Efficacy of participant modeling as a function of response induction aids.

The present experiment tested the efficacy of participant modeling as a function of the amount of response induction aids employed. Adult phobics received participant modeling with either a low, a moderate, or a high number of aids. Marked changes in behavior and attitudes were rapidly induced when a wide array of performance aids was available, whereas progress was retarded and attainments were substantially lower given limited auxiliary options. Therapeutic efficacy, however, was not monotonically related to number of performance facilitators. Modeling with moderate induction aids generally yielded comparable results to the more highly aided treatment and, on some measures, produced greater generalization effects. Supplementary findings indicated that generalized changes are best achieved by using aided participant modeling to restore inhibited behavior followed by self-directed practice to extinguish residual fears and to reinforce personal mastery. In modifying avoidance behavior, therapists tend to direct their attention to emotional arousal. The widely applied desensitization approach is conducted on the principle of minimization of anxiety arousal (Wolpe, 1969). Treatment strategies are therefore keyed to this factor. Aversive stimuli are presented in graduated doses and promptly withdrawn whenever clients experience anxiety. Should perturbing emotional reactions be evoked, there are essentially two things the therapist can do: relax the client or reduce the threat value of the aversive scenes. More recently, avoidance behavior has been treated by flooding and implosion procedures, which rely upon maximization of anxiety