Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the Behavioral Dynamics of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: The Impact of Three Types of Introductory Rules

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The Psychological Record Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) is increasingly used in applied and clinical settings, and yet many of the procedural variables of the measure have not been subjected to a systematic analysis. One such variable is the type of rules that are employed when instructing the IRAP and the effect this might have on participants’ performances. In the current article, three experiments were used to assess the impact of three different types of rules or instructions on IRAP performance. The instructions varied in the degree to which they specified parts of the relational network being assessed by the IRAP. The findings showed that the type of rule presented to participants during an IRAP can have a dramatic effect on the strength and direction of the trial-type effects that are produced by the measure. Furthermore, the type of instructions employed appear to interact with the order in which the IRAP blocks are presented (history-consistent versus history-inconsistent). The findings indicate that the behavioural dynamics that occur when participants complete an IRAP require extensive and systematic experimental and conceptual analyses, and this work will likely have an important bearing on research seeking to investigate the predictive validity of the IRAP in applied research settings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We would argue that BIRRs and EERRs are relativistic concepts and are best seen as lying on a continuum. At one end of the continuum responses are extremely brief and/or immediate, and at the other end, extremely extended and/or elaborated. As argued by Barnes-Holmes, et al. (2010, p. 537), according to the REC model, the IRAP targets relational responses that are more BIRR-like than EERR-like.

References

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Hussey, I., & Luciano, C. (in press). Relational frame theory: Reflecting upon its historical roots and future development. In R. Zettle, S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & T. Biglan (Eds), Wiley Handbook of contextual behavioural science. Cambridge: Wiley-Blackwell.

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Stewart, I., & Boles, S. (2010). A sketch of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and the Relational Elaboration and Coherence (REC) model. The Psychological Record, 60(3), 527–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Hayes, S. C., Dymond, S., & O’Hora, D. (2001). Multiple stimulus relations and the transformation of stimulus functions. In S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & B. Roche (Eds.), Relational Frame Theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition (pp. 51–72). New York: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabello, F., Luciano, C., Gomez, I., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2011). Human schedule performance, protocol analysis, and the" silent dog" methodology. The Psychological Record, 54(3), 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Houwer, J., Heider, N., Spruyt, A., Roets, A., & Hughes, S. (2015). The relational responding task: toward a new implicit measure of beliefs. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 319.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dymond, S., & Roche, B. (2013). Advances in relational frame theory: Research and application. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

  • Hayes, S. C. (1986). The case of the silent dog - verbal reports and the analysis of rules: A review of Ericsson and Simon's protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 45(3), 351–363.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roche, B. (2001). Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition. New York: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2011). On the formation and persistence of implicit attitudes: New evidence from the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP). The Psychological Record, 61, 391–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2013). A functional approach to the study of implicit cognition: The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and the Relational Elaboration and Coherence (REC) model. In S. Dymond & B. Roche (Eds.), Advances in relational frame theory: Research and application (pp. 97–125). Oakland CA: New Harbinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S, & Barnes-Holmes, D. (in press). Relational frame theory: The basic account. In R. Zettle, S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & T. Biglan (Eds), Wiley Handbook of contextual behavioural science. Cambridge: Wiley-Blackwell.

  • Hughes, S., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Vahey, N. (2012). Holding on to our functional roots when exploring new intellectual islands: A voyage through implicit cognition research. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 1, 17–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S., Hussey, I., Corrigan, B., Jolie, K., Murphy, C., & Barnes-Holmes, D., (2016). Faking revisited: Exerting strategic control over performance on the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Hussey, I., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2015). From Relational Frame Theory to implicit attitudes and back again: Clarifying the link between RFT and IRAP research. Current Opinion in Psychology, 2, 11–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin, M. E., Hayes, S. C., & Waltz, T. (2010). Creating an implicit measure of cognition more suited to applied research: A test of the Mixed Trial – Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (MT-IRAP). International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 6, 245–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, E., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2012). The implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) as a measure of spider fear. The Psychological Record, 62(2), 263.

  • O'Shea, B., Watson, D. G., & Brown, G. D. (2015). Measuring implicit attitudes: a positive framing bias flaw in the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Psychological Assessment. doi:10.1037/pas0000172.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vahey, N. A., Nicholson, E., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2015). A meta-analysis of criterion effects for the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) in the clinical domain. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 48, 59–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wulfert, E., Dougher, M. J., & Greenway, D. E. (1991). Protocol analysis of the correspondence of verbal behavior and equivalence class formation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 56(3), 489–504.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental, Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Martin Finn, Dermot Barnes-Holmes & Ian Hussey

  2. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Joseph Graddy

Authors
  1. Martin Finn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dermot Barnes-Holmes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ian Hussey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joseph Graddy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Finn.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Martin Finn declares that he has no conflict of interest. Dermot Barnes-Holmes declares that he has no conflict of interest. Ian Hussey declares that he has no conflict of interest. Joseph Graddy declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Preparation of this article was supported by an Odysseus (Type 1) research award (2015-2020) from the FWO, Belgium.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Finn, M., Barnes-Holmes, D., Hussey, I. et al. Exploring the Behavioral Dynamics of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: The Impact of Three Types of Introductory Rules. Psychol Rec 66, 309–321 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0173-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-016-0173-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation