Volume 26 Num. 1 - March 2026
Promoting Perspective-Taking in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities through Naturalistic Conditional Discrimination Training
Volume 26 Num. 1 - March 2026 - Pages 129-141
Authors:
María M. Montoya Rodríguez , Vanessa A. de Souza Franco , Beatriz Harana Lahera , Eduardo Polín , David Lobato , Francisco J. Molina Cobos
Abstract:
Volume 26-1 March 1st, 2026
Perspective-taking is a social skill that allows an individual to put themselves in another’s place and understand how that person would act in a given situation. Previous research has shown that various populations -including people with intellectual disabilities- may experience difficulties deploying this skill. From a behavioral perspective, this repertoire emerges from a set of learned relations among stimuli that enable the individual to locate themself in relation to other people, places, or points in time. Relational Frame Theory proposes that deictic and hierarchical frames underlie this ability. The present study introduces a training protocol designed to teach responses to deictic and hierarchical discriminations through a series of activities carried out in a naturalistic context with three adults with Down syndrome. The results showed that all three participants improved their performance on the trained discriminations. The study provides exploratory evidence supporting the utility of teaching deictic and hierarchical relations -using differential reinforcement and various types of prompts and aids- for learning complex perspective-taking skills in individuals with cognitive developmental difficulties.
How to cite this paper:
Montoya-Rodríguez MM, de Souza-Franco VA, Harana-Lahera B, Polin E, Lobato D, & Molina-Cobos FJ (2026). Promoting Perspective-Taking in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities through Naturalistic Conditional Discrimination Training. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 26, 1, 129-141.
Key words:
perspective taking, Down syndrome, Relational Frame Theory, deictic and hierarchical relations
Full Article
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