Perspective-Taking Measured by Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP)

Abstract

The current study aimed to design a preliminary implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP) to measure the increased complexity and the flexibility in perspective taking (PT). Undergraduate students (N = 35) from a Spanish university completed a PT scale and a PT task (deictic relational task; DRT) that involved trials with different complexity (reversed and double reversed). Then, participants were asked to complete an IRAP to assess the level of complexity and flexibility involved in perspective-taking framing. Results showed that the IRAP captured the differences, on the one hand, in relational complexity when the participants were asked to respond saying Yes or No to their own perspective and, on the other hand, in relational flexibility when they were asked to change their own perspective. In addition, the IRAP effect correlated with high deictic ability as measured by the DRT (mainly in double-reversed trials). These findings suggest that the IRAP as designed in the present study seems to be a good indicator of complexity and flexibility in PT.