
Shane McLoughlinUniversity of Birmingham · Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues
Shane McLoughlin
BSc - FHEA - PhD
About
52
Publications
12,478
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256
Citations
Introduction
Additional affiliations
April 2016 - present
Association for Contextual Behavioral Science
Position
- Founding Member of the Contextual Philosophy of Science Special Interest Group
Education
October 2015 - September 2018
September 2013 - July 2015
September 2008 - May 2012
Publications
Publications (52)
This article presents the development and validation of the Short Phronesis Measure (SPM), a novel tool to assess Aristotelian phronesis (practical wisdom). Across three studies, using large, nationally representative samples from the UK and US (demographically matched to census data), we employed a systematic and rigorous methodology to examine th...
Engaging in values-consistent behavior is a key outcome sought in several evidence-informed psychotherapies (e.g. "valued action" within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). However, we cannot deliberately engage in valued action without first having value clarity (i.e., understanding the type of person we aspire to be, qua qualities of character)....
This article presents the development and validation of the Short Phronesis Measure (SPM), a novel tool to assess Aristotelian phronesis (practical wisdom). Across five studies, using large, nationally representative samples from the UK and US (demographically matched to census data), we employed a systematic and rigorous methodology to examine the...
This paper explores the decline in adolescent mental health and the weakening of traditional moral frameworks, positing education in the virtues as protective of mental health due to the intrinsic link between moral/existential wellbeing and psychological health. By integrating character education into school curricula, a continuous “dosage” of mor...
There is a dearth of studies exploring how younger children engage in civic life, what may be expected of them given their age, and what instruments may be used to capture their levels of civic engagement. Addressing these questions, this article presents key findings from a pilot study that aimed to create a validated instrument designed to measur...
A report on the creation of a short measure of phronesis
Cyber-wisdom is the ability to know and do the right thing at the right time, when using digital technologies, and is a concept that is gaining attention from educators. Whilst the theory and practice of cyber-wisdom education is established, to date there has been no attempt to investigate how the virtue of cyber-wisdom might be measured. This is...
Free online course for those who are teaching professional ethics in medicine, nursing, teacher-training, business, policing, etc.
Ofsted requires UK schools to help students understand the working world and gain employability skills. However, the aims of education are much broader: Education should enable flourishing long after leaving school. Therefore, students’ career decisions should be conducive to long-term flourishing beyond career readiness and educational attainment....
Drawing upon cross-sectional research with pre-and in-service police officers in the U.K. (N = 571), this paper reports on the moral reasoning strategies favored by the respondents in dealing with bespoke work-related moral quandaries specific to the professional practice of policing. The dominant form of moral reasoning in dealing with those dilem...
A large array of randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses have determined the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). However, determining that ACT works does not tell us how it works. This is especially important to understand given the current emphasis on Process-Based Therapy, the promise of which is to identify manipulable ca...
In recent years, small-scale studies have suggested that we may be able to substantially strengthen children's general cognitive abilities and intelligence quotient (IQ) scores using a relational operant skills training program (SMART). Only one of these studies to date has included an active Control Condition, and that study reported the smallest...
Engaging in behavior that is congruent with the qualities of character to which we aspire is the key behavioral outcome sought in several evidence-based psychotherapies (e.g., “valued action” within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and moral education (e.g., “character sought” within Neo-Aristotelian Character Education). However, we cannot delib...
Online interventions promoted to enhance cognitive ability hold great appeal for their potential positive impact in social, employment, and educational domains. Cognitive training programs have, thus far, not been shown to influence performance on tests of general cognitive aptitude. Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training (SMART) i...
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions have had a negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of many people worldwide, but this may have been particularly challenging for adolescents. However, there is a paucity of research examining the factors associated with good mental health during this time. The aim of the current study was...
Intimate partner homicides are often situated within the context of domestic abuse, and although less prevalent than domestic abuse, there have been several multi-agency approaches to understanding the risk for these fatal crimes. Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) were introduced in 2011 to provide information to help with assessing such risk. This...
The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceived impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns among early adolescents in the northwest of England, as well as explore the self-care and coping strategies that helped the young people continue to thrive. Fourteen adolescents, 9 boys and 5 girls, were recruited from four secondary schools in North...
Adolescents' Lockdown-Induced Coping Experiences (ALICE) study: A qualitative exploration of early adolescents' experiences of lockdown and reintegration http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15461/ Article LJMU has developed LJMU Research Online for users to access the research output of the University more effectively.
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions have had a negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of many people worldwide, but there is evidence to suggest this has been a particularly challenging for adolescents. However, there is a paucity of research examining the factors that have promoted good mental health during this time. The...
Low social resilience (e.g., susceptibility to social anxiety, and social avoidance) has been associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes, and can lead to ostracism. Support services such as university counselling centres, which deal with non-diagnosable psychological distress, linked to low social resilience, require effective yet bri...
