DOCSLIB.ORG

Baggs2015.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Baggs2015.Pdf This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Acting in a populated environment: An ecological realist enquiry into speaking and collaborating Ed Baggs I V N E R U S E I T H Y T O H F G E R D I N B U Doctor of Philosophy Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation School of Informatics University of Edinburgh 2015 Abstract The thesis seeks to develop an account of collaborative activities within the framework of ecological realism—an approach to psychology developed by James J. Gibson in the course of work on visual perception. Two main questions are addressed; one onto- logical, and one methodological. The ontological question is: given that collaborative activities take place within an environment, what kinds of structure must this envi- ronment contain? The response emphasizes the importance of relations which exist between entities, and which connect a given perceiver-actor with the other objects and individuals in its surroundings, and with the relations between those entities. It is held that activities take place within a field of relations. This description draws on the radi- cal empiricist doctrine that relations are real, are external, and are directly perceivable. The present proposal insists that, in addition to being directly perceivable, relations can also be directly acted upon: throwing a ball for a dog is acting on a relation between dog and ball in space. The relational field account of collaboration naturally extends to an account of speaking: people, through their history of acting in an environment populated by other speakers, come to stand in a set of relations with objects and events around them, and these relations can be directly acted upon by others through the use of verbal actions. Verbal actions serve to direct the attention of others to relevant as- pects of the environment, and this allows us as speakers to coordinate and manage one another’s activity. The methodological question is this: granting that the environment may be struc- tured as a field of relations, how are we to conduct our empirical investigations, such that we can ask precise questions which lead to useful insights about how a given collaborative activity is carried out in practice? The central issue here concerns the concept of the task. Psychologists are in the habit of using this term quite loosely, to denote the actions of an individual or a group, in a laboratory or outside. This creates confusion in discussions of collaborative phenomena: who is the agent of a ‘collabo- rative task’? The definition offered here states that a task is a researcher-defined unit of study that corresponds to a change in the structure of the environment that has a characteristic pattern and that is meaningful from the first-person perspective of a par- ticular actor. On this definition, the task is a tool that allows ecological psychologists to carve up the problem space into specific, tractable questions; the task is the equivalent i of the cognitivist’s mental module. Task-oriented psychology encourages us to ask the question: which specific resources is the individual making use of in controlling this particular activity? The methodology is developed through an examination of the alarm calling be- haviour of vervet monkeys, which is explained in terms of actions on the relational field, and through an analysis of corpus data from a laboratory-based collaborative as- sembly game. The relational field model promises to provide a way of studying social and collaborative activities on ecological realist principles. The concluding chapter identifies two particular areas in which the model might fruitfully be developed: in the study of learning, and in the theory of designing objects and spaces for interaction. ii Lay summary The thesis attempts to develop an account of how some animals, including hu- mans, are able to engage in activities together. I approach this question not by asking about features of the actors’ brains, but by noting that the environment surrounding a given individual is populated with other actors, and by seeking relevant features of that environment that may support action. I outline, first, a scheme for describing the environment surrounding a given actor, and, second, a methodological programme for studying the behaviour of actors in populated environments. In the descriptive part, the environment is conceived as a richly structured network of relations in which the intentions of one’s fellow actors can be perceived over time in the unfolding of the activities in which those actors are engaged. I use this scheme to outline an account of language learning in which young children learn to speak by first attending to the consequences of the sounds that they themselves make, and specifically to the effects of those sounds on the behaviour of other actors in the child’s environment. I relate this account to existing research on spoken dialogue. The methodological part of the thesis proposes that in order to study behaviour in complex multi-actor settings it is first necessary to clarify the notion of the ‘task’. I propose that a task is a unit that is defined by a researcher for the purpose of being able to study it. A task involves a reproducible structured pattern that appears in the environment of an actor and that is meaningful to that actor. On this definition, the task is a tool that allows psychologists to carve up the overall problem space into smaller, more manageable units. It allows us to ask not, ‘What explains the actor’s behaviour in general?’ but ‘What precise structure is the actor using to control this particular action in this specific context?’ I identify two particular areas where the model developed might be fruitfully applied. First, in education, where learning can be understood in terms of a learner’s developing ability to make use of structure inherent to a particular, well-defined task. And second, in design, where user experience can be understood in terms of the task structure that arises whenever the actor tries to achieve some particular outcome (e.g., the experience of vehicles approaching from a distance that arises when a pedestrian attempts to cross a road). iii Declaration I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. (Ed Baggs) iv Table of Contents Prefacex Acknowledgements xiii I Ontology: how is a populated environment structured?1 1 A brief introduction to ecological realism2 1.1 The ecological approach to perceiving and acting........... 3 1.1.1 The animal-specific environment v. the physical world.... 4 1.1.2 The concept of the invariant.................. 5 1.1.3 Ecological optics v. physical optics .............. 8 1.1.4 The concept of information................... 10 1.1.5 The concept of affordances................... 11 1.1.6 The role of learning: the doctrine of the new ball . 13 1.2 The radical empiricist ontology..................... 15 1.2.1 The reality of relations..................... 17 1.2.2 The animal in a field of relations................ 18 1.2.3 The animal as a builder of its environment........... 19 1.3 Summary ................................ 21 2 Ecological realism socialized: Acting in a populated environment 22 2.1 Against ‘joint action’.......................... 23 2.2 Acting in a populated environment................... 26 2.2.1 Soccer.............................. 26 2.2.2 Chimpanzee pack hunting ................... 28 v 2.3 Growing into one’s environment: lessons from Holt and Vygotsky . 30 2.3.1 Holt and the recession of the stimulus............. 30 2.3.2 Vygotsky and the zone of proximal development . 32 2.4 Summary ................................ 34 3 An ecological realist guide to speaking 35 3.1 Does ‘language’ exist? ......................... 37 3.2 Reconciling speaking and ecological realism.............. 39 3.3 Speaking as acting on the relational field................ 45 3.3.1 Action controlled with reference to relations.......... 48 3.3.2 Hearing: acting or being acted upon? ............. 49 3.4 An outline of a theory of language learning .............. 51 3.5 Putting the relational field model of language to work......... 57 3.6 Postscript: Columbus crosses the ocean ................ 57 II Methodology: studying activity in a populated environ- ment 60 4 The task-oriented approach in psychology 61 4.1 The task as an epistemological device ................. 63 4.2 The acting animal and the task-seeking psychologist.......... 65 4.3 The task as a reconfiguration of resources............... 66 4.4 Acting with other actors......................... 68 4.5 Rationale for the task-oriented approach................ 70 4.6 Final definition: what is a task?..................... 72 5 A relational field–based account of referential communication games 75 5.1 The structure of referential communication games........... 78 5.1.1 The extended conduit model.................. 79 5.1.2 The field model......................... 85 5.1.3 A note on roles and repertoires................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Deeply Felt Affect: the Emergence of Valence in Deep Active Inference
    Deeply Felt Affect: The Emergence of Valence in Deep Active Inference Casper Hesp†*1,2,3,4, Ryan Smith†5, Thomas Parr4, Micah Allen6,7,8, Karl J. Friston4, Maxwell J. D. Ramstead4,9,10 *Corresponding author (email: [email protected], twitter: @casper_hesp) †Shared first-authorship. These authors made equal contributions and are designated co-first authors. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands. 2. Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands. 3. Institute for Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam, Oude Turfmarkt 147, 1012 GC Amsterdam, Netherlands. 4. Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK, WC1N 3BG. 5. Laureate Institute for Brain Research. 6655 South Yale Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74136. 6. Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark 7. Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark 8. Cambridge Psychiatry, Cambridge University, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH 1 9. Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue, Montreal, QC, Canada. 10. Culture, Mind, and Brain Program, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue, Montreal, QC, Canada. 2 Abstract The positive-negative axis of emotional valence has long been recognised as fundamental to adaptive behaviour, but its origin and underlying function has largely eluded formal theorising and computational modelling. Using deep active inference – a hierarchical inference scheme that rests upon inverting a model of how sensory data are generated – we develop a principled Bayesian model of emotional valence. This formulation asserts that agents infer their valence state based on the expected precision of their action model – an internal estimate of overall model fitness (“subjective fitness”).
