Verbal conditioning: Transfer of training in a therapy-like situation

In an attempt to demonstrate transfer of conditioned verbal responses, college females were interviewed concerning childhood experiences and were given social approval either following content responses ("parent words"), affect responses ("emotional words"), or at a constant interval. A 2nd E in another room then administered a 100-item sentence-completion task which evoked similar responses. For content responses, contingent approval increased production during the interview but not on the transfer task. For affect responses, contingent approval had no significant effect, although mere participation in the interview increased production on the sentence-completion task. Results thus failed to support the utility of the verbal conditioning technique in producing lasting behavior change. It was suggested that future work should adhere more closely to the methodology of operant research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).