Edwin J. Thomas

Self-monitoring and reciprocal inhibition in the modification of multiple tics of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome

Abstract An 18-year-old male with multiple tics, including a bark-like vocalization and jerking neck movements, as components of the syndrome of Gilles de la Tourette , was treated using an empirically based practice procedure in an investigation that employed a modified multiple-baseline design. In the assessment, instigating and inhibiting stimulus conditions were identified by collecting observational data on the tics in many life situations in and outside of the rehabilitation unit where the therapy was undertaken. Self-monitoring was found to be tic-inhibiting and when it was introduced in the modification for the vocal tic, the rate dropped immediately and dramatically on the first day. Self-monitoring and reciprocal inhibition procedures were subsequently associated with gradual reduction to nearly zero of a newly emerged minor vocal sound and of the neck tic. Evidence also suggested that the haloperidol the patient had taken previous to treatment and took throughout all but 1 week of the treatment period may have helped to reduce the tics.

Modification of problematic marital communication using corrective feedback and instruction

Corrective feedback and instruction (CF-I) was used as a modification technique in cases involving problematic marital communication. Exploratory analyses of two cases indicated that, in general, CF-I bought about a successful modification of problematic components of the verbal repertoires dealt with. The assessment involved the identification and measurement of inductively derived classes of verbal behavior that constited the targets of intervention. This assessment procedure was successfully employed and, as a by-product, has led to the development of a set of provisional verbal problem categories that may be of use to researchers and practitioners who work with communication problems.

Nagging and other drinking control efforts of spouses of uncooperative alcohol abusers: Assessment and modification ☆

This article presents a conception of spouse drinking control and an approach to assessment and modification to reduce the customary drinking control efforts of spouses of alcohol abusers unmotivated to enter treatment. Modification of the nonalcoholic spouses customary drinking control is offered as an important early step in helping to prepare him or her to become a positive rehabilitative influence. Based on its use in unilateral family therapy with 68 spouses of uncooperative alcohol abusers, procedural guidelines, criteria for use, and two case examples from a crossover experimental dyad are described. Also presented are clinical results illustrating the success of the program, benefits and conditions relating to its use, and areas of possible application.

A verbal problem checklist for use in assessing family verbal behavior.

Findings are presented concerning an assessment procedure by which the large number of potential problems of family verbal behavior may be rapidly narrowed down and specified behaviorally. A central part of a three-step assessment procedure is to have the therapist use a rating schedule called the Verbal Problem Checklist (VPC), a set of 49 inductively derived categories of potentially problematic areas of verbal responding. In an assessment with nine couples referred for assistance with difficulties of marital communication, two raters made independent ratings for VPC categories for each husband and wife and for four different discussion periods, each of which lasted approximately 20 min. It was found that the VPC narrowed the number of possible problem areas from a maximum of 49 to an average of four for husbands and three for wives. Reliabilities for rates and categories were disclosed to be moderate to very high. Factors affecting reliability were noted along with the categories of verbal behavior rated most and least reliably. In a validity analysis, the ratings for the categories of overtalk and undertalk were compared with two validation criteria involving the actual amounts of talking. The findings supported the validity of the ratings and explicated the basis for the ratings. It was concluded that the VPC and the assessment procedure of which it is a part were viable methods to follow in the assesment of potential problems of family verbal behavior.

A case application of a signaling system (SAM) to the assessment and modification of selected problems of marital communication

Reported is a pair of experiments using an electromechanical signaling system (SAM) to alter aspects of one couples marital communication problems. In Experiment I, client signaling and speaking behavior were studied in pre- and postintervention discussions of two topics. The intervention consisted of corrective feedback and instruction designed to increase parity in the use of signals and in the signal control exercised over speaking and listening by the husband and wife. For both topics and in contrast to the baseline discussions, parity was substantially achieved after intervention. Experiment II focused on the effects of an intervention consisting of instruction plus signal feedback from the therapist to try and increase the level of denotative specificity in the couples discussion of their money problems. Compared to a baseline discussion, specificity did increase substantially during the intervention discussion. Each experiment is viewed as having contributed information for evaluating the clinical applicability of SAM.

