Operant Conditioning of Schizophrenic Children

Abstract

Though there is little agreement concerning the diagnosis, incidence or etiology of childhood schizophrenia, until recently most authors agree there is no effective treatment. Operant conditioning is reported to succeed where other therapies have failed. Twenty children diagnosed according to Creak's criteria in two groups matched for age, sex, duration of stay, Vineland score and amount of speech, were treated by either interpretive play therapy or operant conditioning. Emotional relatedness and self-identity, then imitation of ‘behaviour and speech were conditioned with the positive reinforcements of candy. Tested before, during and after fifty 45-minute sessions, those in the operant-conditioning group had gained more speech and improved more on Vineland score. The relative efficacy of operant conditioning may be related to the greater ease with which the staff learned this technique and the need of these children for predictable routines. The experiment will continue with a crossover complex.