Relapse and therapeutic response in the conditioning treatment of enuresis: A review of recent findings on intermittent reinforcement,overlearning and

Recent research concerning relapse and response to auditory alarm stimuli in the conditioning treatment of enuresis is reviewed. Both intermittent reinforcement and overlearning procedures have been found to be associated with reduced relapse rates—of 25% and 12.8% respectively, a consensus of published results to date favouring overlearning as the more effective procedure in countering relapse. Auditory stimulus intensity is identified as a critical factor affecting rate of acquisition of continence, but not relapse, and appears implicated in the improved acquisition obtained in past studies of variations upon basic conditioning treatment.