Toward a theory of verbal behavior

This paper is a reply to an accompanying set of six commentaries by Sidman; Hayes and Barnes; Schusterman, Kastak, and Reichmuth; Tonneau and Sokolowski; Lowenkron; and Moerk. Those commentaries were prompted by our article “On the Origins of Naming and Other Symbolic Behavior” (1996), which was, in turn, followed by 26 commentaries and a reply. In the course of the present reply, we further develop the naming account to embrace more complex verbal relations such as same, different, more, and less. We also examine what we see as the lack of conceptual coherence in equivalence theories, including relational frame theory, and the disparities between these accounts and the findings from empirical research.     

Relational frame theory,acceptance and commitment therapy,and a functional analytic definition of mindfulness

The present article interprets mindfulness from the point of view of the effects of language and cognition on human action. Relational Frame Theory is described to show how human suffering is created by entanglement with the cognitive networks made possible by language. Mindfulness can be understood as a collection of related processes that function to undermine the dominance of verbal networks, especially involving temporal and evaluative relations. These processes include acceptance, defusion, contact with the present moment, and the transcendent sense of self. Each of these components of mindfulness are targeted in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and there is some evidence that they underlie the therapeutic changes induced by this approach. The relation between the present approach to mindfulness and other approaches is discussed.     

自我优势效应对远近空间中空间参照框架的影响

联合颜色−标签匹配任务和空间参照框架判断任务,考察自我优势效应对远近空间中空间参照框架表征的影响。颜色−标签匹配任务要求被试对颜色（黑色/白色叉子）与标签词（自我/他人）之间建立稳定的联结,被试随机分为自我联结组和他人联结组,两组被试均需在远近空间中完成空间参照表征任务。结果发现：（1）与他人联结组相比,自我联结组表现出显著的自我优势效应;（2）自我优势效应对空间参照表征的影响仅体现在近处空间且对自我中心表征任务的影响更大。研究表明,自我优势效应优先影响近处空间表征,表现出近处优先性。     

The body of the analyst and the analytic setting: Reflections on the embodied setting and the symbiotic transference

In this paper the author questions whether the body of the analyst may be helpfully conceptualized as an embodied feature of the setting and suggests that this may be especially helpful for understanding patients who develop a symbiotic transference and for whom any variance in the analyst's body is felt to be profoundly destabilizing. In such cases the patient needs to relate to the body of the analyst concretely and exclusively as a setting ‘constant’ and its meaning for the patient may thus remain inaccessible to analysis for a long time. When the separateness of the body of the analyst reaches the patient's awareness because of changes in the analyst's appearance or bodily state, it then mobilizes primitive anxieties in the patient. It is only when the body of the analyst can become a dynamic variable between them (i.e. part of the process) that it can be used by the patient to further the exploration of their own mind.     

Dispositional gratitude mediates the relationship between a past-positive temporal frame and well-being

Both past-positive temporal frame, which involves dwelling on positive memories of the past, and dispositional gratitude are associated with positive life outcomes, including greater life satisfaction. A past-positive temporal frame may provide a foundation for the development of dispositional gratitude. The present study examined a model positing that gratitude mediates the relationship between past-positive temporal frame and well-being. Two hundred and thirty-three participants (mean age = 34.10 years; SD = 14.21) completed measures of characteristic past-positive temporal frame, dispositional gratitude, and several indices of well-being. Higher levels of a past positive temporal frame were associated with greater gratitude and indices of well-being. Higher levels of gratitude were associated with indices of well-being. Gratitude mediated the relationship between past-positive temporal frame and well-being. These results provide information regarding a possible process through which past-positive temporal frames have beneficial effects.     

The Consequences and Correction of Inflation in Personal Savings Estimates in Specific Future Time Frames

We examined the consequences of personal savings estimate inflation that occurs when decision makers provide savings estimates for specific future months when compared with the next month or the next year time frames, along with a method to attenuate this bias. The results of three experiments showed that the savings estimate inflation leads to significantly larger estimates of desired nest egg size (Experiment 1) and preference for riskier choices in other financial domains such as investment and employment decisions (Experiment 2). An attempt to attenuate this bias revealed that it is corrected when individuals provide a budgeting estimate prior to giving a savings estimate (Experiment 3). The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.