Functional Behavioural Science Laboratory

This lab’s research is primarily based around six core strands:

1. Experimental psychopathology: Using Relational Frame Theory and derived stimulus relation we explore how language and cognition function in the development of psychopathology and the underlying processes by which talk therapies and mindfulness-based therapies work.
2. Utilising relational frame theory to enhance educational attainment, including the SMART intervention programme. This work has been published in the Journal of Behavioural Education with further manuscripts under preparation.
3. Cognitive psychology research on attention, problem-solving, and decision making. Our cognitive work on attention, attentional bias, and decision making has been published in Consciousness and Cognition, the British Journal of Psychology, and Learning and Behaviour.
4. The development and application of a behavioural test of implicit cognition and attitudes, the Function Acquisition Speed Test. This work has been published in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour and The Psychological Record.
5. Ostracism/Social exclusion and the application of the psychological flexibility model. This work has been published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science.
6. Psychometric tests of the psychological flexibility model.

To find out more about this lab please contact Dr. Ian Tyndall at i.tyndall@chi.ac.uk.

Current Projects and Available Participation Opportunities

• Analysis of processes underlying the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy model of psychological flexibility.
• Application of the SMART online intervention programme in primary and secondary schools to enhance educational outcomes.
• Attentional Bias and approach-avoidance conflicts in threat and anxiety.
• Further development and application of the Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST) as a new measure of learning history and stimulus relations.
• Future projects will include applications of virtual reality software, transcranial direct stimulation (tDCS), and functional near infra-red spectroscopy

Recent Past Projects

• Analysis of perceptual load and attentional capacities in Autism Spectrum Conditions and neurotypical samples
• Examination of dynamic methods to examine cognition and decision making in the moment (i.e., mouse-tracking analyses)
• Analyses of the roles of stimulus function and stimulus familiarity in stimulus equivalence class formation and derived relational responding
• Psychological flexibility as a coping mechanism in ostracism

Our Members (including Faculty Staff, PhD Students and Research Volunteers)

