Participants completed a before/after and a similar/different relational task, using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), and subsequently took the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT). For each relational task, response latencies were measured first on consistent trials, where participants responded in accordance with preestablished verbal relations, and then on inconsistent trials, where they responded against these relations. A difference-score was calculated by subtracting consistent from inconsistent response latencies. The inconsistent trials and the difference-score provided measures of relational flexibility. Results showed that faster responding on the IRAP and smaller difference-scores predicted higher IQ. These findings suggest that relational flexibility is an important component of intelligence and might therefore be targeted in educational settings.For humans, the ability to identify relations between objects and events is an integral part of everyday life. They routinely recognize similarities between various stimuli, and they have the ability to make comparisons, learn from analogies, understand a sequence of events, and plan for the future. each of these abilities relies on relational thought, which Gentner and Loewenstein (2002b) referred to as the sine qua non of human cognition. Consistent with this view is the observation that a child's cognitive development is typically observed in the increasing relational complexity of the language and concepts this child employs as he or she grows older (Andrews & Halford, 1998 Gentner & Ratterman, 1991;Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001).Although often considered as predominantly the subject matter of cognitive psychology, relational abilities can also be understood from the perspective of behavior analysis. Modern behavioral research into complex relational performances was greatly enhanced by the seminal work of Murray Sidman and colleagues, who developed a methodology for examining what is now known as stimulus equivalence (see Sidman, 1994, for a review). In a typical equivalence experiment, explicit training is given in a number of interrelated stimulus relations, which then produces a number of predicted but untrained relations. For example, if they are trained in A-B and A-C relations, most verbally able humans will spontaneously show B-A, C-B, A-C, and C-A relations. When these untaught relational responses emerge, the three stimuli A, B, and C are said to participate in an equivalence class or a relation of similarity.Although the equivalence relation is the one most widely researched, it is of course just one of the relations that seem to occur in human language and cognition. Among the other relations are those of comparison and difference, as well as hierarchical, spatial, and temporal relations. One of the primary reasons why behavioral researchers have shown such interest in these relational abilities is the apparent relevance to human language and cognition (see Hayes, , for a book-length review).For some time now, th...

Attitudes in relation to inclusive education have a direct impact on teaching behaviours, and are a significant factor in the success of inclusion policies. However, little is known about Irish pre-service teachers' attitudes and concerns in relation to inclusive education, nor about the factors that may influence these variables. In the current study, a cohort of second-level pre-service teachers completed the attitudes toward inclusive education scale, the concerns about inclusive education scale, the teacher efficacy scale and a school climate (SC) survey. Results showed that the student-teachers were generally positive about inclusion, and were only a little concerned about the implementation of inclusive practices in their classrooms. The participants were least positive about including students with behavioural difficulties. A more positive SC was associated with higher levels of personal efficacy, and lower levels of concern. Results are discussed in terms of the construal of behavioural difficulties within Ireland, the influence of the placement school and the implications for initial teacher education.

Participants were trained in a series of interrelated conditional discriminations that aimed to establish four 4-member equivalence classes (i.e., A1-B1-C1-D1, A2-B2-C2-D2, A3-B3-C3-D3, A4-B4-C4-D4). During this training, the four A stimuli (i.e., A1, A2, A3, and A4) were compounded with pictures containing positive or negative evaluative functions (A1/A2 negative & A3/A4 positive). The transfer of evaluative functions to directly and indirectly related members of the equivalence classes (i.e., B, C, and D stimuli) was measured using an Implicit Association Test (IAT). During consistent test blocks, participants were required to press the same response key for target words that were related to those A stimuli that possessed similar evaluative functions (A1/A2-left key & A3/A4-right key). During inconsistent test blocks, target words that were related to those A stimuli with different evaluative functions were assigned to the same response key (A1/A4-left key & A2/A3-right key). Results showed that all 8 participants, who passed a matching-to-sample equivalence test following the IAT, responded more rapidly on consistent relative to inconsistent test blocks. This typical IAT effect was not observed for those participants who did not pass the equivalence test. The results suggest that the IAT effect may arise from formally untested derived relations, and supports the argument that such relations could provide a valid behavioral model of semantic categories in natural language.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT)

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