Barnes-Holmes, Yvonne (2001) Analysing relational frames: studying language and cognition in young children. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
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Abstract
The studies reported in Chapters 2 and 3 sought to determine which of
two methods, exemplar training and name training, would most readily facilitate
the derived transformation of functions in accordance with symmetry. Twenty
one out of twenty four children, aged between four and five years old, failed to
show derived object-action or action-object symmetry until they received explicit
symmetry training. Thirteen of these children had received name training.
Overall, the data are consistent with Relational Frame Theory, but not with
Naming Theory.
The studies reported in Chapters 4 and 5 were concerned with
establishing specific patterns of relational responding when they were found to
be absent in children aged between four and six years old. Problem-solving tasks
were developed to test and train patterns of relational responding in accordance
with the relational frames of more-than, less-than and opposite. Interventions
suggested by Relational Frame Theory were successfully used with all subjects to
establish the target relational responses as well as increasingly complex patterns
o f relational responding. Generalisation tests demonstrated that the relational
responding successfully generalised to novel stimuli and experimenters, and
contingency reversals indicated that the trained and tested relational responding
may usefully be considered a form of generalised operant behaviour. These
findings once again lend positive support to Relational Frame Theory’ s approach
t
to derived relational responding, and to the functional analysis of human language
and cognition.
The study reported in Chapter 6 argued that the emergence of deictic
relations such as "I and you," "here and there" and "now and then" is critical to
the development of perspective-taking. A testing and training protocol was
developed to analyse responding in accordance with I-YOU and HERE-THERE
relations. Two case studies that employed this protocol were presented in which
complex forms of generalised perspective-taking were established for two young
children. The findings suggest that Relational Frame Theory, and behaviour
analysis more generally, may have an important contribution to make to the
study of perspective-taking. Finally, Chapter 7 synthesises the empirical work
presented in the preceding chapters and addresses a number of theoretical issues
that arise from this work.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Keywords: | Analysing; relational frames; studying language; cognition; young children; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology |
Item ID: | 16962 |
Depositing User: | IR eTheses |
Date Deposited: | 23 Feb 2023 12:32 |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/16962 |
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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