Theoretical Foundations Flashcards
7 cards from real ACT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Theoretical Foundations flashcards as text
RFT research demonstrates that human language enables which unique capacity not seen in non-verbal organisms?
Answer: Deriving untrained relations between arbitrary events
RFT shows that humans, through language, can derive untrained relations between arbitrary stimuli—a capacity that enables both human creativity and the amplification of psychological suffering.
The ACT process of 'present-moment awareness' serves psychological flexibility by:
Answer: Enabling flexible attention to current experience as a basis for values-based action
Present-moment awareness in ACT allows clients to contact what is actually happening now, providing a stable foundation from which to choose values-consistent actions.
In ACT, 'willingness' is best understood as:
Answer: An active, chosen stance of openness to all internal experiences
Willingness is an active, voluntary choice to make room for difficult private events without defense, distinct from passive resignation or endorsement of those experiences.
Which metaphor is most commonly used in ACT to illustrate the futility of experiential avoidance?
Answer: The Quicksand metaphor
The Quicksand metaphor illustrates that struggling against difficult feelings (like struggling in quicksand) makes things worse, while stillness and acceptance are more adaptive.
ACT's theoretical roots in behavior analysis distinguish it from cognitive therapy primarily because ACT:
Answer: Targets the context and function of thoughts rather than their content
Unlike CBT, which aims to change the content of dysfunctional thoughts, ACT targets the function and context of thoughts to reduce their behavioral impact without needing to alter their content.
The 'transformation of stimulus functions' in RFT explains how:
Answer: Psychological properties of one stimulus transfer to related stimuli via relational frames
Transformation of stimulus functions means that the psychological properties of one stimulus (e.g., fear) can transfer to other stimuli related to it through relational frames, without direct conditioning.
Which of the following best describes the ACT concept of 'creative hopelessness'?
Answer: Helping clients recognize that their control-based strategies haven't worked
Creative hopelessness is a therapeutic phase where clients are helped to see that their habitual control and avoidance strategies have not worked, opening space for a new approach.