Related to Anxiety: Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding and Experimental Psychopathology Research on Fear and Avoidance

Humans have an unparalleled ability to engage in arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). One of the consequences of this ability to spontaneously combine and relate events from the past, present, and future may, in fact, be a propensity to suffer. For instance, maladaptive fear and avoidance of remote or derived threats may actually perpetuate anxiety. In this narrative review, we consider contemporary AARR research on fear and avoidance as it relates to anxiety. We first describe laboratory-based research on the emergent spread of fear- and avoidance-eliciting functions in humans. Next, we consider the validity of AARR research on fear and avoidance and address the therapeutic implications of the work. Finally, we outline challenges and opportunities for a greater synthesis between behavior analysis research on AARR and experimental psychopathology

Understanding and remediating social-cognitive dysfunctions in patients with serious mental illness using Relational Frame Theory

Contains fulltext : 155892.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)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 RI-I -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.7 p

Assessing psychological inflexibility pertaining to self in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder using an indirect measure of (nonassociative) propositions

Relational frame theory (RFT) is a modern behavioral account of human language and cognition, which focuses on relations or propositions, rather than associations, as core explanatory constructs. In an attempt to measure such propositions, RFT researchers have developed the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP). It has been argued that the size of an IRAP effect may provide a metric for psychological inflexibility. The current study aimed to determine whether psychological inflexibility, as measured by the self-focused Natural Language-IRAP (NL-IRAP), would be higher in a clinical sample of individuals with a diagnosis of PTSD (N=29) when compared to a non-clinical sample. Subsequently, the study investigated whether the self-focused NL-IRAP could be used to predict the presence of a clinical diagnosis, using a ROC analysis. As predicted, higher levels of psychological inflexibility were observed for the clinical group. The self-focused NL-IRAP also correctly classified the presence of PTSD (AUC = 76%) with a sensitivity level of 79.3% and a specificity level of 59.2%.Overall, the use of the IRAP as a non-associative clinical measure appears promising

Social cognition and perspective taking in psychosis: Assessing deictic relational responding in psychosis using the IRAP

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The relationship between Theory of Mind and Relational Frame Theory: Convergence of perspective-taking measures

Contains fulltext : 158908.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Objective: Perspective-taking difficulties have been demonstrated in autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, among other clinical presentations, and are traditionally examined from a Theory of Mind (ToM) point of view. Relational Frame Theory (RFT) offers a behavioural and contextual interpretation of perspective-taking, proposing that this ability can be studied in more detail by examining specific perspective-taking relations. To implement relational perspective-taking measures in clinical practice, it is important to gain more knowledge about how these relate to traditional measures of perspective-taking. Method: The current study is focused on the relation between the Barnes-Holmes relational perspective-taking protocol and both the Faux-pas and the Strange Stories tests, in a sample of healthy controls and individuals with an anxiety disorder or psychotic disorder. The work expands upon earlier research in this field. Results: Our results showed that, across the whole sample, the Barnes-Holmes protocol was positively correlated with both the Faux-pas and the Strange Stories tests. Furthermore, the Barnes-Holmes protocol was found to predict ToM performance. Correlations between the Strange Stories test and the Barnes-Holmes protocol were non-significant when we corrected for intelligence. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that relational perspective-taking is strongly related to ToM performances. Results are compared to other RFT studies and implications for clinical practice are discussed.7 p

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

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

Contains fulltext : 175905.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)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.9 p

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