Research suggests that training relational operant patterns of behavior can lead to increases in general cognitive ability and educational outcomes. Most studies to date have been under-powered and included proxy measures of educational attainment. We attempted to extend previous findings with increased experimental control in younger children (age...
p>The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceived impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns among early adolescents in the North West of England, as well as explore the self-care and coping strategies that helped the young people continue to thrive. Fourteen adolescents, 9 boys and 5 girls, from white ( n =8) and non-white ( n =6) backgro...
p>The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceived impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns among early adolescents in the North West of England, as well as explore the self-care and coping strategies that helped the young people continue to thrive. Fourteen adolescents, 9 boys and 5 girls, from white ( n =8) and non-white ( n =6) backgro...
Relational reasoning broadly refers to how we assign symbolic meaning to stimuli based on their relationship to other stimuli. For example, the term and concept “tall” can only carry meaning relative to “short”. Charles Spearman referred to g as a generic factor of “cognition of relations” (1927, p.165) suggesting that relational reasoning may be c...
Research suggests that training relational operant patterns of behavior can lead to increases in general cognitive ability and educational outcomes. Most studies to date have been under-powered and included proxy measures of educational attainment. We attempted to extend previous findings with increased experimental control in younger children (age...
A core overarching aim of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) research on language and cognition is the prediction and influence of human behavior with precision, scope, and depth. However, the conceptualization and delineation of empirical investigations of higher-order language and cognition from a relational framing theoretical standpoint is a challen...
A core overarching aim of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) research on language and cognition is the prediction and influence of human behavior with precision, scope, and depth. However, the conceptualization and delineation of empirical investigations of higher-order language and cognition from a relational framing theoretical standpoint is a challen...
I am very pleased to introduce Shane McLoughlin, a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chester in the UK. Shane is a dynamic and compelling young behavioral psychologist, who will shortly complete his PhD at the University of Chichester, UK. He is conducting some of the largest scale Relational Frame Theory research studies to date. As you...
Previous research suggests that training relational operant responding using the SMART (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training) program over several months can result in improved performance on cognitive intelligence tests. This study aimed to investigate whether engaging in a 3-week relational training program would improve (i) sc...
These are the latest impact factors, with relevant keywords and phrases colour-coded so that psychologists can find the best journal to host their research.
Dot-Probe or Visual Probe Tasks (VPTs) are used extensively to measure attentional biases. A novel variant termed the cued VPT (cVPT) was developed to focus on the anticipatory component of attentional bias. The current study aimed to establish an anticipatory attentional bias to threat using the cVPT and compare its split-half reliability with a t...
Dot‐probe or visual probe tasks (VPTs) are used extensively to measure attentional biases. A novel variant termed the cued VPT (cVPT) was developed to focus on the anticipatory component of attentional bias. This study aimed to establish an anticipatory attentional bias to threat using the cVPT and compare its split‐half reliability with a typical...
Previous research has suggested that training relational operants over several months can result in improved
performance on cognitive intelligence tests. Most of this research so far neglects to include response latencies as an outcome measure. However, behaviours considered ‘intelligent’ should be examined within a temporal context. The aims of th...
The second paper will present data from two experiments on the training of analogical and pseudo analogical
responding in a laboratory setting. This will include a discussion on the recent expansion of the RFT account of
analogy to also include pseudo analogical responding. Implications for the ability to predict and influence verbal
behaviour of i...
Relational Frame Theory (RFT) proposes that the learned ability to derive arbitrary stimulus relations (i.e., derived relational responding) underlies the complexity and generativity of language and cognition. One research program (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training; SMART) has provided evidence that training relational skills...
The relating of relations is a key feature of the development of complex relational networks. Despite this, thus far there has been little empirical study of this phenomenon, outside of analogy. The latter, which involves coordination of relational networks, is indeed an important example of the relating of relations but there are other examples th...
Relational Frame Theory (RFT) proposes that the learned ability to derive arbitrary stimulus relations
(i.e., derived relational responding; DRR) underlies the complexity and generativity of language and
cognition. One research program (Strengthening Mental Abilities with Relational Training; SMART)
has provided evidence that training DRR skills re...
Several previous behavior analytic and specifically Relational Frame Theory (RFT) studies have
modelled analogical responding as the relating, through sameness relations, of derived sameness
relations (also called equivalence-equivalence). Study 1 in this paper sought to advance this work by
examining the relating via multiple stimulus relations of...
Analogical responding is an executive operant process that is associated with creativity, reasoning, and intelligence more broadly. Relational Frame Theorists define analogical responding as the establishment of frames of coordination between functionally equivalent relational networks. The present study attempted to extend this functional-analytic...
Analogical reasoning is a pattern of behaviour associated with creative reasoning, and intelligence more broadly. Relational Frame Theory (RFT) defines analogical responding as the establishment of frames of coordination between functionally equivalent relational networks. One strand of RFT research has used the Relational Evaluation Procedure (REP...
Emotion contagion, “the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person's and, consequently, to converge emotionally” (Fischer, Shaver & Carnochan, 1990), is an important queue for social functioning. This may include taking on hedonic emotional states (e.g., excitemen...