A Preliminary Examination of Derived Relational Responding in the Context of Body Image
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A Preliminary Examination of Derived Relational Responding in the Context of Body Image Emily K. Sandoz 1
&
Michael J. Bordieri 2 & Ian Tyndall 3 & Jessica Auzenne 4
Accepted: 6 October 2020 # Association for Behavior Analysis International 2020
Abstract Relational Frame Theory (RFT), a contemporary behavioral account of language and cognition, has been offered as an explanatory model of the development and maintenance of body image disturbance. RFT proposes derived relational responding (DRR) as a process through which the functions of a stimulus are transformed consistent with its relation with other stimuli (and absent direct learning contingencies. Conceptual work has assumed DRR to be central to the development and treatment of body image disturbance. This study offers the first empirical investigation of DRR with body-image stimuli, and untrained approach-andescape functions. Participants readily demonstrated mutual and combinatorial entailment with stimuli they generated to represent their own body image, along with images fatter and thinner than themselves. Participants also readily demonstrated transformation of untrained approach-and-escape functions consistent with that of thinner and fatter body images. These findings provide a preliminary demonstration of DRR in the context of body image disturbance and support further research applying RFT in this area. Keywords Body image . Relational Frame Theory . Derived relational responding . Operant conditioning . Learning . Body dysmorphic disorder
Body image can be defined as an individual’s total experience of his or her physical self (Cash, 2004). Disruptions in body Research took place when Jessica Auzenne was affiliated with University of Louisiana at Lafayette. * Emily K. Sandoz [email protected] Michael J. Bordieri [email protected] Ian Tyndall [email protected] Jessica Auzenne [email protected] 1
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 43644, Lafayette, LA 70504-3131, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Murray State University, 401c Wells Hall, Murray, KY 42071, USA
3
University of Chichester, Bishop Otter campus, College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6PE, UK
4
University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311277, Denton, TX 76203-5017, USA
image, referred to as body image disturbance (BID), are seen in all aspects of the body experience: 1) perceptual, 2) attitudinal, and 3) behavioral (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999), and are associated with significant dysfunction. BID is included as a primary clinical feature for body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In addition, BID is associated with other psychological difficulties including anxiety disorders (e.g., Simeon, Hollander, Stein, Cohen, & Aronowitz, 1995), mood disorders (e.g., Downs, DiNallo, & Kirner, 2008), and personality disorders (e.g., Cohen et al., 2000). BID also predicts dysfunction in terms of social functioning (e.g., alienation and confli
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