The use of contingent reinforcement for improving the personal appearance and hygiene of chronic psychiatric inpatients.

Chronic psychiatric patients were Ss in a study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of contingent reinforcement to improve personal appearance and hygiene. Ss were divided into four groups matched on age and years of hospitalization. Group 1 was rated on personal appearance and received contingent material reinforcement and verbal reinforcement. Group 2 was rated and received only contingent verbal reinforcement. Group 3 was rated, but received no contingent reinforcement, and Group 4 was control. It was concluded that (1) both contingent verbal reinforcement and contingent material plus verbal reinforcement can be used to improve personal appearance; (2) contingent material plus verbal reinforcement is more effective for improving personal appearance than using only contingent verbal reinforcement; (3) rating patients without using contingent reinforcement does not result in significant improvement; and (4) simply presented video-taped information for improving personal appearance does not cause significant improvement.