Covert Reinforcement Research Articles

The Successful Treatment of a Severe Speech Problem

Summary The following case study gives a description of the successful treatment of a secondary aged pupil with a very severe and intense speech problem by a teacher using a combination of strategies including: choice time, progressive relaxation, what we term unsystematic desensitisation, covert reinforcement and paired reading. Pre and post treatment measures indicated a highly significant improvement in the individual's speech. The methods used are described together with an estimate of the total treatment time.

An Experimental Test of Cautela's Operant Explanation of Covert Conditioning Procedures

Although covert conditioning procedures are widely employed by behavior therapists, the literature is marked by considerable procedural variability and inconsistent results. Part of the problem is attributable to the lack of a generally agreed upon and experimentally supported theoretical account of covert conditioning procedures. Inasmuch as the procedural arrangements of covert conditioning techniques depend upon the underlying theoretical framework, it is important that the framework be experimentally supported. One prominent theoretical account of covert conditioning is the operant account proposed by the main proponent of covert conditioning, Joseph Cautela. As an explanation of the clinical effects of covert conditioning, however, Cautela's account has not been adequately tested. Two experiments were conducted, the purpose of which were to conduct laboratory analogue tests of Cautela's account of covert conditioning by examining the effects of covert reinforcement and covert punishment procedures on the subsequent free-operant rate of selected target responses of college students. The results failed to support Cautela's operant explanation of covert conditioning.

Modification of pain through covert positive reinforcement.

This study investigated the effectiveness of covert positive reinforcement in modifying response to cold-pressor pain and in increasing the use of prescribed adaptive imagery. 80 women were randomly assigned to covert positive reinforcement, backward conditioning, covert rehearsal, and expectancy conditions. Covert positive reinforcement did not yield either greater pain tolerance and use of adaptive imagery or less subjective discomfort than the other conditions. Modification of pain was not associated with the use of adaptive imagery but was correlated with the clarity of imagery. 64% of the subjects reported using self-generated coping strategies. The results of this study contribute to the body of evidence which does not support the operant conceptualization of covert positive reinforcement.

General level of reinforcement

A concept of General Level of Reinforcement (GLR) is introduced. This concept is defined as the number, quality and duration of reinforcements per unit time. The assumptions of this theory are discussed. A crucial assumption is that the theory is related to psychological and physiological well-being. Ways to measure general level of reinforcement are described, and clinical implications presented. Methods to increase the level of reinforcement, such as covert reinforcement and the Self-Control Triad, are specified. Finally, suggestions for research are provided.

The use of covert conditioning in the modification of pain: Two experimental tests

Two studies were designed to study the relative contributions of reciprocal inhibition (RI) and operant conditioning to a covert reinforcement (CR) strategy to alter the pain response. In the first study, a group design using ten subjects was employed in which one group imagined a cognitive strategy to reduce pain followed by imagining a pleasant scene (covert reinforcement procedure) and another group imagined a pleasant scene followed by a cognitive strategy (reciprocal inhibition procedure). In a second study employing CR and RI, eight subjects were used in single-case experiments to address the same question. The results of both studies demonstrated the greater efficacy of the CR procedure in modifying the pain response. This lends support to an operant interpretation of CR.

Hypnosis as an adjunct to thought-stopping and covert reinforcement in the treatment of homicidal obsessions in a twelve-year-old boy

Abstract A combined cognitive behavioral approach was used to successfully treat matricidal obsessions in an otherwise psychologically well-adjusted 12-year-old boy. The primary problem was conceptualized as anxiety over loss of control. Therapeutic techniques included re-defining of symptoms, thought-stopping, hypnotic enhancement of imagery in order to facilitate cognitive restructuring, covert reinforcement, home practice, and paradoxical instructions to produce the symptom. A decline in obsessions began after 3 sessions and total remission was observed after 6 sessions (10 weeks). 2-year follow-up revealed no recurrence of symptoms. The value of hypnosis as an adjunct to behavior therapy with children is discussed.

Effective Components of Covert Reinforcement

Effective Components of Covert Reinforcement

The relative contributions of covert reinforcement and cognitive restructuring to test anxiety reduction

Tested the relative contributions of two possibly active test anxiety treatment components, covert reinforcement (response relevant) and cognitive restructuring. Thirty-nine Ss were assigned to a covert modeling group, a cognitive restructuring group, a combination group, or a waiting list control group. The covert modeling consisted of imagining (a) the feared situations; (b) handling the stress in a coping manner; and (c) feeling good for having coped. The cognitive restructuring group's scenes consisted of imagining (a) the feared situation; (b) saying a negative self-statement; and (c) replacing it with a positive coping statement. Results showed that the covert modeling group was somewhat more improved than the cognitive restructuring group. This result is interpreted as evidence that cognitive restructuring may work by the mechanisms of covert rehearsal and response relevant covert positive reinforcement. Further research directions are suggested.

Comparison of Covert Reinforcement, Covert Assertion, and Overt Reinforcement in Changing External Locus of Control

This study compared the effectiveness of covert reinforcement, overt reinforcement, and covert assertion in modifying locus of control. The I-E scale was administered to 40 subjects who were then randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups: covert reinforcement (response irrelevant) for self-statements reflecting internality, overt reinforcement for internal statements, covert assertion of internal statements, attention control, and no-treatment control. The 1-E scale was given after treatment and at a 2-wk. follow-up. Data showed that overt reinforcement and covert assertion tended to increase internality, but that response irrelevant covert reinforcement and control instructions did not.

An Empirical Test of Three Alternative Explanations for Covert Reinforcement Effects

The empirical validity of the explanations, instrumental-conditioning, counterconditioning, and exposure for covert reinforcement were tested. 45 female students, aged 19 to 35 yr., were subjects. Each was screened for level of fear toward snakes and ability to form clear images. They were randomly assigned to one of five treatment conditions and one of three categories of expectancy. Conditions were covert positive reinforcement, reversed covert positive reinforcement, neutral consequence, reversed covert positive reinforcement to nonsnake stimuli, and nondirective contact. Assessment of expectancy occurred pretreatment and posttreatment, posttreatment only, and no assessment. Results showed that assessment of expectancy did not affect performance on subjective or behavioral measures of fear. All treatment conditions except contact produced significant reductions in fear and increased expectations about ability to approach a live snake. Findings did not support the explanations of instrumental-conditioning, counterconditioning, or exposure. A cognitive-mediational account was offered as an alternative explanation for effects of covert reinforcement.

Success of covert negative reinforcement is not the result of operant conditioning.

In the covert negative reinforcement procedure, a client is asked to imagine an unpleasant situation and then to imagine performing the adaptive response whose frequency the therapist-wishes to increase. According to Cautela, the imagined adaptive response should increase in frequency because of its association with the termination of the unpleasant image, just as escape-conditioning leads to an increase in the frequency of a response that terminates a noxious stimulus. Using 27 college students who showed an aversion to harmless snakes, this investigation attempted to test Cautela's conditioning rationale by comparing covert negative reinforcement with a procedure containing all of the elements of covert negative reinforcement except for the theoretically essential pairing of the imagined unpleasant situation with the imagined adaptive response. Self-report and behavioral measures of snake aversion indicated no consistent differences in the effectiveness of these two treatments, although both treatments were significantly more effective than no treatment. Over-all, the results of this experiment were interpreted as contradicting the escape-conditioning explanation of covert negative reinforcement.

Modification of Self-Esteem by Covert Positive Reinforcement

Three groups given covert positive reinforcement and a control (21 male and 19 female college students) equally improved on three measures of self-concept and a deduction task.

