ACBS Newsletter - November 2015

Happy 10th Birthday, ACBS!

On October 16th, ACBS celebrated its 10th birthday! From our origins as a small group of individuals with dreams of making a difference in the world, we have become an organization of over 7,600 members, with well over 100 research studies on ACT with over 10,000 participants. Let's take this moment to reflect on our goals as an organization and to celebrate this landmark achievement. Congratulations, ACBS!

Perspective taking reduces the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The fundamental attribution error (FAE) refers to the predisposition for people to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional characteristics, rather than situational causes external to the individual. The current study aimed to investigate whether pre-experimental perspective taking (PT) training could reduce the FAE. Participants were randomly assigned to either receive PT training, or to receive no training, before completing a typical attitude attribution task. This task required participants to watch a video clip of an actor reading an essay for or against capital punishment and then to infer the attitude of the actor. Results indicated that participants in the perspective taking condition experienced a significant reduction in the FAE compared to participants in the control condition. To read the published account of the study and learn more about the intervention used visit the ACBS member portal to JCBS here. If you would like to contribute to JCBS please see our updated submission information page. If you would like a better resource to cite JCBS content, see our new JCBS reference sharing page which includes a downloadable Endnote file for all published and in-press JCBS articles.

Q&A with Dennis Tirch, Ph.D., and Laura Silberstein, Psy.D.

In this interview, Dennis Tirch and Laura Silberstein discuss their book, The ACT Practitioner's Guide to the Science of Compassion, co-authored with Benjamin Schoendorff. Dennis and Laura touch on the initial inspirations for the book, particularly around how mindfulness is being integrated into cognitive and behavioral therapies that transcend specific theoretical approaches. The authors go on to describe the role of compassion within the ACT model, and the interrelation between compassion, mindfulness, and acceptance. They also provide examples of how other members of the ACT community are researching and implementing compassion, and offer a discussion on why utilizing compassion in therapy may be theoretically important in ways that cut across specific, formal characteristics of disorders. To read the full interview click here.

World Conference 13 Powerpoints, Handouts, and Posters!

We have received materials from the majority of talks and poster sessions from World Conference 13. If you missed the conference and want to catch up, or if you want to find materials from talks you were unable to attend, please visit our PowerPoints & Handouts and Posters pages. These pages are continue to be updated as we receive more materials so check back often. If you presented this year and would like your materials posted, please email the files to acbsstaff@contextualscience.org.

Join us in Seattle for World Conference 14!

The next World Conference will be held in Seattle from June 14th - 19th. The program is already shaping up to be an exciting one, with Kristin Neff, Marsha Linehan, Lisa Diamond, James Coan, Michael Twohig and Sue McCurry confirmed as plenary speakers. The call for submissions for symposia, workshops, poster sessions, and the like will open in November, and we look forward to receiving your materials! To register your interest in the conference and receive notifications for when the Call for Submissions, Registration, and Program schedule are available, click here. For more general information about World Conference 14, click here. Moreover, for those of you who were unable to attend World Conference 13 in Berlin, the 2017 World Conference will be taking place in Seville, Spain.

Renew Your Membership in ACBS Today!

to be held June 14-19, 2016. Go here for more information.