A Systematic Review of Pliance, Tracking, and Augmenting

Within relational frame theory, a distinction has been made between three types of rule-governed behavior known as pliance, tracking, and augmenting. This review examined whether there is support for the concepts of pliance, tracking, and augmenting in the experimental analysis of behavior; whether these concepts refer to distinct functional classes of behavior; and how these concepts have been operationalized in experimental (behavioral-analytic) research. Given that the concepts of pliance, tracking, and augmenting were first defined by Zettle and Hayes, we confined our review to studies published in or after 1982. Our results indicate that (a) experimental research investigating pliance, tracking, and/or augmenting is extremely limited; (b) it is difficult to determine the extent to which the concepts of pliance, tracking, and augmenting allow for relatively precise experimental analyses of distinct functional classes of behavior; and (c) pliance and tracking have been operationalized by using a limited set of procedures.

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The Status of Rule-Governed Behavior as Pliance, Tracking and Augmenting within Relational Frame Theory: Middle-Level Rather than Technical Terms

The Psychological Record ◽

10.1007/s40732-021-00458-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Colin Harte ◽

Dermot Barnes-Holmes

Keyword(s):

Relational Frame Theory ◽

Middle Level ◽

Frame Theory ◽

Relational Frame ◽

The Status ◽

Technical Terms ◽

Rule Governed Behavior

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Expanding the Scope of Organizational Behavior Management: Relational Frame Theory and the Experimental Analysis of Complex Human Behavior

Acceptance and Mindfulness at Work ◽

10.4324/9781315808383-5 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 9-32

Keyword(s):

Organizational Behavior ◽

Human Behavior ◽

Experimental Analysis ◽

Behavior Management ◽

Relational Frame Theory ◽

Frame Theory ◽

Organizational Behavior Management ◽

Relational Frame

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Rule-governed behavior: An ongoing RFT-based operant analysis

Perspectivas em Análise do Comportamento ◽

10.18761/pac.2021.v12.rft.09 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Heloisa Ribeiro Zapparoli ◽

Ramon Marin ◽

Colin Harte

Keyword(s):

Relational Frame Theory ◽

Experimental Analysis Of Behavior ◽

Rule Following ◽

Psychological Suffering ◽

Relational Frame ◽

The Face ◽

Current Article ◽

Verbal Rules ◽

And Behavior ◽

Rule Governed Behavior

Rule-governed behavior is broadly defined as verbal antecedent stimuli that specify dependence relations between stimuli and events. Since its conception, this definition has supported a relatively rich program of research within the experimental analysis of behavior. Specifically, researchers have sought to explore the extent to which verbal rules are involved in operant behavior, both in the basic and applied domains. However, some have highlighted the need for a more complete understanding of what “specification” means in the context of rule-following and behavior analysis. The current article aims to present an operant account of what it means to understand and follow verbal rules, drawing largely on stimulus equivalence, and focusing in particular on a relational frame theory (RFT) perspective. To this end, we provide an overview of an RFT-based operant account of rule-following as it currently stands, and outline a recent program of experimental research that has utilized this approach to explore the complexities involved in rule-following in the face of competing reinforcement contingencies, a phenomenon typically linked to human psychological suffering. Implications for going forward in developing a more complete operant account of rule-governed behavior in both the basic and applied domains are considered.

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