Assessing the Efficacy of a Relational Skills Training Intervention in Improving Intellectual Function in a Sample of High IQ Adults

Recent advances in Relational Frame Theory have proposed that levels of sophistication with relational concepts may be of fundamental importance to intelligent behaviour. Furthermore, previous investigations have implicated the efficacy of relational skills intervention in improving intellectual performance, as measured by traditional IQ assessments. The current thesis aimed to extend upon such research by further assessing the contribution of relational ability to intelligence, as well as the effect of relational skills training on intellectual performance. In the first study, thirty-four high IQ college students were recruited to assess the effectiveness of a relational training protocol in increasing WAIS-III IQ scores when compared to a non-intervention group. The current analysis failed to report a significant effect of relational training in increasing scores on the Full, Verbal or Performance IQ. While there was a significant effect of training on Verbal Comprehension scores, this effect was not found for the other IQ subindices. The second study involved a correlational analysis of WAIS-III IQ scores and relational ability scores. Results indicated a high level of correlation between these measures, further proposing the importance of relational responding to intelligence. In addition, this investigation aimed to further explore possible reasons for the diminished effect of relational training in improving intellectual performance in the first study. It must be noted that while pronounced practice effects found for the control group rendered betweengroup differences insignificant, there were qualitatively different rises witnessed in subtest scores. Specifically, while both groups displayed significant increases on subtests that involved a timed element, only the experimental group displayed significant increases on untimed subtests. Furthermore, high IQ was not found to significantly correlate with postintervention IQ rises. However, the current sample displayed IQ gains significantly lower than that witnessed in average IQ cohorts. While the current analysis identifies a number of possible boundary conditions of the current intervention, much remains to be understood in terms of variables that may exert an influence on the effectiveness of relational training in improving intellectual performance

Relational Skills and Intelligence: Developing a Functional Account of Intellectual Performance and its Enhancement

Recent research has implicated the potential utility of reconceptualising general intelligence as representing proficiency in a behavioural skillset known as relational responding. Indeed, a growing literature base proposes that many of the competencies that are traditionally conceived to comprise ‘intelligence’ can actually be understood from this more functional perspective. In addition, as these relational skills are inherently malleable and open to amelioration, a number of analyses have suggested that intellectual function can be improved by training and targeting these skills. In light of this emerging research stream, the current thesis entailed two primary aims: 1) to assess the efficacy of relational skills training in improving intellectual and academic performance and 2) to further investigate the relationship between the wider range of relational frames and intellectual function as a potential means of developing a functional alternative to traditional IQ assessments based on behaviour-analytic principles. In Experiment 1, the efficacy of the SMART program in significantly improving relational responding proficiency was confirmed, using a large sample of Irish secondary school students. Experiment 2 extended upon this finding by analysing the utility of this program in improving intellectual performance using a single-blind randomised controlled trial, reporting significant gains in Full-Scale, Verbal and Performance IQ. As pre-intervention levels of relational ability were found to be an important determinant of post-intervention outcomes, Experiment 3 endeavoured to further investigate this pattern by administering SMART to the youngest, normally-developing sample to date using a crossover design. Statistical analyses revealed the apparent delimiting impact of low levels of intellectual ability at baseline, with only a small proportion of the sample completing the training program within a 4-month period. In light of this finding, Experiment 4 represented the first analysis of the SMART: Remedial system, a training protocol specifically designed to establish the arbitrarily applicable relational skills deemed prerequisite for the main SMART program, as a means of allowing younger children, and those with lower levels of relational skill/intellectual performance to access the benefits the SMART program may provide. Results indicated that such skills were successfully established in a sample of children presenting with additional educational needs and below-average IQ. Due to the recurrent finding that SMART is an efficacious means of improving intellectual function, Experiment 5 assessed the impact of this training on academic performance in a large sample of secondary school students. SMART was found to produce significant improvements on the Irish Department of Education’s academic aptitude assessment of choice, the Drumcondra Reasoning Tests. Experiments 6 & 7 aimed to elucidate the relationship between specific frames of relational responding and intellectual skills by administering two relational skills assessments alongside gold-standard metrics of intellectual performance. Such analyses identified the relational frames of coordination, opposition and comparison as being most closely associated to intellectual function. In addition, such analyses provide important insights into the role of analogical and deictic relational responding in intellectual performance. The results of the current thesis combine to suggest that relational skills interventions may facilitate potentially life-changing improvements in both intellectual and academic performance at a level of magnitude and consistency that has not been replicated by other ‘cognitive enhancement’ protocols. In addition, the insights gleaned from the current set of analyses add further weight to the suggestion that intelligence may be reconsidered as a clearly-defined, functionally-understood, and malleable behavioural repertoire, rather than an invariant, trait-based, mentalistic construct

