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A Sketch of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and the Relational Elaboration and Coherence (REC) Model

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Abstract

The current article outlines a behavior-analytic approach to the study of so-called implicit attitudes and cognition. The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), the conceptual basis of which was derived from relational frame theory, is offered as a methodology that may be used in the experimental analysis of implicit attitudes and beliefs. The relational elaboration and coherence (REC) model provides a possible relational-frame account of the findings that have emerged from the IRAP. The article first outlines the research history that led to the development of the IRAP, followed by a description of the method. The REC model and how it explains a range of IRAP data are then considered. The article also outlines how both the IRAP and the REC model overlap with, and differ from, similar research found in the non-behavior-analytic literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland

    Dermot Barnes-Holmes & Yvonne Barnes-Holmes

  2. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Ian Stewart

  3. Oregon Research Institute, USA

    Shawn Boles

Authors
  1. Dermot Barnes-Holmes
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  2. Yvonne Barnes-Holmes
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  3. Ian Stewart
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  4. Shawn Boles
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dermot Barnes-Holmes.

Additional information

Preparation of this article was supported by funding awarded to the first three authors from the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences, under the Research Development Initiative (2008-09).

The authors would like to thank Mark Dixon for his constructive comments on an earlier version of this work.

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Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Stewart, I. et al. A Sketch of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and the Relational Elaboration and Coherence (REC) Model. Psychol Rec 60, 527–542 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395726

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