Date of Award:

5-1973

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Michael Bertoch

Committee

Michael Bertoch

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if a variable, non-contingent reinforcement, could account for a significant amount of the effect of psychotherapy. A sample of ninety subjects was drawn from basic psychology classes and randomly assigned to six groups in a variation of the Soloman 4-group design. The treatment groups were connected to sham GSR equipment and told that when a light flashed they had made an anxiety reducing statement and were becoming more mentally healthy. The subjects were given three by five cards upon which were typed positive-negative adjective pairs and told to use the cards as cues to talk about themselves. The subjects were placed on a variable interval schedule with a mean of 10 seconds. No significant difference was found for the treatment.

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49707374d2b1383889acaec4fe848e67

Included in

Psychology Commons

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