Effectiveness of sampling-exposure procedures on facilities utilization by psychiatric hard-core chronic patients

Sampling-exposure procedures patterned on those of Ayllon and Azrin (1968 a, b) were systematically introduced, alternating with regular pass procedures, in an attempt to increase use of off unit facilities and services by residents of milieu and social-learning treatment units. Social-learning unit residents (for whom passes cost tokens) remained unaffected by the experimental conditions for 22-week duration of the study, using services at a frequency consistently and significantly below that of milieu unit residents (for whom passes were “free”). However, milieu unit residents' utilization was dramatically increased by the sampling-exposure procedures, generalized to alternating announce-only procedures, and continued at a significantly higher level at a final extended baseline.