Simple deictic relations, perspective-taking and social competence

Relational Frame Theory (Hayes, Barnes-Holmes & Roche, 2001) states that perspective-taking can be understood as a repertoire of personal, spatial and temporal deictic relations that are derived and arbitrarily applicable. Under this rubric, this research evaluated the impact of multiple reinforcement exemplars for relacional responding according to contextual cues in establishing simple deictic relations and the impact of this training on ToM and social competence scores. A multiple baseline design was implemented with four participants (41 to 58 months old) raised in an institutional setting. Participants required training in personal and/or temporal relations, the latter being harder to learn after being exposed to reinforcement contingencies. No clear relationships among changes in the deictic relations repertoire and ToM and social competence scores were identified. Theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.