The effects of covert sensitization on preference for sexual stimuli: a preliminary analogue experiment.

Although covert sensitization is a widely and diversely employed clinical technique, there is no generally accepted conceptual guideline for its implementation. Consequently, there is considerable variability in the way covert sensitization procedures are employed, which may account for the reported inconsistency in its clinical effectiveness. The present study is an analogue experimental test of a conceptual account of covert sensitization that is based upon classical conditioning. The classical conditioning procedure is viewed as affecting operant target behaviors by altering the reinforcer effectiveness of target stimuli. This was explicitly tested by examining the effects of covert sensitization on subjects' preference for sexual stimuli in an operant choice paradigm. The results support the conceptual account.