Experimental and clinical treatments of writing blocks.

Abstract

Two matched groups of 10 academicians with writing blocks were treated with a contingency management program designed to increase writing productivity. One group received that treatment in a clinical context based around individualized therapy sessions. The other group carried out a similar program of contingency management by participating in an experiment in which meetings with the experimenter were confined to discussions of contracting and self-monitoring. Both approaches, clinical and experimental, effected stable writing habits under contingency conditions. The equivalent results of these treatment modes suggests that case study and experimental methodologies need not be as disparate as commonly believed.