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Introductory Comments to the Serie on Relational Frame Theory
    International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy ISSN: 1577-7057 [email protected] Universidad de Almería España Barnes Holmes, Dermot; Luciano, M. Carmen; Barnes Holmes, Yvonne Introductory comments to the serie on relational frame theory International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, vol. 4, núm. 2, july, 2004, pp. 177-179 Universidad de Almería Almería, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=56040201 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy 2004, Vol. 4, Nº 2, 177-179 Introductory Comments to the Serie on Relational Frame Theory Dermot Barnes-Holmes1, M. Carmen Luciano2 and Yvonne Barnes-Holmes1 1 2 National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland Universidad de Almería, España The Special Serie of the International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy is comprised of two editions dedicated specifically to Relational Frame Theory (RFT) that cover the key concepts, controversies, and applications associated with this approach. The first and present issue consists of articles covering a range of conceptual aspects of the theory and some new empirical evidence generated by it. The second issue, available in November of 2004, will be more concerned with research investigating applications of the account. Why this Special Serie? Relational Frame Theory is a modern behavioral account of human language and cognition that emerged in early work by Steven C. Hayes in 1991, and was thereafter more formally articulated in 2001 by the same author, along with Dermot Barnes-Holmes, and Bryan Roche.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Metaphor: a Relational Frame Perspective Ian Stewart and Dermot Barnes-Holmes National University of Ireland, Maynooth
    The Behavior Analyst 2001, 24, 191-199 No. 2 (Fall) Understanding Metaphor: A Relational Frame Perspective Ian Stewart and Dermot Barnes-Holmes National University of Ireland, Maynooth The current article presents a basic functional-analytic interpretation of metaphor. This work in- volves an extension of Skinner's (1957) interpretation of metaphor using relational frame theory (RFT). A basic RFI' interpretation of a particular metaphor is outlined, according to which the metaphor acquires its psychological effects when formal stimulus dimensions are contacted via the derivation of arbitrary stimulus relations. This interpretation sees the metaphor as involving four elements: (a) establishing two separate equivalence relations, (b) deriving an equivalence relation between these relations, (c) discriminating a formal relation via this equivalence-equivalence rela- tion, and (d) a transformation of functions on the basis of the formal relation discriminated in the third element. In the second half of the paper, a number of important issues with regard to the RFT interpretation of metaphor are addressed. Key words: metaphor, relational frame theory, equivalence-equivalence, transformation of func- tions, nonarbitrary relations In psychology, especially cognitive psychology, of an object or event" (pp. 81-82). The characterizing the processes involved in the comprehension of metaphor is not only an in- extended tact is a feature of more com- teresting challenge in its own right, but the spec- plex verbal behavior that occurs when ification of those processes also constitutes a a response is evoked by a novel stim- good test of the power of theories of language ulus that resembles a stimulus previ- comprehension in general.