Our Publications

• Tyndall, I., Vagos, P., del Cano, S., Pinto, H., & Trindade, I. A. (2023). Assessing psychological flexibility in chronic illness. The Psychological Record.
• Waldeck, D., Smyth, C., Riva, P., Adie, J., Holliman, A. J., & Tyndall, I. (2023). Who is more likely to feel ostracised? A latent class analysis of personality traits. Personality and Individual Differences.
• Tyndall, I., Woodward, A., & Sexton, T. (2023). Self, consciousness, and non-duality: A case study of post-traumatic growth through lenses of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Transpersonal Psychology. The Psychologist.
• Marinucci, M., Riva, P., Lezi, M., Lasagna, C., Waldeck, D., Tyndall, I., & Volpato, C. (2023). On the lowest rung of the ladder: How social exclusion, perceived economic inequality, and stigma increase homeless people’s resignation. British Journal of Social Psychology.
• Pancani, I., Waldeck., D., Tyndall, I., & Riva, P. (2023). An Ecological Momentary Assessment study to investigate individuals’ reactions to perceived social exclusion. Personality and Individual Differences.
• Waldeck, D., Pancani, L., Morris, E. M., Adie, J., Holliman, A., & Tyndall, I. (2023). Perceived ostracism and paranoia: A test of potential moderating effects of psychological flexibility and psychological inflexibility. Current Psychology.
• Tyndall, I., Hartland, T., Banerjee, M., Giacomelli, V., Ball, I.,  Churchill, S., Pereira, A., & Lowry, R. (2022). Tailoring sexual health interventions for middle aged and older adults, including vulnerable populations: A scoping review. International Journal of Sexual Health.
• Assaz, D., Tyndall, I., Oshiro, C., & Roche, B. (2022). A process-based analysis of cognitive defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Behaviour Therapy.
• Trindade, I. A., Vagos, P., Moreira, H., Fernandes, D. V., & Tyndall, I. (2022). Further validation of the 18-item CompACT scale using a multi-sample design. Confirmatory factor analysis and correlates of psychological flexibility. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science.
• McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I., & Pereira, A. (2022). Relational operant skills training increases standardised matrices in adolescents: A stratified active-controlled trial. Journal of Behavioural Education, 31, 298-325.
• Tyndall, I. (2022). Relational Frame Theory as a promising framework for developing positive interventions in applied settings. Assessment and Development Matters.
• May, R. J., Tyndall, I, McTiernan, A., Rodriguez, G., & McLoughlin, S. (2022). The Impact of the SMART Program on cognitive and academic skills: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Educational Technology.
• Rehfeldt, R. A., & Tyndall, I. (2022). Why we are not acting to save ourselves: ACT, health, and culture. Behaviour Analysis in Practice, 15(1), 55-70.
• Rehfeldt, R. A., Tyndall, I., & Belisle, J. (2022). Music as a cultural inheritance system: A contextual-behavioural model of the symbolism, meaning, and value of music. Behaviour and Social Issues, 30, 749-773.
• Lee, J., Waldeck, D., Holliman, A., Banerjee, M., & Tyndall, I. (2022). Feeling socially anxious at university: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. The Qualitative Report.
• Newell, C., Sandoz, E. K., & Tyndall, I. (2022). A pilot study of the impact of brief exposure to images of breastfeeding mothers on attitudes towards mother’s breastfeeding in public. Health Communication, 37(2), 185-190.
• Sandoz, E., Bordieri, M., Boullion, G., & Tyndall, I. (2021). An Examination of transformation of evaluative and consequential functions through derived relations with participant-generated values-relevant stimuli. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science, 21, 144-157.
• Buckley, C, Farrell, L., & Tyndall, I. (2021). Brief stories of successful female role models in science help counter gender stereotypes regarding intellectual ability among young girls: A pilot study. Early Education and Development, 33(4), 555-566.
• Waldeck, D., Pancani, L., Holliman, A., Karekla, M., & Tyndall, I. (2021). Adaptability and psychological flexibility: Overlapping constructs? Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science, 19, 72-78.
• Brandrick, C., Hooper, N., Roche, B., Kanter, J., & Tyndall, I. (2021). A comparison of ultra-brief cognitive defusion and positive affirmation interventions on the reduction of public speaking anxiety. The Psychological Record, 71(1), 109-117.
• Sandoz, E. K., Bordieri, M., Tyndall, I., & Auzenne, J. (2021). A preliminary examination of derived relational responding in the context of body image. The Psychological Record, 71, 291-306.
• McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I., & Pereira, A. (2020). Convergence of multiple fields on a relational reasoning approach to cognition. Intelligence, 83.
• McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I., Pereira, A., & Mulhern, T. (2020). Non-verbal IQ gains from relational operant training explain variance in educational attainment: An active-controlled feasibility study. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 5, 35-50.
• Waldeck, D., Bissett, G., & Tyndall, I. (2020). Experiential avoidance as a moderator for coping with a brief episode of ostracism: A pilot study. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science, 17, 68-72.
• Waldeck, D., Banerjee, M., Jenks, R., & Tyndall, I. (2020). Cognitive arousal mediates the relationship between perceived ostracism and sleep quality but it is not mediated by experiential avoidance. Stress & Health, 36(4), 487-495.
• Tyndall, I., Waldeck, D., Pancani, L., Whelan, R., Roche, B., & Pereira, A. (2020). Profiles of psychological flexibility: A latent class analysis of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy model. Behaviour Modification, 44, 365-393
• Waldeck, D., Pancani, L., & Tyndall, I. (2019). An examination of the construct validity of the Generalized Pliance Questionnaire. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.12.003
• Tyndall, I., Waldeck, D., Pancani, L., Whelan, R., Roche, B., & Pereira, A. (2019). Profiles of psychological flexibility: A latent class analysis of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy model. Behaviour Modification.
• Tyndall, I., Waldeck, D., Pananci, L., Whelan, R., Roche, B., & Dawson, D. L. (2018). The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II): Concerns over discriminant validity. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science. https://doi:10/1016/j.jcbs.2018.09.005
• McLoughlin, S., Tyndall, I., & Pereira, A. (2018). Piloting a brief relational operant training program: Analyses of response latencies and intelligence test performance. European Journal of Behaviour Analysis. doi: 10.1080/15021149.2018.1507087.
• Cummins, J., Tyndall, I., Curtis, A., & Roche, B. (2018). The Function Acquisition Speed Test (FAST) as a measure of verbal stimulus relations in the context of condom use. The Psychological Record. doi: 10.1007/s40732-018-0321-0
• Tyndall, I., Ragless, L., & O’Hora, D. (2018). Effects of perceptual load and socially meaningful stimuli on crossmodal selective attention in Autism Spectrum Disorder and neurotypical samples. Consciousness and Cognition, 60, 25-36.
• Tyndall, I., Waldeck, D., Riva, P., Wesselmann, E., & Pancani, L. (2018). Psychological flexibility and ostracism: Experiential avoidance rather than cognitive fusion moderates distress from perceived ostracism over time. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science, 7, 72-80.
• Colbert, D., Tyndall, I., Roche, B., & Cassidy, S. (2018). Can SMART training really increase intelligence? A replication study. Journal of Behavioural Education. Doi: 10.1007/s10864-018-9302-2
• Cummins, J., Roche, B., Tyndall, I., & Cartwright, A. (2018). The relationship between differential stimulus relatedness and implicit test effect sizes. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour. Doi:10.1002/jeab.437
• Gladwin, T. E., Mobius, M., McLoughlin, S., & Tyndall, I. (2018). Anticipatory versus reactive spatial attention to threat. British Journal of Psychology. Doi:10.1111/bjop.12309
• Waldeck, D., Tyndall, I., Riva, P., & Chniel, N. (2017). How do we cope with ostracism? Psychological flexibility moderates the relationship between everyday ostracism experiences and psychological distress. Journal of Contextual Behavioural Science, 6, 425-432.
• Tyndall, I., Papworth, R., Roche, B., & Bennett, M. (2017). Differential effects of word-repetition rate on cognitive defusion of believability and discomfort of negative self-referential thoughts postintervention and at one-month follow-up. The Psychological Record, 67, 377-386.
• Tyndall, I., Howe, B., & Roche, B. T. (2016). Exposure to progressive muscle relaxation leads to enhanced performance on derived relational responding tasks. The Psychological Record, 66, 213-222. doi 10.1007/s40732-016-0163-6
• Waldeck, D., Tyndall, I., & Chmiel, N. (2015). Resilience to ostracism: A qualitative inquiry. The Qualitative Report, 20, 1646-1670.
• O’Hora, D., Tyndall., I. T., McMorrow, M., Dale, R. A. C. (2013). Using action dynamics to assess competing stimulus control during stimulus equivalence testing. Learning and Behaviour, 41, 256-270. doi 10.3758/s13420-013-0102-1.
• Roche, B., O’Reilly, A., Ruiz, M., Tyndall, I., & Gavin, A. (2012). The Function acquisition speed test (FAST): A behavior-analytic implicit test for assessing stimulus relations. The Psychological Record, 62, 507-528.
• Tyndall, I. T., Roche, B., & James, J. E. (2009). The interfering effect of emotional stimulus functions on stimulus equivalence class formation: Implications for the understanding and treatment of anxiety. European Journal of Behaviour Analysis, 10, 121-140.
• Tyndall, I. T., Roche, B., & James, J. E. (2004). The relationship between stimulus functions and equivalence class formation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour, 81, 257-266.