participants (ages 3.5 - 5) were exposed to a multiple exemplar procedure designed to target MORE-THAN and LESS-THAN relations across a variety of situations. The experimental design involved a multiple baseline across participants embedded within a multiple baseline within participants across stimulus sets. |
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| Using Relational Frame Theory to Train the Comparative Terms "Better" and "Worse" to Children Diagnosed with Autism |
| CYNTHIA R. BLACKLEDGE (Spectrum Center), John Tanner Blackledge (Spectrum Center) |
| Abstract: Children diagnosed with autism have a long history of benefiting from language training based on a Skinnerian account of verbal behavior. In past years, such children have also benefited from language training procedures based on stimulus equivalence principles. More recently, language training procedures based on Relational Frame Theory have been applied to children with developmental disabilities, including children diagnosed with autism. The present study uses RFT principles to teach such children to apply the relational responses of "better" and "worse" to stimuli determined through individual stimulus preference assessments to have varying degrees of reinforcing functions. Since comparative language exemplified by relational responses like better and worse play a huge role in language, it is suspected that fluency with such responses would serve these children well. It is also suspected that such an experiment will provide a useful applied test of the tenets of Relational Frame Theory. Three children varying in age from 7 to 14 years were able to apply the terms "better" and "worse to differentially preferred formal stimuli with 100 % accuracy after training on 3-5 sets of stimuli. The next stage of the experiment will assess the participants' ability to apply these terms to abstract stimulus properties. |
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| Equivalence Performances and the PPVT-III |
| CHRISTINA A. ASHFORD (West Virginia University), Carol Pilgrim (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) |
| Abstract: The present study examined the relation between prerequisites to equivalence responding and developmental delay as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition (PPVT-III), a widely used measure of receptive language. Following administration of the PPVT-III, eleven participants diagnosed with developmental disabilities received arbitrary conditional discrimination training with class-specific, partially class-specific, or non-class-specific compound reinforcers. Upon acquisition of two conditional discriminations, participants received testing for emergent equivalence relations. The number of sessions required to meet acquisition criteria for the first conditional discrimination was positively correlated with PPVT-III developmental delay. All participants who met acquisition criteria for arbitrary conditional discriminations showed emergent equivalence relations in subsequent testing. These findings are consistent with the position that equivalence responding and human language are linked, although the nature of this link is still unclear. Relations between equivalence responding and measures of receptive language such as the PPVT-III may prove interesting and useful in the development of special teaching procedures for individuals with developmental disabilities. |
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| Training Theory of Mind in the Behavioral Laboratory |
| LOUISE A. MCHUGH (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Yvonne Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Dermot Barnes-Holmes (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) |
| Abstract: Complex cogntive phenomena such as perspective-taking and deception have attracted the attention of mainstream developmental psychologists for a number of years due to their link with autistic spectrum disorders. According to Relational Frame Theory, a functional analytic account of language and cognition, the deictic relational frames of I and YOU, HERE and THERE, NOW and THEN, and logical NOT are central to the development of these complex cognitive skills. In the current study four 3-6 year old children were trained directly through multiple exemplars in these deictic frames. The findings suggest that behaviour analysis may have an important contribution to make to the study of cognitive phenomena such as perspective-taking and deception. It is hoped that this work may help in designing effective interventions for remediating deficits in perspective-taking and deception in populations such as those diagnosed with autism. |
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