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The use of contingent reinforcement for improving the personal appearance and hygiene of chronic psychiatric inpatients
Author(s) -
Dolan Michael P.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(197901)35:1<140::aid-jclp2270350122>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , personal hygiene , nonverbal communication , clinical psychology , psychiatry , developmental psychology , social psychology , medicine , family medicine
Chronic psychiatric patients were S s in a study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of contingent reinforcement to improve personal appearance and hygiene. S s were divided into four groups matched on age and years of hospitalization. Group 1 was rated on personal appearance and received contingent material reinforcement and verbal reinforcement. Group 2 was rated and received only contingent verbal reinforcement. Group 3 was rated, but received no contingent reinforcement, and Group 4 was control. It was concluded that (1) both contingent verbal reinforcement and contingent material plus verbal reinforcement can be used to improve personal appearance; (2) contingent material plus verbal reinforcement is more effective for improving personal appearance than using only contingent verbal reinforcement; (3) rating patients without using contingent reinforcement does not result in significant improvement; and (4) simply presenting video‐taped information for improving personal appearance does not cause significant improvement.