Levin, M. E., & Villatte, M. (2015). Psychopathology and Laboratory-Based Intervention Studies in Contextual Behavioral Science. The Wiley Handbook of Contextual Behavioral Science, 347-364.
Laboratory based studies have long been a core aspect of psychological research. This chapter focuses on how these methodologies may be best used from a contextual behavioral science (CBS) perspective to help bridge basic research, applied theory, and interventions. It specifically focuses on the domains directly relevant to psychopathology and therapeutic interventions. To illustrate how these methods can help bridge levels of analysis, the chapter discusses research conducted in the field of relational frame theory. Research is needed to elaborate on and test theoretical suppositions about how basic principles might contribute to psychopathology. The chapter describes some of the important ways laboratory-based intervention research adds to a program of research seeking to bridge treatment, middle-level theory, and basic principles. As there has been more research on laboratory-based intervention studies than research bridging basic and applied theory, the chapter also reviews its limitations.