Preventive dental programs designed to reduce the incidence of gingivitis and periodontal disease have met with only limited success. The advent of behavioural technology offered a possible application to this problem. The present study examined the effects of two behavioural techniques, the Premack Principle and self-monitoring, on the maintenance of preventive dental health behaviour. Experiment 1 attempted to determine the validity of the Premack Principle using both toothbrushing and flossing as instrumental and contingent responses. Twelve female students of a dental assisting instructional program were exposed to various baseline and contingency conditions of brushing and flossing, daily for 11 weeks, according to a single-subject reversal design. When access to the contingent response was prevented, six of the twelve subjects showed a reliable increase in instrumental responding. Compared to baseline performance, six of seven subjects and four of twelve subjects evidenced reinforcement effects due to a contingency which allowed unlimited and. limited access, respectively, to the contingent response. However, increases in instrumental responding observed during these conditions failed to surpass those observed when access to contingent responding was prevented, in all but three subjects. These results would suggest that many observed increases in instrumental responding which are often cited as evidence supporting the Premack Principle may be due in fact simply to the unavailability of the contingent response. Additional theoretical implications of these findings were discussed. Experiment 2 factorially compared two levels of the Premack Principle (contingency vs. no contingency between flossing and brushing) with three levels of self-monitoring (no SM, SM-frequency, and SM-frequency plus evaluation). Ninety first and second year university student volunteers were assigned to one of six treatment groups. Instruction in brushing and flossing technique as well as application of the appropriate experimental manipulation was provided in two instructional sessions. Subjects' oral hygiene was assessed according to a gingival index and a plaque index before, one month following, and seven months following instruction.. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed only a significant Assessment effect. All treatment groups showed an equivalent large degree of improvement in oral hygiene from pre- to one month postinstruction. Improved plaque scores were maintained over the six-month follow-up period; gingival scores, however, were not. A no-treatment control group differed from the six treatment groups only at the one-month postinstructional assessment. These results show.that instructions to implement a contingency between flossing and brushing, and different levels of self-monitoring, failed to augment the short-term gains in oral hygiene produced by instruction in brushing and flossing technique per se. None of the experimental components differentially contributed to maintenance. A third and final experiment examined the effect of the Premack Principle on the maintenance of.effective brushing and flossing within a private dental clinic. Thirty dental patients were alternately assigned to an experimental Premack Principle group or a control group. Subjects of both groups received two sessions of individualized instruction in oral hygiene techniques. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed only a significant Assessment effect, from pre-to three months postinstruction, only for plaque, but not gingival, scores. Instructions to impose a contingency between flossing and brushing failed to produce an effect. The results of this study demonstrated that neither self-monitoring nor instructions to impose a contingency between flossing and brushing contributed to the maintenance of effective oral hygiene behaviour. Self-management programs must become more concerned with the issue of maintenance, particularly following cessation of experimental or therapeutic contact. Implications for maintenance strategies were discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The present investigation attempted to experimentally investigate the effects of parental modification of oppositional behavior using time-out and differential reinforcement while noting any correlated changes in nocturnal enuresis. Using a multiple baseline design across families, the parents of three 5 to 6 year old boys were exposed to an intensive parent training package designed to teach them behavior modification techniques. Direct home observation of twelve parent behaviors and four child behaviors showed no differences from baseline to treatment in either the first mother's behavior or her son's The only change noted in the second mother's behavior during treatment vas a decrease in her rate of negative attention. Her son, however, did emit fever oppositional responses during treatment than during baseline. After parent training, the third mother showed a cessation of negative attention, negative physical contact with her son, and statements of contingencies. She also showed a slightly decreased use of commands, and increases in positive verbal contact and ignoring. Her son showed a decrease in his rate of oppositional behavior during treatment. No correlated changes in bedwetting were observed for any of the children. The experimental and methodological findings and problems are discussed.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of two counseling models, values clarification and cognitive behavior modification on the improvement of reading skills and the enhancement of self-concept . The subjects were 137 tenth grade students at a central California high school. Two experimental groups and one control group with approximately 25 students each were pre- and posttested with a Nelson Reading Test, Form A and B, and a semantic differential. One experimental group received values clarification training, the other cognitive behavior modification training. The study was replicated once for validity. It was hypothesized that both experimental groups would show significant mean gains in reading on the Nelson Reading Test and also on each of the concepts of the semantic differential, as compared with each other and with the control group. It was also hypothesized that males and females would have equal mean gains in treatment effects. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) . Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the results wlth an explication of the comparisons between groups where the senklntic differential was used. Fisher's LSD Multiple Comparison Test was used with the Nelson Reading Test where statistical significance was indicated from the analysis of covariance. The alpha level was set at .05. The findings revealed that on the semantic differential, neither cognitive behavior modification nor values clarification showed significant gains. There were no significant findings in gender differences . There was a significant finding with the results for the experimental groups for values clarification. Both groups showed a gain of approximately one grade level on the Nelson Reading Test between pre- and post-test.

In the present study, a practicum was conducted to teach students to design and implement a behavior change project. Procedures similar to the Willis et al. (1975) course and the Zimmerman et al. (1971) workshop were used to teach students how to design acceptable behavior change projects. Since both studies indicated that students can design practical projects, the author chose to solely investigate the students’ performances while implementing behavior change projects in fieldwork settings. Specifically, this study reports the effects of proctor feeding (proctoring in conjunction with the specification of the desired student behaviors) on college students' accuracy of implementation of a behavior change project in a fieldwork setting.

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