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Sequential Responding in Accordance With Temporal Relational Cues: A Comparison of Before and After

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Abstract

The current study investigated the relative effects of Before and After relational cues on temporal order judgments. In Experiment 1, participants (n= 20) were exposed to a 5-phase temporal relational responding task. Participants observed a sequence of 2 familiar shapes and then completed either a Before or an After statement to describe the sequence. Response speeds were significantly faster for Before statements than for After statements. Experiment 2 (N = 24) extended Experiment 1, using abstract rather than familiar stimuli, and replicated the findings. The current data extend previous research, which employed temporal relational responding tasks as a measure of cognitive abilities such as intelligence, by focusing on differences in speed between responding in the presence of relational cues used in such tasks. The differences in response speeds observed between Before and After cues suggest that more work is needed to understand the specific processes that underpin such responding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Dublin Business School, 13–14 Aungier St., Dublin 2, Ireland

    John M. Hyland

  2. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Denis P. O’Hora

  3. University of Ulster, Coleraine, Ireland

    Julian C. Leslie & Sinéad Smyth

Authors
  1. John M. Hyland
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  2. Denis P. O’Hora
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  3. Julian C. Leslie
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  4. Sinéad Smyth
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John M. Hyland.

Additional information

Part of the current research was presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for behavior Analysis, Chicago, May 2008.

The current research formed part of John M. Hyland’s doctoral thesis, completed at the University of Ulster while he was funded by the Vice Chancellor’s research scholarship from 2006.

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Hyland, J.M., O’Hora, D.P., Leslie, J.C. et al. Sequential Responding in Accordance With Temporal Relational Cues: A Comparison of Before and After. Psychol Rec 62, 463–484 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03395814

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