    [Show full text]
  • Relational Frame Theory
    Cognitive and behavioral therapies (CBT) Relational Frame Theory Basic concepts and clinical implications A psychological treatment which is based on talking but that lacks a scientific theory of this very phenomena (talking) Niklas Törneke Jason Luoma Törneke/Luoma 2 2 Historical overview Behavioral tradition: Skinner and verbal behavior What is RFT about? Two problems: • Noam Chomsky • A lack of an extensive research program Cognitive tradition: Mental representations, schema Arbitrary applicable relational responding Two problems: (AARR) • Central phenomena cannot be manipulated A particular kind of behavior • Analysis of talking dissappeared when thinking was made the central issue Törneke/Luoma 3 Törneke/Luoma 4 Three questions to answer today Important concepts in behavior analysis 1. If languaging is behavior, what kind of behavior is it? •Stimulus Or: what are we doing? Stimulus and response are one unit 2. How does this kind of behavior interact with, or contribute to, our • Stimulus function behavior as a whole? Light as an example 3. What controls this kind of behavior? • Functional classes • Contingencies Törneke/Luoma 55 Törneke/Luoma 6 1 Stimulus function is transformed (changed, Stimulus relations which are not altered) as a result of the relation between directly trained stimuli • Sidmans experiments with language training Unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response Train some relations between words/objects/sounds and get others ”for free” (without specific training) Condtioned stimulus Conditioned response • Example:
    [Show full text]
  • Interfacing Relational Frame Theory with Cognitive Neuroscience: Semantic Priming, the Implicit Association Test, and Event Related Potentials
    International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy 2004, Vol. 4, Nº 2, pp. 215-240 Interfacing Relational Frame Theory with Cognitive Neuroscience: Semantic Priming, The Implicit Association Test, and Event Related Potentials Dermot Barnes-Holmes*1, Carmel Staunton1, Yvonne Barnes-Holmes1, Robert Whelan*, Ian Stewart2, Sean Commins1, Derek Walsh1, Paul M. Smeets3, and Simon Dymond4 1National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland, 2National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland, 3Leiden University, The Netherlands, 4Anglia Polytechnic University, United Kingdom ABSTRACT The current article argues that an important component of the research agenda for Relational Frame Theory will involve studying the functional relations that obtain between environmental events and the physiological activity that takes place inside the brain and central nervous system, with a particular focus on human language and cognition. In support of this view, five separate experiments are outlined. The first three experiments replicate and extend previous research reported by Hayes and Bisset (1998). Specifically, the research, using both reaction time and neurophysiological measures, supports the argument that there is a clear functional overlap between semantic and derived stimulus relations. Specifically, an evoked potential waveform typically associated with semantic processing (N400) is shown to be sensitive to equivalence versus non-equivalence relations. Experiments 4 and 5 indicate that these reaction time and evoked potential effects are not
    [Show full text]
  • Relational Frame Theory Relational Frame Theory a Post-Skinnerian Account of Human Language and Cognition
    RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY A POST-SKINNERIAN ACCOUNT OF HUMAN LANGUAGE AND COGNITION Edited by Steven C. Hayes University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada and Dermot Barnes-Holmes Bryan Roche National University of Ireland Maynooth, Ireland KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW eBook ISBN: 0-306-47638-X Print ISBN: 0-306-46600-7 ©2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow Print ©2001 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers New York All rights reserved No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher Created in the United States of America Visit Kluwer Online at: http://kluweronline.com and Kluwer's eBookstore at: http://ebooks.kluweronline.com To the memory of B. F. Skinner and J. R. Kantor They forged the way toward a naturalistic approach to human language and cognition A PERSONAL PROLOGUE Steven C. Hayes University of Nevada, Reno I have been asked by my coauthors to write a personal prologue to this volume. I am a bit embarrassed to do so, because it seems entirely too self-conscious, but I have agreed because it gives me a chance both to acknowledge a number of debts and to help reduce the harmful and false perception that RFT is a foreign intrusion into behavioral psychology. I would like first to acknowledge the debt RFT owes to Willard Day. I heard Willard speak in 1972 or 1973 as a beginning graduate student. His call to understand language as it is actually used became a lifelong commitment.
