Behavioral design of a positive verbal community: a preliminary experimental analysis

Behaviorists have theorized (and experimental analyses suggest) the potential clinical application of verbal behavior modification. This study evaluated therapeutic effects of behavioral intervention to modify the intact verbal community. The setting was an adolescent operant treatment center for behavioral disorders. All residents within the center, 16 females and 22 males, participated in the study. A within subjects experimental design compared effects of a positive verbal community (PVC) plus the ongoing operant treatment program to the operant program alone. Conceptually, these were dual-level and single-level operant programs, respectively. Dependent measures included rates of positive goal-relevant verbalizations of residents, and clinical measures of self-control and psychiatric symptoms. Preliminary evidence supported the feasibility of the PVC as a potential novel therapeutic intervention.