USING INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT TO PROGRAM MAINTENANCE OF VERBAL/NONVERBAL CORRESPONDENCE

We investigated the effects of an intermittent reinforcement procedure on maintenance of verbal/nonverbal correspondence with nutritious snack choices in a day-care setting. Nutritious snack choices were first established using correspondence training procedures in a multiple baseline across three children. Withdrawal of the procedures with one subject led to loss of appropriate responding, suggesting the need for a maintenance strategy. The intermittent reinforcement procedure was implemented in a multiple baseline across subjects. Nutritious snack choices were observed consistently during the intermittent reinforcement condition and the subsequent extinction condition.     

Compliance during sessions and homework in exposure-based treatment of agoraphobia

The relationship between compliance with cognitive-behavioral treatment instructions and outcome was examined for 56 agoraphobic clients treated with in vivo exposure and training in anxiety management strategies. Clients who complied more often with anxiety management instructions during treatment sessions tended to improve more on a behavioral avoidance test than those who were less compliant, but did not differ on three other outcome variables. Compliance with instructions for self-directed exposure between sessions was examined in a subset of 28 of these Ss. Clients who spent more time doing homework reported significantly greater decrements in fear of fear than less compliant clients and also tended to report larger changes on avoidance behavior. However, a quasi-experimental comparison of homework vs no-homework treatment protocols yielded no difference in outcome. Less compliant clients were more symptomatic pretreatment and rated their therapists as less caring and less self-confident.