Conversational skills training with schizophrenic inpatients: A study of generalization across settings and conversants

Abstract

Three male schizophrenic inpatients were taught appropriate conversational behavior using social skills training (SST). Subjects were taught verbal skills in an office and those behaviors were monitored in that setting as well as covertly assessed in the ward dayhall and courtyard during encounters with unit staff and strangers. SST produced large and consistent increases in responding in the training setting; however, generalization across settings and conversants varied greatly depending on the subject, skill, and conversant. When an intervention consisting of homework assignments plus intermittent prompts and consequences was applied in the dayhall, responding rose substantially in that setting. Follow-up assessments conducted 3 months after the completion of training showed that the verbal skills were maintained. Social validity ratings given by stranger confederates directly after treatment revealed improvements for 2 of the 3 subjects on several measures of social competence and attractiveness.