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Derived Relational Responding and Intelligence: Assessing the Relationship Between the PEAK-E Pre-assessment and IQ with Individuals with Autism and Related Disabilities

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Abstract

The present study evaluated the relationship between derived relational responding demonstrated by 64 individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities (90.63% of which had an autism diagnosis) and their corresponding performance on standardized IQ assessments. Participants’ relational abilities were assessed using the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Equivalence Pre-Assessment (PEAK-E-PA), and IQ was assessed using either the WISC-IV Short Form assessment or the WPPSI-III Short Form assessment. The data indicated a strong, significant correlation between participant scores on the PEAK-E-PA and IQ both in terms of raw IQ (r = .843, p < .01), as well as full scale IQ (r = .804, p < .01), which is further analyzed in terms of each of the four subtests of the PEAK-E-PA (reflexivity, symmetry, transitivity, and equivalence). The obtained results have implications for a behavior analytic understanding of factors that relate to the development of intelligent behavior in individuals with disabilities.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Allison Ribley, Maureen O’Connor, and Jomi Hirata for their contributions and time dedicated to collecting the data presented in the current study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Mark R. Dixon, Jordan Belisle & Caleb R. Stanley

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  1. Mark R. Dixon
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Correspondence to Mark R. Dixon.

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Conflict of Interest

Mark R. Dixon receives small royalties from the sales of the PEAK curriculum. All remaining authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional and/or National Research Committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants, guardians, and/or agencies who were included in the study.

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Dixon, M.R., Belisle, J. & Stanley, C.R. Derived Relational Responding and Intelligence: Assessing the Relationship Between the PEAK-E Pre-assessment and IQ with Individuals with Autism and Related Disabilities. Psychol Rec 68, 419–430 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-018-0284-1

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