An Investigation of Language Building Procedures on Derived Relations of Coordination and Distinction: Implications for Comprehension

Abstract

With the conceptual framework of RFT and the instructional and measurement elements of PT, the current investigation was concerned with expanding core language skills as a means of impacting derived relational responding. The language training employed frequency-building procedures that targeted increasingly abstract descriptions of objects. The effects of the language-training component across multiple exemplars were evaluated with respect to participants' ability to derive relations of coordination and distinction. It was also concerned with whether rate-building procedures on relations of coordination and distinction would have a supplemental effect on derived relations. Finally, the effects of this training were further evaluated on measures of comprehension. Results indicate that the language-building component was an effective means of strengthening derived relations of coordination and distinction, and that fluency building on sets of relations had an ensuing effect on the rate of derived relations on untrained sets. Improvements in the ability to derive relations of coordination and distinction correlated with improvements on measures of comprehension for all but one participant.