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In hierarchical responding, classes of stimuli (e.g., granite or marble) are grouped into broader classes (e.g., rocks), and these broader classes can be further grouped into even broader classes (e.g., minerals). Relational Frame Theory (RFT) conceptualizes a hierarchical network as a derived relational response in which specific stimuli (is part of, belongs to, ...) called relational cues are learned through multiple examples with non-arbitrary functions among stimuli, which are subsequently applied to relate stimuli arbitrarily. This experiment analyzes the circumstances under which derived hierarchical responses might be brought under experimental control. A total of 9 adults took part in the experiment. Participants were familiarized with the tasks and experimental procedure in the first phase. In the second phase, four relational cues were trained: Sameness (Sa), Distinction (Di), Inclusion-Sameness (IncSa), and Inclusion-Distinction (IncDi). In the third phase, four arbitrary networks were trained using the four cues, one per cue, respectively, and functions were assigned to different stimuli of the four networks. Finally, derived relations and functions were tested for each network. Six out of nine participants correctly responded to all tests, two partially, and one failed. The study extends the previous research regarding derived hierarchical responding in terms of the complexity of the derived patterns shown in the networks. Implications and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary behavior analytic research is making headway in analyzing analogy as the establishment of a relation of coordination among common types of trained or derived relations. Previous studies have been focused on within-domain analogy. The current study expands previous research by analyzing cross-domain analogy as relating relations among separate relational networks and by correlating participants' performance with a standard measure of analogical reasoning. In two experiments, adult participants first completed general intelligence and analogical reasoning tests. Subsequently, they were exposed to a computerized conditional discrimination training procedure designed to create two relational networks, each consisting of two 3-member equivalence classes. The critical test was a two-part analogical test in which participants had to relate combinatorial relations of coordination and distinction between the two relational networks. In Experiment 1, combinatorial relations for each network were individually tested prior to analogical testing, but in Experiment 2 they were not. Across both experiments, 65% of participants passed the analogical test on the first attempt. Moreover, results from the training procedure were strongly correlated with the standard measure of analogical reasoning. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

Worry is a form of negative and repetitive thinking and as a psychological process it is transdiagnostic to the maintenance of various mental disorders (APA, 2013). Following preliminary research, this exploratory study investigated the effects of a short protocol based on relational frame theory (RFT), which was focused on interrupting repetitive negative thinking (RNT) to reduce emotional symptoms and promote increased psychological flexibility. In this exploratory study, which was a foundation for a larger randomised controlled clinical trial, the protocol was implemented in a group format, in contrast to previous studies in which it was administered on an individual basis. Three subjects (M = 2; F = 1), on average aged 24 years, participated in the study on a voluntary basis. To assess their mental health, all participants completed a battery of questionnaires consisting of: SCL-90, MPFI, VAS, MAAS and I-CFQ at baseline, at the end of treatment and after 1 and 3 months of follow-up. All subjects showed significant levels of change, both in reduction of emotional symptoms and increase of psychological flexibility, at the end of the intervention. However, only one out of three maintained these results at follow-up, while in the other two there was a trend back to baseline levels, although not complete and not in all scales and subscales. Data show similar trends to those obtained from other ACT protocols focused on RNT interruption (Ruiz et al., 2019) for both primary outcome measures (SCL-90, MPFI global scales and VAS) and secondary outcome measures (MPFI, MAAS and I-CFQ subscales scores). The overall effects found in the present study are consistent with the research hypothesis and show that short protocols of only three meetings based on RFT could be effective in promoting rumination cessation and simultaneously promote psychological flexibility, within a group context as well. More extensive studies are desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study was to analyze the effect of different types of framing one's own behavior, as in defusion interactions, on performance in several experimental tasks. For this purpose, in Phase 1 (or pretest), 34 participants performed two experimental tasks that induced discomfort. In Phase 2, participants were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental protocols: the Defusion I protocol was basically made up of deictic framing interactions--I/You, Here/There, Now/Then--to promote flexibility in perspective taking of the psychological content; the Defusion II protocol incorporated not only deictic framing but also hierarchical framing to promote a perspective where the psychological content is experienced in a hierarchical relation with the deictic ''I' and several cues to specify the regulatory or augmental function; and the Control protocol did not include any active protocol component. Finally, in Phase 3 (or posttest), participants repeated the two experimental tasks. Results indicate that all participants' performance increased after the intervention. However, the superiority of Defusion II condition was shown. Conclusions of the current study are focused on the type of framing involved in the so-called defusion interactions that ensure its efficacy, supported by the improvement of performance observed. Keywords Defusion * ACT * RFT * Performance * Psychological flexibility, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) is a contextual therapy that is becoming the most empirically supported in various clinical areas. The ACT model aims to [...]

