The modification of a child's enuresis: some response-response relationships.

The present study attempted to evaluate experimentally the relationship between two response classes, enuresis and oppositional behavior. One child who had a long history of bed-wetting was observed in his home setting. Parents' reports and initial observations confirmed that the child was oppositional much of the time. When a timeout operation and differential attention were presented, removed, and presented again, the frequency of oppositional behavior decreased, increased, and decreased accordingly. Fluctuations in enuretic activity also correlated with the presence and absence of the timeout and differential attention operations. The suppression of oppositional behavior and enuretic activity persisted over an 18-month treatment period. It was suggested that the parental operations performed on oppositional behavior may have led to an increase in the parents' social reward value. Cessation of enuretic activity was explained in terms of a shift in parental reinforcer effectiveness.