Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-1975

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Psychological and Brain Sciences

Committee Chair

Mainord, W. A.

Subject

Tobacco use

Abstract

Thirty smokers were solicited from the Wichita, Kansas community via the newspaper and broadcast media for a stop-smoking project. The volunteers were assigned to one of two treatments: double smoking or a modification of Von Dedenroth's (1964) treatment. Each of these treatments was further divided into two groups. These groups were designed to provide high and low interference with the smoker's habit. No effect was observed for interference and it was observed that the experimental conditions probably did not permit the possibility of more than a small interference effect in either group. However, a significant effect for time and time by treatments was obtained. The Von Dedenroth groups showed a greater drop in smoking than the doubling groups. Both Von Dedenroth groups were superior to both doubling groups at the three-month follow up and one Von Dedenroth group was superior to one doubling group at the six-month follow up. The effect observed was apparently a stable diminution in the number of cigarettes smoked by the Von Dedenroth groups. There were like numbers of subjects quitting in both Von Dedenroth and doubling groups. The results were discussed in light of the previous literature. The scarcity of treatment effects, and especially, treatment effects showing a diminution in smoking rate in the previous literature was discussed. The results were explained in terms of the combined effects of prolonged observation by the smokers of their habits and the availability of substitute behaviors.

Share

COinS