Relational operant skills training increases standardized matrices scores in adolescents: A stratified active-controlled trial

McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I. and Pereira, A. (2020) Relational operant skills training increases standardized matrices scores in adolescents: A stratified active-controlled trial. Journal of Behavioral Education, 31 (2). pp. 298-325. ISSN 1053-0819

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Abstract

In recent years, small-scale studies have suggested that we may be able to substantially strengthen children's general cognitive abilities and intelligence quotient (IQ) scores using a relational operant skills training program (SMART). Only one of these studies to date has included an active Control Condition, and that study reported the smallest mean IQ rise. The present study is a larger stratified active-controlled trial to independently test the utility of SMART training for raising NVIQ and processing speed. We measured personality traits, NVIQs, and processing speeds of a cohort of school pupils (aged 12-15). Participants were allocated to either a SMART intervention group or a Scratch computer coding control group, for a period of three months. We reassessed pupils’ NVIQs and processing speeds after the three-month intervention. We observed a significant mean increase in the SMART training group’s (final nexp = 43) Non-Verbal IQs of 5.98 points, while there was a non-significant increase of 1.85 points in the Scratch active-control group (final ncont = 27). We also observed an increase in processing speed across both conditions (final nexp = 70; ncont = 55) over Time. Our results suggest that relational skills training may be useful for improving performance on matrices tasks, and perhaps in future, accelerating children’s progression towards developmental milestones.

Publication Type: Articles
Additional Information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Uncontrolled Keywords: SMART training, relational frame theory, personality, matrices, processing speed, cognitive ability, brain-training
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Academic Areas > Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences > Psychology
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Ian Tyndall
Date Deposited: 24 Jul 2020 11:43
Last Modified: 14 Jul 2022 12:46
URI: https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/5271

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