Welcome to the NCI CBS lab. Below you will find a summary of the research focus and outputs from the lab, as well as researcher profiles and contact information.
The NCI CBS lab is co-led by Drs Lynn Farrell, Michelle Kelly and Conor Nolan.
What is Contextual Behavioural Science?
Contextual behavioural science arose from the need to answer the question: how can behavioural psychology address the issue of human language and cognition? Contextual behavioural science has its roots in behavioural psychology and behaviour analysis, and is an elaboration of the behavioural approach to science. CBS takes a functional contextual approach as its philosophical underpinning and aims to develop behavioural accounts of complex human behaviours. At its core is also the application of theory and principles to the alleviation of human suffering and the advancement of human well-being.
What kind of work do members of the lab do?
Members of the lab have extensive research and applied experience in the area of contextual behavioural science, and more broadly the areas of behavioural psychology and applied behaviour analysis. Specific areas of research interest include:
- Relational Frame Theory
- The Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP)
- The application of RFT to social psychological phenomena
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- The application of relational training to improve older adults’ cognition
Researchers
Researchers from the NCI CBS lab actively collaborate with colleagues and research teams from Trinity College Dublin, University of Galway (NUIG), University College Dublin, Queens University Belfast and Maynooth University (MU).
The NCI CBS team are open to research collaborations and enquiries. See below for full researcher profiles and contact details:
Publications
Some recent publications relating to the CBS lab include: