Smoking reduction: a comparison of the effectiveness of rapid smoking and increasing delay training.

The relative effectiveness of two treatment procedures in facilitating self-control of smoking behavior was compared. One week before treatment, subjects self-monitored number of cigarettes smoked. On the days of treatment, subjects were given pre- and postsession self-control tests; subjects were given a lit cigarette and were asked to withstand the temptation of taking a puff during an imposed delay period. After five days of two-hour sessions in which subjects' smoking was paced with either increasing delays or rapid smoking, subjects again were asked to self-monitor their smoking for one week. Increasing delay induced better self-control scores than did rapid smoking. Both groups were not significantly different in number of cigarettes smoked.