Relational Skills and Intelligence: Developing a Functional Account of Intellectual Performance and its Enhancement

Recent research has implicated the potential utility of reconceptualising general intelligence as representing proficiency in a behavioural skillset known as relational responding. Indeed, a growing literature base proposes that many of the competencies that are traditionally conceived to comprise ‘intelligence’ can actually be understood from this more functional perspective. In addition, as these relational skills are inherently malleable and open to amelioration, a number of analyses have suggested that intellectual function can be improved by training and targeting these skills. In light of this emerging research stream, the current thesis entailed two primary aims: 1) to assess the efficacy of relational skills training in improving intellectual and academic performance and 2) to further investigate the relationship between the wider range of relational frames and intellectual function as a potential means of developing a functional alternative to traditional IQ assessments based on behaviour-analytic principles. In Experiment 1, the efficacy of the SMART program in significantly improving relational responding proficiency was confirmed, using a large sample of Irish secondary school students. Experiment 2 extended upon this finding by analysing the utility of this program in improving intellectual performance using a single-blind randomised controlled trial, reporting significant gains in Full-Scale, Verbal and Performance IQ. As pre-intervention levels of relational ability were found to be an important determinant of post-intervention outcomes, Experiment 3 endeavoured to further investigate this pattern by administering SMART to the youngest, normally-developing sample to date using a crossover design. Statistical analyses revealed the apparent delimiting impact of low levels of intellectual ability at baseline, with only a small proportion of the sample completing the training program within a 4-month period. In light of this finding, Experiment 4 represented the first analysis of the SMART: Remedial system, a training protocol specifically designed to establish the arbitrarily applicable relational skills deemed prerequisite for the main SMART program, as a means of allowing younger children, and those with lower levels of relational skill/intellectual performance to access the benefits the SMART program may provide. Results indicated that such skills were successfully established in a sample of children presenting with additional educational needs and below-average IQ. Due to the recurrent finding that SMART is an efficacious means of improving intellectual function, Experiment 5 assessed the impact of this training on academic performance in a large sample of secondary school students. SMART was found to produce significant improvements on the Irish Department of Education’s academic aptitude assessment of choice, the Drumcondra Reasoning Tests. Experiments 6 & 7 aimed to elucidate the relationship between specific frames of relational responding and intellectual skills by administering two relational skills assessments alongside gold-standard metrics of intellectual performance. Such analyses identified the relational frames of coordination, opposition and comparison as being most closely associated to intellectual function. In addition, such analyses provide important insights into the role of analogical and deictic relational responding in intellectual performance. The results of the current thesis combine to suggest that relational skills interventions may facilitate potentially life-changing improvements in both intellectual and academic performance at a level of magnitude and consistency that has not been replicated by other ‘cognitive enhancement’ protocols. In addition, the insights gleaned from the current set of analyses add further weight to the suggestion that intelligence may be reconsidered as a clearly-defined, functionally-understood, and malleable behavioural repertoire, rather than an invariant, trait-based, mentalistic construct

Assessing the Efficacy of a Relational Skills Training Intervention in Improving Intellectual Function in a Sample of High IQ Adults

