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This study investigated the hypothesis that fears are attitudes and can he reduced through the use of positive reinforcement. Fear was defined behaviorally as an expression of avoidance responses in the presence of the phobic object (in this study a harmless snake). Two hundred undergraduate female 5s in introductory psychology courses were administered a 122-item Fear Survey Schedule. From this group, 76 5s were selected according to a preestablished criterion and randomly assigned to four treatment groups-one experimental group and three types of control groups. The experimental and control 5s were seen for five treatment sessions at which different parameters were tested for effects in shaping 5s' behavior. There was a significant decrease (p < .001) in fear for the experimental group. However, this same group showed no significant decrease in its expressed fear on a questionnaire. No significant changes were found in the fears of the control groups. The data support the belief that fears can be viewed conceptually as attitudes. Further implications of the results were discussed.

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An eight-item Likert-type rating scale adapted from the Missouri Diagnostic Classification Plan (MDCP) was used to empirically investigate two presuppositions in counseling and psychotherapy. The two presuppositions concerned the clients' and therapists' perceptions of their own and each other's problem-solving adequacy in their own personal life in the eight categories of the MDCP as they enter the therapeutic encounter. Results indicated that the client sees the therapist as being capable of healthier functioning than himself, and that the therapist sees himself as functioning more effectively than the client. Also, there was a high degree of congruence between therapist and client perceptions of both their own and each other's capability.

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