The Science behind SMART Brain Training and Intellectual Skills Training
Dr. Bryan Roche and Dr. Sarah Cassidy have been involved for over 20 years as scientists in the development of the SMART brain training learning and educational method within the behavioral research community in which the idea of “relational skills” first evolved. The RaiseYourIQ approach to brain health is based on Relational Frame Theory – a modern theory of cognition that our team has helped to develop over the past two decades.
RaiseYourIQ is the only brain training company offering online relational skills training based on the tried and tested methods of applied behavior analysis (ABA). These technologies have developed over decades in a research tradition started by the now legendary psychologist B.F Skinner. Skinner was not a brain scientist. He was an expert in the science of learning and teaching. Skinner’s ideas eventually led to the development of supremely successful treatments for a whole range of learning, educational and intellectual deficits including autism spectrum disorders, and his approach taught us how to help individuals reach and surpass their intellectual potential.
So successful is the applied behavior analysis approach that it is widely considered to be the most effective treatment for improving mental performance known to science and it is used by leading scientists and therapists all over the world, in private clinics, in adult learning, in the mainstream school system and to people at every level of academic ability. SMART brain training has emerged from this applied behavior analysis tradition, and provides a scientifically proven brain training system that teaches the fundamental concepts required for intellectual development to make acquiring knowledge easier.
Some Published Scientific Research Papers Supporting the SMART Approach
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., Roche, B. & Smeets, P. M. (2001). Exemplar training and a derived transformation of function in accordance with symmetry: II. The Psychological Record, 51, 589-603.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D. & Cullinan, V. (2001). In Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition. Hayes, S. C. (Ed.); Barnes-Holmes, D. (Ed.); Roche, B. (Ed.), (pp. 181-195). New York, NY, US: Kluwer Academic/Plenum
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D. & Murphy, C. (2004). Teaching the generic skills of language and cognition: Contributions from relational frame theory. In Moran, Daniel J. (Ed.); Malott, Richard W. (Ed.), Evidence-based educational methods. San Diego, CA, US: Elsevier Academic Press.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., Roche, B., Healy, O., Lyddy, F., Cullinan, V. & Hayes, S. C. (2001). Psychological Development. In Hayes, Steven C. (Ed.); Barnes-Holmes, Dermot (Ed.); Roche, Bryan (Ed.), Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition (pp. 157-180). New York, NY, US: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., Roche, B. & Smeets, P. M. (2001). Exemplar training and a derived transformation of function in accordance with symmetry. The Psychological Record, 51, 287-308.
Berens, N. M. & Hayes, S. C. (2007). Arbitrarily applicable comparative relations: Experimental evidence for a relational operant. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 45-71.
Cassidy, S., Roche, B. & Hayes, S. C. (2011). A relational frame training intervention to raise Intelligence Quotients: A pilot study. The Psychological Record, 61, 173-198.
Cassidy, S., Roche, B. & O’Hora, D. (2010). Relational Frame Theory and human intelligence. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 11, 37-51.
Christoff, K., Keramatian, K., Gordon, A. M., Smith, R., & Mädler, B. (2009). Prefrontal organization of cognitive control according to levels of abstraction. Brain Research, 1286, 94-105.
Gómez, S. López, F., ; Martín, C. B., Barnes-Holmes, Y. & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2007). Exemplar training and a derived transformation of functions in accordance with symmetry and equivalence. The Psychological Record, 57, 273-294.
Gore, N. J.; Barnes-Holmes, Yvonne & Murphy, Glynis. (2010). The Relationship between Intellectual Functioning and Relational Perspective-Taking. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 10, 1-17.
Gorham, Marie; Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D. & Berens, N. (2009). Derived comparative and transitive relations in young children with and without autism. The Psychological Record, 59, 221-246.
Christoff, K., Keramatian, K., Gordon, A. M., Smith, R., & Mädler, B. (2009). Prefrontal organization of cognitive control according to levels of abstraction. Brain Research, 1286, 94-105.
Luciano, C., Becerra, I. G., & Valverde, M. R. (2007). The role of multiple-exemplar training and naming in establishing derived equivalence in an infant. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 87, 349-365.
McHugh, L., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2004). Relational Frame Account of the Development of Complex Cognitive Phenomena: Perspective-taking, False Belief Understanding, and Deception. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 4, 303-324.
McHugh, L., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Barnes-Holmes, D. Perspective-Taking as Relational Responding: A Developmental Profile. (2004). The Psychological Record, 54, 115-144.
Murphy, C., Barnes-Holmes, D. & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2005). Derived manding in children with autism: Synthesizing Skinner's verbal behavior with relational frame theory. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38, 445-462.
Murphy, C., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2009). Derived more-less relational mands in children diagnosed with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 253-268.
Murphy, C., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2009). Establishing derived manding for specific amounts with three children: An attempt at synthesizing Skinner's Verbal Behavior with relational frame theory. The Psychological Record, 59, 75-92.
Oberauer, K. (2003). The multiple faces of working memory: Storage, processing, supervision, and coordination. Intelligence, 31(2), 167-193.
O'Connor, J., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2011). Establishing contextual control over symmetry and asymmetry performances in typically developing children and children with autism. The Psychological Record, 61, 287-312.
O'Toole, C., Barnes-Holmes, D., Murphy, C., O'Connor, J., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2009). Relational flexibility and human intelligence: Extending the remit of Skinner's Verbal Behavior. International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, 9, 1-17.
Ramsden, S., Richardson, F. M., Josse,G., Thomas, M. S. C., Ellis, C., Shakeshaft, C., Seghier, M. L. & Price, C. P. (2011). Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage brain. Nature 479, 113–116.
Rehfeldt, R. & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2009). Derived Relational Responding: Applications for Learners with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities: A Progressive Guide to Change. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Roche, B., Cassidy, S. & Stewart, I. (2013). Nurturing genius: Realizing a foundational aim of Psychology, In Kashdan, T & Ciarrochi, J. (Eds.), Cultivating well-being: Treatment innovations in Positive Psychology, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and beyond, pp. 267-302. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Rosales, R., Rehfeldt, R., & Lovett, S. (2011). Effects of multiple exemplar training on the emergence of derived relations in preschool children learning a second language. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 27, 61-74.
Stewart, I., Tarbox, J., Roche, B., & O’Hora, D. (2013). Education, intellectual development, and relational frame theory. In Dymond, S. & Roche, B. (Eds.), Advances in Relational Frame Theory: Research & Application, pp. 178-198. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Vitale, A., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Campbell, C. (2008). Facilitating responding in accordance with the relational frame of comparison: Systematic empirical analyses. The Psychological Record, 58, 365-390.
Weil, T. M., Hayes, S. C., & Capurro, P. (2011). Establishing a deictic relational repertoire in young children. The Psychological Record, 61, 371-390.