    [Show full text]
  • Deeply Felt Affect: the Emergence of Valence in Deep Active Inference
    LETTER Communicated by Ian Robertson Deeply Felt Affect: The Emergence of Valence in Deep Active Inference Casper Hesp* [email protected] Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/neco/article-pdf/33/2/398/1896849/neco_a_01341.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 Department of Psychology and Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, Netherlands; Institute for Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam, 1012 GC Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, U.K. Ryan Smith* [email protected] Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK 74136, U.S.A. Thomas Parr [email protected] Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, U.K. Micah Allen [email protected] Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark; Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus 8200, Denmark; and Cambridge Psychiatry, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 8AH. U.K. Karl J. Friston [email protected] Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, U.K. Maxwell J. D. Ramstead [email protected] Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, U.K.; Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Culture, Mind, and Brain Program, McGill University, Montreal H3A 0G4, QC, Canada *C.H. and R.S. made equal contributions and are designated co–first authors. Neural Computation 33, 398–446 (2021) © 2020 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://doi.org/10.1162/neco_a_01341 Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
    [Show full text]
  • A Relational Frame Theory Analysis of Coercive Family Process
    OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Wed Oct 14 2015, NEWGEN CHAPTER A Relational Frame Theory Analysis 7 of Coercive Family Process Lisa W. Coyne and Darin Cairns Abstract This chapter provides a brief overview of direct conditioning models of coercive family process, and augments those accounts by application of relational frame theory and rule-governed behavior. Relational frame theory is a behavior analytic approach to symbolic processes—language and cognition—that extends Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior. It provides an empirical account of indirect conditioning, and as such, gives us a way to conceptualize coercive family process—and interventions—in a more fine-grained and comprehensive way that allows us to influence this process with greater precision, scope, and depth. In this chapter, we offer a detailed description of indirect conditioning processes that may be involved in the development and maintenance of family processes, as well as some future directions for a systemic intervention to reduce coercion. Key Words: relational frame theory, coercive family process, family systems, parenting, children, coercion Parenting, Family Systems, and Coercion and powerful than more distant, long-term ones. It is not surprising that people come to use pun- However, there may be other mechanisms at play, ishment to alter behavior in others, as it has immedi- which if understood, could offer a potent means for ate consequences that work in the short term. When helping families reduce coercive cycles. parents use punitive means to coerce a child, it often ends misbehavior quickly. On the other hand, when Operant Analysis of Coercive Families an oppositional child coerces a parent, the parent Coercion theory (Patterson, 1982) assumes that may “give in” by acquiescing or removing a demand.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Relational Frame Theory to Teach Prepositions to Children with Autism
    Northern Michigan University NMU Commons All NMU Master's Theses Student Works 4-2020 Using Relational Frame Theory to Teach Prepositions to Children with Autism Alexandra Vacha [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.nmu.edu/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Vacha, Alexandra, "Using Relational Frame Theory to Teach Prepositions to Children with Autism" (2020). All NMU Master's Theses. 626. https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/626 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at NMU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All NMU Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of NMU Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. USING RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY TO TEACH PREPOSITIONS TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM By Alexandra Helen Vacha THESIS Submitted to Northern Michigan University In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Office of Graduate Education and Research April 2020 SIGNATURE APPROVAL FORM USING RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY TO TEACH PREPOSITIONS TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM This thesis by Alexandra H. Vacha is recommended for approval by the student’s Thesis Committee and Department Head in the Department of Psychological Science and by the Dean of Graduate Education and Research. __________________________________________________________ Committee Chair: Dr. Jacob Daar Date __________________________________________________________ First Reader: Ashley Shayter Date __________________________________________________________ Second Reader: Dr. Seth Whiting Date __________________________________________________________ Department Head: Dr. Adam Prus Date _________________________________________________________ Dr. Lisa Schade Eckert Date Dean of Graduate Education and Research ABSTRACT USING RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY TO TEACH PREPOSITIONS TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM By Alexandra Helen Vacha Children with autism often demonstrate deficits with the use of pragmatic language, including prepositions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relation Between Components of Naming and Conditioned Seeing
    The Relation Between Components of Naming and Conditioned Seeing Derek Shanman Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Derek Shanman All rights reserved ABSTRACT The Relation Between Components of Naming and Conditioned Seeing Derek Shanman In two experiments, I tested for the presence of conditioned seeing as a measureable behavior, which was measured by participants’ accuracy in drawing a stimulus, and how this behavior was related to the demonstration of the naming capability. In Experiment 1, participants demonstrated a correlation between drawing responses and speaker responses in a test for naming (i.e., incidental learning of language) (r(10) = .702, p <.02) . In Experiment 2, I tested for the effects of using a delayed phonemic response teaching intervention on the acquisition of the drawing responses. There were twelve participants in Experiment 1, six of whom then continued on to Experiment 2. In Experiment 2, I used a non-concurrent multiple probe across participants to test the effects of the phonemic response intervention on the numbers of correct listener, speaker, and drawing responses. The independent variable was the delayed phonemic response intervention to control for the presence of the names of the stimuli, which would be necessary for the demonstration of the speaker component of naming. Four of the six participants in Experiment 2 demonstrated both the acquisition of the speaker component of naming as well as the drawing responses as a function of the delayed phonemic response teaching intervention.
