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2 matched groups of adolescent male delinquents, informally recruited from street corners, were differentially treated during the course of 20 tape-recorded interviews on 4 classes of operants: hostile statements, positive statements, prompt arrival at work, and general employ ability. Hostile statements were followed by a mild aversive consequence (i.e., disagreement or inattention) while the other selected operants were followed by a positive consequence (i.e., verbal praise or a small gift). Results in both a laboratory and a natural setting showed a significant increase in the frequency of behaviors followed by positive consequences. Attempted punishment of hostile statements, however, resulted in no significant decrease. Some clinical implications of the operant procedure are discussed.

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A few years ago, an undergraduate was brought by his roommate to the college counseling center where one of the present writers was working as a trainee. The student was agitated, repeated apparently meaningless words, and showed common signs of an acute schizophrenic reaction. Part of the conversation, as best as it can now be recalled, went as follows: Counselor: Have you been eating OK? Student: Harvard Union [name of a dining hall]. Counselor: No, have you been to all the meals? Student: [No answer]. Roommate: He's missed some. Counselor: How many? Roommate: Lunch, and I don't know about breakfast for sure-I don't think he got dressed in time. Counselor: Why no lunch? Roommate: [Long pause, glances at troubled friend] They wouldn't let him in. Counselor: What?! Roommate: [Confidingly] He ate his meal tickets.People who confuse symbols with their referents, or secondary reinforcers with primary ones, are likely to be headed for trouble. Semanticist Alfred Korzybski popularized the distinction between the map and the territory. Psychology, as an academic and professional enterprise, measures productivity principally by words rather than by experience. Hence psychology seems to value an original hypothesis or an elegant theory more than it values a practical tool that can alter experience.

A common problem in treating adolescent delinquents is their failure to participate in traditional psychotherapeutic procedures. Small cash bonuses given contingent on participation in tape-recorded nondirective interviews were shown to be effective in shaping dependable and prompt attendance. Using a variable schedule of reinforcement, extrinsic rewards could be gradually reduced without corresponding decrement in attendance behavior. The rationale for using such a procedure is emphasized.