User:FLJTDD/Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure

Definition and Background
The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure or IRAP (pronounced I-rap) is an experimental method, built out of Relational Frame Theory (RFT). It was conceptualised, designed, and programmed by Dermot Barnes-Holmes, and has been developed and refined in collaboration with Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, Ian Stewart, Shawn Boles, and their students and colleagues. The IRAP was designed to measure so called implicit attitudes or automatic biases, which are thoughts, feelings and beliefs that individuals may attempt to conceal, or of which they are not consciously aware, such as racial or sexual stereotypes.

Description
Each trial of the IRAP asks participants to confirm or deny a specific stimulus relation by responding, for example, to a label stimulus such as "White People" and a target stimulus such as "Good" with the response options, “True” or “False”. The former response would be required on blocks of IRAP trials that are deemed to be consistent with a pro-white bias, and the latter response would be required on trials that are deemed to be consistent with an anti-white bias. Participants are required to respond as accurately and as quickly as possible on all trials.

Relational Elaboration and Coherence (REC) model
The conceptual underpinnings of the IRAP have been articulated in the form of the Relational Elaboration and Coherence (REC) model (e.g., Barnes-Holmes, Barnes-Holmes, Stewart, & Boles, 2010; Hughes, Barnes-Holmes, & De Houwer, in press). The core assumption of this model is that most IRAP trials produce a brief and immediate relational response (BIRR) before a participant actually presses a response key (the participant may or may not be consciously aware of this response). In addition, it is assumed that the probability of a BIRR will be determined by the previous history of the participant and current contextual variables. Thus, for example, a white participant presented with the IRAP trial, "White People" – “Good” – “True” or “False”, will likely emit a BIRR that is consistent with the former answer. If the correct answer for that particular IRAP trial is also “True” then this response may be emitted relatively quickly, but if it is not (i.e., “False” is the correct answer) then the response may be delayed. Consequently, across multiple trials, the average latency for White-Good-True responses will be shorter than for White-Good-False responses. In summary, the IRAP effect is based on brief and immediate (perhaps unconscious) relational responding, which is revealed when the behavioural system is required to respond quickly and accurately. The extent of the observed difference in response latency between the two types of trials (in the current example, pro-white versus anti-white) is assumed to provide an index of the strength of the specific implicit response bias being assessed.