Applying updates in RFT to the experimental analysis of analogy and its potential implications for process-based analyses of human psychological suffering

Abstract

This proposal presents an overview of an experimental study and other planned activities to be carried out during a research stay at Ulster University (UU; in Northern Ireland) that would provide a valuable extension to the research project currently being developed by the beneficiary in São Paulo. In brief, the project currently underway is seeking to develop a relatively precise account of the extent to which basic behavioral processes defined within Relational Frame Theory (RFT) may be linked to clinical issues at the level of the individual participant. Specifically, this work is currently focused on increasing experimental prediction-and-influence over the relative dominance of one property of relational framing versus another (i.e., the dominance of the relational properties of a stimulus, Crels, over its functional properties, Cfuncs), a process that has been conceptually linked to psychological suffering and clinical intervention. During the stay at UU, the beneficiary will focus on developing this work further, scaling up in complexity by exploring how these variables may control responding through analogy, an area that is frequently linked to clinical intervention. The internship will also focus on growing and strengthening collaborative efforts between the research teams in São Paulo and abroad. (AU)