Recent advances in Relational Frame Theory have proposed that levels of sophistication with relational concepts may be of fundamental importance to intelligent behaviour. Furthermore, previous investigations have implicated the efficacy of relational skills intervention in improving intellectual performance, as measured by traditional IQ assessments. The current thesis aimed to extend upon such research by further assessing the contribution of relational ability to intelligence, as well as the effect of relational skills training on intellectual performance. In the first study, thirty-four high IQ college students were recruited to assess the effectiveness of a relational training protocol in increasing WAIS-III IQ scores when compared to a non-intervention group. The current analysis failed to report a significant effect of relational training in increasing scores on the Full, Verbal or Performance IQ. While there was a significant effect of training on Verbal Comprehension scores, this effect was not found for the other IQ subindices. The second study involved a correlational analysis of WAIS-III IQ scores and relational ability scores. Results indicated a high level of correlation between these measures, further proposing the importance of relational responding to intelligence. In addition, this investigation aimed to further explore possible reasons for the diminished effect of relational training in improving intellectual performance in the first study. It must be noted that while pronounced practice effects found for the control group rendered betweengroup differences insignificant, there were qualitatively different rises witnessed in subtest scores. Specifically, while both groups displayed significant increases on subtests that involved a timed element, only the experimental group displayed significant increases on untimed subtests. Furthermore, high IQ was not found to significantly correlate with postintervention IQ rises. However, the current sample displayed IQ gains significantly lower than that witnessed in average IQ cohorts. While the current analysis identifies a number of possible boundary conditions of the current intervention, much remains to be understood in terms of variables that may exert an influence on the effectiveness of relational training in improving intellectual performance

Assessing the Efficacy of a Relational Skills Training Intervention in Improving Intellectual Function in a Sample of High IQ Adults

Recent advances in Relational Frame Theory have proposed that levels of sophistication with relational concepts may be of fundamental importance to intelligent behaviour. Furthermore, previous investigations have implicated the efficacy of relational skills intervention in improving intellectual performance, as measured by traditional IQ assessments. The current thesis aimed to extend upon such research by further assessing the contribution of relational ability to intelligence, as well as the effect of relational skills training on intellectual performance. In the first study, thirty-four high IQ college students were recruited to assess the effectiveness of a relational training protocol in increasing WAIS-III IQ scores when compared to a non-intervention group. The current analysis failed to report a significant effect of relational training in increasing scores on the Full, Verbal or Performance IQ. While there was a significant effect of training on Verbal Comprehension scores, this effect was not found for the other IQ subindices. The second study involved a correlational analysis of WAIS-III IQ scores and relational ability scores. Results indicated a high level of correlation between these measures, further proposing the importance of relational responding to intelligence. In addition, this investigation aimed to further explore possible reasons for the diminished effect of relational training in improving intellectual performance in the first study. It must be noted that while pronounced practice effects found for the control group rendered betweengroup differences insignificant, there were qualitatively different rises witnessed in subtest scores. Specifically, while both groups displayed significant increases on subtests that involved a timed element, only the experimental group displayed significant increases on untimed subtests. Furthermore, high IQ was not found to significantly correlate with postintervention IQ rises. However, the current sample displayed IQ gains significantly lower than that witnessed in average IQ cohorts. While the current analysis identifies a number of possible boundary conditions of the current intervention, much remains to be understood in terms of variables that may exert an influence on the effectiveness of relational training in improving intellectual performance

Relational Skills and Intelligence: Developing a Functional Account of Intellectual Performance and its Enhancement

Recent research has implicated the potential utility of reconceptualising general intelligence as representing proficiency in a behavioural skillset known as relational responding. Indeed, a growing literature base proposes that many of the competencies that are traditionally conceived to comprise ‘intelligence’ can actually be understood from this more functional perspective. In addition, as these relational skills are inherently malleable and open to amelioration, a number of analyses have suggested that intellectual function can be improved by training and targeting these skills. In light of this emerging research stream, the current thesis entailed two primary aims: 1) to assess the efficacy of relational skills training in improving intellectual and academic performance and 2) to further investigate the relationship between the wider range of relational frames and intellectual function as a potential means of developing a functional alternative to traditional IQ assessments based on behaviour-analytic principles. In Experiment 1, the efficacy of the SMART program in significantly improving relational responding proficiency was confirmed, using a large sample of Irish secondary school students. Experiment 2 extended upon this finding by analysing the utility of this program in improving intellectual performance using a single-blind randomised controlled trial, reporting significant gains in Full-Scale, Verbal and Performance IQ. As pre-intervention levels of relational ability were found to be an important determinant of post-intervention outcomes, Experiment 3 endeavoured to further investigate this pattern by administering SMART to the youngest, normally-developing sample to date using a crossover design. Statistical analyses revealed the apparent delimiting impact of low levels of intellectual ability at baseline, with only a small proportion of the sample completing the training program within a 4-month period. In light of this finding, Experiment 4 represented the first analysis of the SMART: Remedial system, a training protocol specifically designed to establish the arbitrarily applicable relational skills deemed prerequisite for the main SMART program, as a means of allowing younger children, and those with lower levels of relational skill/intellectual performance to access the benefits the SMART program may provide. Results indicated that such skills were successfully established in a sample of children presenting with additional educational needs and below-average IQ. Due to the recurrent finding that SMART is an efficacious means of improving intellectual function, Experiment 5 assessed the impact of this training on academic performance in a large sample of secondary school students. SMART was found to produce significant improvements on the Irish Department of Education’s academic aptitude assessment of choice, the Drumcondra Reasoning Tests. Experiments 6 & 7 aimed to elucidate the relationship between specific frames of relational responding and intellectual skills by administering two relational skills assessments alongside gold-standard metrics of intellectual performance. Such analyses identified the relational frames of coordination, opposition and comparison as being most closely associated to intellectual function. In addition, such analyses provide important insights into the role of analogical and deictic relational responding in intellectual performance. The results of the current thesis combine to suggest that relational skills interventions may facilitate potentially life-changing improvements in both intellectual and academic performance at a level of magnitude and consistency that has not been replicated by other ‘cognitive enhancement’ protocols. In addition, the insights gleaned from the current set of analyses add further weight to the suggestion that intelligence may be reconsidered as a clearly-defined, functionally-understood, and malleable behavioural repertoire, rather than an invariant, trait-based, mentalistic construct