    [Show full text]
  • The ACT Two-Day Workshop Slides
    ~-~ Daniel J. Moran, Ph.D., BCBA-D An Intro to the Intro to ACT Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is …built on empirically based principles …aimed to increase psychological flexibility …using a mindfulness-based approach …with behavior change strategies …built on empirically based principles Severe substance abuse Social phobia Depression Smoking Obsessive-compulsive disorder Chronic pain Panic disorder Medical problems Generalized anxiety disorder Psychosis Post-traumatic stress disorder Workplace stress Trichotillomania and more... 1 ~-~ …built on empirically based principles Test Anxiety Mathematics Anxiety Public Speaking Anxiety in College Students Enhancing Psychological Health of Students Abroad Eating & Weight Concerns Smoking Substance Abuse …aimed at increasing psychological flexibility Psychological flexibility is: …contacting the present moment fully …as a conscious, historical human being, …and based on what the situation affords …changing or persisting in behavior …in the service of chosen values 2 ~-~ …using a mindfulness-based approach Mindfulness: …is much easier learned by experience …involves: paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally -Jon Kabat-Zinn …with behavior change strategies Behavior change strategies include: Applied Behavior Analysis strategies Ø Contingency management Ø Level systems Traditional Behavior Therapy strategies Ø Flooding Ø Exposure & ritual prevention Ø Social skills training Ø Behavior activation Eysenck defined behavior therapy as “the attempt to alter human behavior and emotion in a beneficial manner according to the laws of modern learning theory” (1964, p. 1). 3 ~-~ What is ACT? ACT is a functional contextual therapy approach based on Relational Frame Theory which views human psychological problems dominantly as problems of psychological inflexibility fostered by cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance.
    [Show full text]
  • Relational Frame Theory: Some Implications for Understanding and Treating Human Psychopathology
    International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy 2004, Vol. 4, Nº 2, pp. 355-375 Relational Frame Theory: Some Implications for Understanding and Treating Human Psychopathology Yvonne Barnes-Holmes*1, Dermot Barnes-Holmes1, Louise McHugh1, and Steven C. Hayes2 1 2 National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland, University of Nevada, Reno, USA ABSTRACT In the current paper, we attempt to show how both the basic and applied sciences of behavior analysis have been transformed by the modern research agenda in human language and cognition, known as Relational Frame Theory (RFT). At the level of basic process, the paper argues that the burgeoning literature on derived stimulus relations calls for a reinterpretation of complex human behavior that extends beyond a purely contingency- based analysis. Specifically, the paper aims to show how a more complete account of complex human behavior includes an analysis of relational frames, relational networks, relating relations, rules, perspective-taking, and the concept of self. According to the theory, this analysis gives rise to a new interpretation of human psychopathology that necessarily transforms the applied science of behavior therapy. The current paper is divided into three parts. In Part 1, we provide a brief summary of the integrated history of behavioral psychology and behavior therapy, including their emphases on the principles of classical and operant conditioning as the basis for an account of human psychopathology. In Part 2, the core features of RFT are presented, including the three concepts of bidirectional stimulus relations, relating relations, and rule-governance that constitute critical components of the RFT approach to human psychopathology.
    [Show full text]