Unilateral relationship enhancement in the treatment of spouses of uncooperative alcohol abusers

Abstract This article presents the conceptualization of unilateral relationship enhancement (URE) and a URE treatment program developed for use with the spouses of alcohol abusers unmotivated to enter treatment. Enhancing the marital relationship through a unilateral program is described as an important step in the preparation of the spouse to function as a positive rehabilitative influence with his or her alcohol-abusing partner. This article presents the part URE plays within a unilateral family therapy for alcohol abuse, procedural guidelines and criteria for use, a case example, clinical results based on some 68 spouses of uncooperative alcohol abusers, benefits and limitations, and other areas of possible application.

Guidelines for behavioral practice in the open community agency procedure and evaluation

Summary A step-wise practice procedure developed for conducting behavioral assessment and modification with individuals and families in open community settings was applied with a sample of 32 cases. These cases embraced 66 problem areas characteristic of the diverse behavioral difficulties encountered in open service settings. Eight practitioners working under close supervision employed the Procedure for a period of 8 months in two family service agencies. It was found that the Procedure provided for orderly and systematic behavior modification for the large variety of cases that may be encountered in the open setting and other services and occasional crises could be managed with only temporary delay in orderly progress in behavioral modification. There was a high degree of effectiveness for problems progressing to the point of modification or to maintenance. Although some countervailing conditions were found which interfered with case activity, these influences were rarely a serious threat to behavior modification. Positive changes in contracted behavior were not accompanied by an increase in negative changes in non-targeted behavior and there were more positive than negative changes in non-targeted behaviors incidental to work on targeted behavior. The most important potential threats to successful behavior modification in the open community setting were attrition (27 per cent premature termination) and client inaccessability. These areas should be addressed in future work on behavioral procedures for community settings. In addition to several procedural guidelines of the type applied here, behavior modification in the open setting also requires specialized procedures for purposes of handling such particular difficulties as family communication and decision making, as well as life situations involving crises and temporary and transitional status.

Spouse Interventive Confrontations in Unilateral Family Therapy for Alcohol Abuse

Edwin J. Thomas is Fedele F. Fauri Professor of Social Work, Professor of Psychology, and Director, Marital Treatment Project, and Marianne R. Yoshioka is social worker, Marital Treatment Project, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. This research was supported in part by Grants R01 AA4163-03 and 5 R01 AA4163-05, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Edwin J. Thomas, Principal Investigator. The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Denise Bronson, Cathleen Santa, Joanne Yaffe, and Daphna Oyserman in the pilot phase of the research and of Richard Ager, Kathryn Betts Adam, and David Moxley in the current evaluation phase.

Mousetraps, Developmental Research, and Social Work Education

As inquiry directed toward the development of interventional and other social technology for social work, developmental research involves those methods by which interventional innovations and other aspects of social technology are analyzed, designed, created, and evaluated. Interventional innovation in developmental research is a very different paradigm from the more familiar behavioral science model of research oriented toward knowledge building. The purposes and outcomes of inquiry and the phases, operations, methods, and sources of data of developmental research are highlighted by contrasting this new model of research with more conventional methods. The introduction of developmental research into social work increases the number of available research methods and promises to strengthen its technical capability to accomplish its objectives. Developmental research may be the single most appropriate model of research for social work; this and other implications for graduate education in social work are discussed.

A signal system for the assessment and modification of behavior (SAM)

An apparatus, called SAM, was designed to aid in the assessment and modification of problematic verbal behavior that may occur in marital and parent-child communication. Through the use of lights as signals, the apparatus provides for client-controlled as well as therapist-controlled signaling during ongoing interaction, thus permitting signal transmission from client to client, client to therapist, and therapist to client. When employed in assessment, the system records the ongoing verbal behavior and signal activity such that each type of behavior may be analyzed separately or in relation to the other. In modification, therapist signals can function in direct control over client behavior, and client-to-client signals allow clients to alter each others behavior. Other modification techniques may also be employed along with the lights. The system consists of modular components, the mechanical and electrical features of which are also described.