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    A Relational Frame Account of the Development of Complex Cognitive Phenomena: Perspective-taking, False Belief Understanding, and Deception


    McHugh, Louise and Barnes-Holmes, Yvonne and Barnes-Holmes, Dermot (2004) A Relational Frame Account of the Development of Complex Cognitive Phenomena: Perspective-taking, False Belief Understanding, and Deception. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 4. pp. 303-324.

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    Abstract

    Cognitive psychologists have devoted considerable attention to the complex skills described as perspective-taking, understanding false belief, and deception. Much of the available research on these phenomena has been driven by a conceptual approach referred to as ‘Theory of Mind’. The current paper reviews the Theory of Mind account of perspectivetaking, false belief and deception in terms of the development of increasingly complex levels of understanding the informational states of the self and others. In contrast, these phenomena have attracted little interest traditionally from behavioral psychologists, and the current paper presents conceptual and empirical evidence that this is changing. Specifically, an alternative approach to these skills from a functional behavioral framework is presented in the context of Relational Frame Theory, a modern behavioral account of human language and cognition. The paper describes the relational frame approach to perspective-taking, false belief and deception, and presents several recent studies that have investigated this approach. The results of the studies indicate the potential utility of this approach and also show considerable overlap with the results of Theory of Mind research.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Perspective-taking, false belief, deception, theory of mind, RFT, behavioral aproximations
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 401
    Depositing User: Yvonne Barnes-Holmes
    Date Deposited: 14 Sep 2006
    Journal or Publication Title: International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy
    Publisher: Universidad de Almería
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
      Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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