Persuasion and praise as techniques for modifying verbal behavior in a "real-life" group setting.

This study investigated the effectiveness of using antecedent persuasive stimulation and response-contingent praise, within a small discussion group context, to modify the rate of verbal participation of Ss in an independent, classroom situation. Ss were 96 male college students who were divided into 12 treatment subgroups and 4 control subgroups of 6 Ss each. 3 treatment conditions were employed: (a) maximum persuasion, (b) maximum praise, and (c) neutral (i.e., minimum persuasion and praise). The treated Ss showed more criterion verbal participation than did the control Ss (.01 level). No differences were found among the 3 treatment conditions. Behavior changes in the treated Ss were attributed to the effects of nonspecific factors in the treatments.