Incubation of sexual attitude change between sessions of instrumental aversion therapy: Two case studies

Abstract

Anticipatory avoidance aversion therapy (AA) was conceived in an attempt to gain efficient control of unwanted approach behavior; this aim has been achieved in the hands of only relatively few workers. paradoxically other, seemingly more simple, techniques have produced comparable results. This paper presents in detail psychometric attitudinal data on changes in sexual orientation measured immediately before and after sessions of AA aversion therapy in two cases of homosexual behavior. The findings suggest that the crucial reduction in sexual interest in men occurred in the between-treatment time. It was also found that male scores tended to increase during the later treatment sessions. Three points emeerge: first, these data appear to demonstrate incubation. Second, this experimental design could be applied to other dependent variables with the prediction that they will show response increment in the absence of the experimentally presented CS. Finally, if the theoretical argument presented here approximates to the truth then the effectiveness of apparently dissimilar techniques can be explained.