Previous research has suggested that brief protocols based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are efficacious in improving elite chess players' performance without clinical problems. These promising results warranted the examination of the effect of longer ACT interventions with chess players suffering from emotional difficulties. This study advances in this direction by presenting two case studies of elite chess players experiencing anxiety disorders. Each participant was matched to a control participant with similar characteristics. The ACT interventions were conducted in 5 sessions and with occasional follow-ups during the following year. The primary dependent variable was an objective measure of chess performance (ELO Performance). Data analysis was conducted using the JZS+AR Bayesian hypothesis testing for single-case designs and the nonparametric Tau-U statistic. Control participants did not significantly improve their chess performance during the follow-up, but chess players who received the intervention showed significant increases in their performance. Both treated participants experienced clinically significant reductions in symptomatology and improved valued living after the intervention. This study provides empirical evidence regarding the potential benefit of applying ACT to improve chess performance in players with clinical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared an individual, 4-hr intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) versus a no-contact control condition in improving the performance of international-level chess players. Five participants received the brief ACT protocol, with each matched to another chess player with similar characteristics in the control condition. Experimental participants showed significant reductions in the believability and interference of general, unpleasant private events during competitions as well as reductions in the frequency of the treated counterproductive reactions to private events (FCR). Also, as indicated by an objective chess performance measure (ELO performance), all participants in the experimental condition improved their performance during the 7 months after the ACT protocol in comparison to the 7 months prior; however, none of the control participants improved their chess performance. Pretreatment levels and initial changes in FCR and believability significantly predicted the effect sizes on chess performance in the experimental condition. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This study aimed to isolate the conditions under which aversive stimulation is experienced as more or less discomforting/unpleasant. Discomfort was induced by playing loud noises through headphones while participants performed computer tasks. We employed 4 main conditions. Condition 1: the acceptance-based protocol (ACT), intended to integrate discomfort in a valued direction, was implemented before the Inclusion Task (task performance could continue despite the presence of the noise). Subsequently, the experiential avoidance-based protocol (EA), intended to promote a relation of opposition between discomfort and valued actions, was implemented before the Opposition Task (task performance was suspended until the participants eliminated the sounds). Condition 2: this order was reversed. Conditions 3 and 4: the tasks were presented without any protocol. The ACT protocol produced the lowest level of discomfort, particularly when it was implemented before participants had experimental experience in trying to control discomfort. Two postcontrol conditions confirmed this result. Implications for prevention and treatment of psychological suffering are discussed. (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)

The present study investigates the transfer of aversively conditioned respondent elicitation through equivalence classes, using skin conductance as the measure of conditioning. The first experiment is an attempt to replicate Experiment 1 in Dougher, Augustson, Markham, Greenway, and Wulfert (1994), with different temporal parameters in the aversive conditioning procedure employed. Match-to-sample procedures were used to teach 17 participants two 4-member equivalence classes. Then, one member of one class was paired with electric shock and one member of the other class was presented without shock. The remaining stimuli from each class were presented in transfer tests. Unlike the findings in the original study, transfer of conditioning was not achieved. In Experiment 2, similar procedures were used with 30 participants, although several modifications were introduced (formation of five-member classes, direct conditioning with several elements of each class, random sequences of stimulus presentation in transfer tests, reversal in aversive conditioning contingencies). More than 80% of participants who had shown differential conditioning also showed the transfer of function effect. Moreover, this effect was replicated within subjects for 3 participants. This is the first demonstration of the transfer of aversive respondent elicitation through stimulus equivalence classes with the presentation of transfer test trials in random order. The latter prevents the possibility that transfer effects are an artefact of transfer test presentation order. (Contains 5 tables, 8 figures, and 2 footnotes.)

This study compares the effect of an acceptance-based protocol (ACT) and a cognitive control-based (CONT) protocol on three measures of pain coping: tolerance, self-report, and believability. Specific methodological controls were employed to further isolate the role of the value of participating in a pain task, compared to previous investigations on the alteration of the function of aversive stimulation. Twenty participants were randomly assigned to one of the conditions (ACT vs. CONT), and a pre-post design was used. In the ACT condition, the protocol established a relation of coordination between the pain-related thoughts and the actions in the valued direction. In the CONT condition, the protocol established a relation of opposition between the same aspects. Results show an increase in pain tolerance and a reduction of self-reported pain at posttest for both conditions. However, ACT participants showed significantly lower believability of pain than did CONT participants. Conceptual and clinical implications are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The conditions under which symmetry and equivalence relations develop are still controversial. This paper reports three experiments that attempt to analyze the impact of multiple-exemplar training (MET) in receptive symmetry on the emergence of visual-visual equivalence relations with a very young child, Gloria. At the age of 15 months 24 days (15m24d), Gloria was tested for receptive symmetry and naming and showed no evidence of either repertoire. In the first experiment, MET in immediate and delayed receptive symmetrical responding or listener behavior (from object-sound to immediate and delayed sound-object selection) proceeded for one month with 10 different objects. This was followed, at 16m25d, by a second test conducted with six new objects. Gloria showed generalized receptive symmetry with a 3-hr delay; however no evidence of naming with new objects was found. Experiment 2 began at 17m with the aim of establishing derived visual-visual equivalence relations using a matching-to-sample format with two comparisons. Visual-visual equivalence responding emerged at 19m, although Gloria still had not shown evidence of naming. Experiment 3 (22m to 23m25d) used a three-comparison matching-to-sample procedure to establish visual-visual equivalence. Equivalence responding emerged as in Experiment 2, and naming emerged by the end of Experiment 3. Results are discussed in terms of the history of training in bidirectional relations responsible for the emergence of visual-visual equivalence relations and of their implications for current theories of stimulus equivalence. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures and 1 footnote.)

