The Effect of Contingency Contracting on the Completion Rate of Behavior Assignments in Assertion Training Groups

Abstract

In this study clients in six assertion training groups were assigned extragroup homework assignments at each session to complete by the beginning or the following session. Assignments consisted of keeping a diary, rehearsing a situation at home, reading a chapter on assertion training, contacting a buddy, monitoring one's own behavior, and/or performing a new behavior outside the group. The average number of these assignments per person per meeting was four. The assignment completion rate per group was recorded at every session. In each group, contingency contracts were introduced at either the second, third, fourth, or fifth session and continued in each group until the last session. In five groups an increase in the rate of completion followed the introduction of contingency contracts. The findings suggest that contingency contracting is an effective addition to the treatment package in assertion training groups.