Over a Decade of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) in Brazil: A Systematic Review

Abstract Brazilian research has played an important role in the study of Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding (AARRing) through the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP)—a method derived directly from Relational Frame Theory (RFT). This study aims to systematically review the empirical literature that employs the IRAP in investigations of AARRing involving Brazilian samples. The goals are to (1) quantify the studies published in each journal; (2) identify the aims of the studies; (3) identify the sample size ( N ) and the type and the age of the participants involved in each study; (4) describe the stimuli used (i.e., label, target, and response options); (5) describe the methodological parameters (i.e., latency and accuracy criteria, number of block tests, and trials per block); (6) verify whether the IRAP is used in conjunction with other tools; (7) identify the themes investigated and their relevant findings; and (8) identify the values of differential trial-type effects. The review followed the PRISMA protocol. Searchers were conducted in three Brazilian and five international journals. Results showed 25 studies published from 2012 to 2024, covering 13 years of research. The findings indicate that the IRAP has been used both in a correlational sense with other tools and as a functional-analytic tool, with the latter aligning with broader developments in RFT, namely the Differential Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding Effects (DAARRE) model. Limitations and future directions for the IRAP as a functional-analytic tool that meets the goals of prediction-and-influence are also discussed.