Effects of information and reinforcement on the conversational behavior of chronic psychiatric patient dyads

Conducted 2 experiments to determine if the conversational behavior of 3 male and 1 female chronic psychiatric patients could be increased through either reinforcement or the provision of information about potential topics of conversation. Each experiment utilized 1 dyad in a withdrawal design or a combined changing criterion and withdrawal design. For 3 of the 4 Ss a positive reinforcement contingency was used, while for the 4th an avoidance contingency was used. Conversation was defined as talk between the members about a specified topic of general interest with eye contact at least once every 15 sec. Only reinforcement increased conversational behavior. Information about the specified topics was ineffective in spite of the fact that the information was comprehended and was relevant to the topics. Additional results demonstrate the ineffectiveness of instructions and the potential usefulness of the infrequently used changing criterion design. The avoidance of extended conversation effectively reinforced a specified duration of initial conversation. (18 ref)