Nouvelle parution de [VertigO] : Les approches écosystémiques de la santé dans la francophonie

Dans le cadre du colloque EcoHealth 2014 qui se tient à Montréal du 11 au 15 août 2014, [VertigO] - la revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement lance son 19e Hors-série - un dossier sur l'approche écosanté. L’écosanté est un domaine qui «vise la santé durable pour les personnes, la faune et les écosystèmes par le biais de la promotion de la découverte, de la compréhension et de la transdisciplinarité». La croissance de l’intérêt et de l’engagement scientifiques en écosanté se traduit..

The Relational Abilities Index+: Initial Validation of a Functionally Understood Proxy Measure for Intelligence

The Relational Abilities Index (RAI) has shown considerable utility as a functional proxy measurement of intellectual performance by providing a metric of an important skill set known as relational skills, which are proposed to underlie much of what we conceive of as intellectual behavior. The Relational Abilities Index+ (RAI+) assesses performance across an extended range of relational skills (Same/Opposite, More/Less, Same/Different, Before/After, and Analogy), and has been designed to provide a more comprehensive and nuanced assessment of relational skills. The current study aims to investigate the validity and utility of the RAI+ by assessing its degree of correlation with well-established assessments of intelligence (WASI), numeracy (WAIS: Arithmetic), and educational attainment (WIAT-T-II). Results indicate that the RAI+ displays considerable efficacy in predicting intellectual performance and numeracy, but not educational attainment

On the structure of relational responding

Relational Frame Theory (RFT, Hayes et al., 2001) predicts that some topographies of relational responding should map onto one another more closely than others. By extension, training one type of relational responding should differentially improve other relational responses as a function of their relatedness to the trained relation. We investigated these predictions in two experiments. Using an elaborated version of the Relational Abilities Index (Colbert et al., 2020) in Experiment 1, we investigated the correlations between various types of relational responding. In Experiment 2, we then provided targeted relational training to two separate groups. Both groups trained on a different relation (either difference or containment relations). We found that this training not only increased performance on the directly trained relation, but also performance on other related relations

Can SMART Training Really Increase Intelligence? A Replication Study

A burgeoning research stream supports the efficacy of a novel behavior-analytic intervention, known as SMART training, in raising general intelligence by training a set of crucial cognitive skills, referred to as relational skills. A sample of Irish secondary school students (n = 26) was divided into two IQ matched groups, with the experimental group receiving 12 weeks of SMART training delivered in bi-weekly 45-min sessions. WASI IQ assessments were administered at baseline and follow-up to all participants by blind testers. For each of the three WASI IQ indices and the four IQ subtests, significant follow-up rises were found for the experimental group only. Analyses of variance indicated a significant effect of training on Verbal IQ, Matrix Reasoning and Vocabulary scores. Results lend further support for the efficacy of the SMART training program in enhancing intellectual skills