Behavioral treatment of thunder and lightning phobias

The use of four different behavioral techniques in the treatment of six female clients with thunder and lightning phobia is described. The techniques (Systematic desensitization. Covert reinforcement. Stress inoculation training, and Self administered desensitization with tape recorder) were evaluated in single-case experimental designs, using both self-report, behavioral, and physiological data. The immediate and follow-up results showed that five of the clients were completely recovered and the sixth markedly improved after their respective treatment (10–14 session). These results and the questions concerning continuous assessment in single-case design and external validity of laboratory assessment in phobic conditions are discussed.

Modification of Pain Threshold by the Covert Reinforcement Procedure and a Cognitive Strategy

The threshold for cold pain was obtained for male and female subjects, while one hand was immersed in icewater, before and after one of four experimental treatments. The four treatments were: (a) the covert positive reinforcement procedure—i.e., reinterpreting the sensations in a manner incompatible with the experience of pain and then imagining a pleasant, reinforcing image; (b) a reinterpretation strategy only; (c) a group that was lead to expect pain reduction on the posttest; and (d) a control group. Subjects trained in the covert reinforcement procedure raised their thresholds above the thresholds of the reinterpretation strategy as well as of the expectation and control groups. The reinterpretation strategy and the expectation groups raised their thresholds above the control group, and did not differ from each other. Males and females did not differ on either the pretest threshold or their ability to use the covert reinforcement or the reinterpretation procedures.

Rationale of Covert Reinforcement: Additional Evidence

Cautela (1970, 1975) explains covert positive reinforcement as a behavior therapy technique derived from an operant conditioning model. Recent studies have cast doubt on the adequacy of this explanation. On a behavioral measure presentation of the covert reinforcer before or after the response sought to be increased did not yield results superior to those in which the reinforcer was presented noncontingently. Results for three groups were superior to those obtained for a placebo and a no-treatment group and were maintained at a 1-mo. follow-up. On an attitude questionnaire significant improvements showed only for the covert positive reinforcement group at the follow-up. No differences among the groups were obtained on the fear thermometer. The theoretical implications were discussed.

Covert reinforcement: two studies and a comment.

Two studies are reported: the first extends the generality of covert reinforcement; the second poses a question about the processes that underlie behavior change with this procedure. Exp. 1, conducted with 50 male hospitalized psychiatric patients, indicated that covert reinforcement produced a significant change in plural-noun responding on a word naming task. Exp. 2, using the same experimental design, with 25 male and 25 female college students, showed significant change only for male subjects. While some support has been produced for the efficacy of covert reinforcement, a question is raised concerning the value of an operant model for explaining behavioral change via covert reinforcement.

Effects of covert reinforcement on reading attitude with reinforcing scenes of varying intensity.

Effects of covert reinforcement on reading attitude with reinforcing scenes of varying intensity.

Covert reinforcement: The contribution of the reinforcing stimulus to treatment outcome

The reinforcing stimulus in Covert Reinforcement was investigated in 40 subjects by comparing the procedure to Covert Noncontiguity, which eliminated contiguity between the response and reinforcing image by changing the order to those scenes, and Covert Exposure, in which neutral scenes were substituted for reinforcing scenes. An Attention-Placebo Control procedure was also employed. A Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) and two self-report measures of fear served as screening devices and as pre- and post-treatment measures of snake phobia. Covert Reinforcement, Covert Noncontiguity and Covert Exposure were all effective in reducing fear and avoidance of snakes, while the Attention-Placebo Control procedure produced no significant reduction in target behaviors. The results are inconsistent with a reinforcement explanation for Covert Reinforcement, and an alternate explanation is suggested.

Covert reinforcement and hypnosis in modification of attitudes toward physically disabled persons and generalization to the emotionally disturbed.

Covert reinforcement and hypnosis in modification of attitudes toward physically disabled persons and generalization to the emotionally disturbed.

Effects of covert reinforcement in modification of test anxiety.

Effects of covert reinforcement in modification of test anxiety.