A contextual behavioral approach to the study of (persecutory) delusions

Abstract

Throughout the past century the topic of delusions has mainly been studied by researchers operating at the mental level of analysis. According to this perspective, delusional beliefs, as well as their emergence and persistence, stem from an interplay between (dysfunctional) mental representations and processes. Our paper aims to provide a starting point for researchers and clinicians interested in examining the topic of delusions from a functional-analytic perspective. We begin with a brief review of the research literature with a particular focus on persecutory delusions. Thereafter we introduce Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS), Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and a behavioral phenomenon known as arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). Drawing upon AARR, and recent empirical developments within CBS, we argue that (persecutory) delusions may be conceptualized, studied and influenced using a functional-analytic approach. We consider future directions for research in this area as well as clinical interventions aimed at influencing delusions and their expression.

The effect of social exclusion on state paranoia and explicit and implicit self-esteem in a non-clinical sample

“…Specifically, we hypothesized that exclusion would be associated with reduced self-esteem on the IAT and with increased 1 While changes in self-esteem may precede or mediate changes in paranoia following social stress, from our perspective, the relationship between these variables is not invariably a straightforward causal one. From this point of view, events in the environment play an important role in influencing both levels of paranoia and selfesteem, as well as the relationship between the two (see Stewart, Stewart, & Hughes, 2016). Thus, while in some contexts self-esteem may indeed show causal influence with respect to paranoia, in other contexts (e.g., during deliteralization exercises or given higher state or trait acceptance) it need not.…”

Development and initial validation of the Generalized Tracking Questionnaire

“…In the following decades, theoretical and empirical analysis of rule-governed behavior became one of the main research lines in behavior analysis and in its modern derivations such as contextual behavioral science [3,4]. Accounts in terms of rule-governed behavior have been developed to explain, among others, psychopathology [5][6][7][8], psychological therapy [9,10], decision making [11], executive functions [12], moral behavior [13], behavioral anthropology [14], or behavioral pharmacology [15]. Across these domains, a central topic of research in rule-governed behavior has been the differential outcomes of rule-governed behavior vs. contingency-shaped behavior.…”

Technical Notation as a Tool for Basic Research in Relational Frame Theory

“…Likewise, if Class A and Class B are equivalence classes of people related via an asymmetrical relation (i.e., hierarchically) then the effect of Class A on Class B (e.g., oppression) does not necessarily hold for individual members (Persons A and B), as transitive class containment might suggest (see Slattery & Stewart, 2014). Such patterns of deriving false information may have an association with certain psychological disorders, for example, psychosis, anxiety, paranoia, and schizophrenia (see Stewart, Stewart, & Hughes, 2016).…”