The motivational function exerted by verbal antecedents has been extensively approached from a theoretical perspective and within the direct conditioning paradigm. However, there is little research concerning the alteration of the motivational function via verbal means. The current study presents 2 consecutive experiments in which the role of the verbal context in the alteration of different motivational states was examined. In the first experiment, a protocol consisting of a story about feeling hot and thirsty was administered individually to 5 children, 6 to 7 years old. After the implementation of the protocol, all children reported feeling thirstier than before the implementation and behaved in accordance with this report. In the second experiment with 5 other children, this effect was replicated with a different motivational state (physical restriction). More importantly, in a second phase with the same children, the effect was prevented when the thirst protocol was presented in a verbal context that was incoherent with feeling thirsty. Several verbal contexts in altering motivational functions, as well as some clinical implications, are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)

The purpose of the current experiment was to investigate the role of private verbal behavior on the operant performances of human adults, using a protocol analysis procedure with additional methodological controls (the "silent dog" method). Twelve subjects were exposed to fixed ratio 8 and differential reinforcement of low rate 3-s schedules. For 6 subjects, verbal self-reports were recorded concurrently during exposure to the reinforcement schedules. Results showed a significant relationship between certain types of rules and task performances, and especially between counting and schedule-sensitive performance. A detailed analysis also suggested that counting facilitated the discrimination of programmed contingencies in the current task. Suggestions are offered for further research involving the use of the protocol analysis methodology.

TORNEKE, N. (2010) Learning RFT: An Introduction to Relational Frame Theory and Its Clinical Application Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications 267 pages, ISBN 978-1-57224-906-6 This book establishes a bridge between [...]

The current study compared the effects of an acceptance versus distraction rationale on coping with experimentally induced pain. Eighty participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: Full-Acceptance, Full-Distraction, Instruction-only-Acceptance, Instruction-only-Distraction and No-Instructions. Participants completed a simple matching task and were intermittently given the choice either to receive an electric shock and continue, or to avoid the shock and terminate the task. Only the Full-Acceptance strategy (that included experiential exercises and a metaphor) had a significant effect on task tolerance as measured by an increase in the number of shocks delivered post-intervention relative to baseline. In addition, the participants in both of the acceptance conditions showed lower levels of believability in that they were more likely to continue with the task even when reporting more pain. The results support the prediction that acceptance-based interventions work by undermining the behavioural-control functions of pain-related thoughts and feelings, and call for a systematic analysis of how metaphors and exercises work in analogue research. Keywords: Experimental pain; Acceptance; Distraction; Instruction following; Electric shocks

In Experiment 1, participants high (n = 15) or low in avoidance (n = 14), as measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, completed a simple matching task that required them to choose whether or not to look at an aversive visual image. Only the high-avoidance participants took longer to emit a correct response that produced an aversive rather than a neutral picture. Additionally, the high-avoiders reported greater levels of anxiety following the experiment even though they rated the aversive images as less unpleasant and less emotionally arousing than their low-avoidant counterparts. In Experiment 2, three groups, representing high-, mid- and low-avoidance (n = 6 in each) repeated the matching task with the additional recording of event-related potentials (ERPs). The findings of Experiment 1 were replicated in terms of reaction times and subjective ratings. The ERPs confirmed that the participants attended to the content of the images and differentiated between the aversive and neutral image types. The ERPs also showed significantly greater negativity for electrodes over the left hemisphere relative to the midline for only the high-experiential avoidance (EA) group. Given the left hemisphere dominance for language, the data suggest that the high-EA group engaged in verbal strategies to regulate their emotional responses. Keywords: Experiential avoidance; Event-related potentials; International affective picture system; Acceptance and action questionnaire

This study compares specific acceptance-based strategies and cognitive-control-based strategies for coping with experimentally induced pain. Forty participants were randomly assigned to an acceptance-based protocol (ACT), the goal of which was to disconnect pain-related thoughts and feelings from literal actions, or to a control-based protocol (CONT) that focused on changing or controlling pain-related thoughts and feelings. Participants took part in a nonsense-syllables-matching task that involved successive exposures to increasingly painful shocks. In both conditions, the task involved an overall value-oriented context that encouraged the participants to continue with the task despite the exposure to pain. At times throughout the task, participants were asked to choose to continue with the task and be shocked or stop the task and avoid being shocked. Each choice had specific costs and benefits. Participants performed the task twice, both before and after receiving the assigned experimental protocol. Two measures were obtained at pre- and post-intervention: tolerance of the shocks and self-reports of pain. ACT participants showed significantly higher tolerance to pain and lower believability of experienced pain compared to the CONT condition. Conceptual and clinical implications are discussed.