It is interesting that discussion of the Mowrers' technique and
the type(s) of conditioning involved in the process seem to have
disappeared from textbooks, even though the device is sold on the
market currently.
see http://tinyurl.com/37pzshu
Ken
---------------------------------------------------------------
Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected]
Professor
Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
USA
---------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected] wrote:
That striking subject header is actually the sub-title of a new
book by the offensive comedian Sarah Silverman.
The full title is this:
The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee
(HarperCollins, 2010).
It's ironic that a treatment which likely would have saved
Silverman from her trauma has existed since 1938. At a time
when psychoanalysis was firmly established, and peeing in bed
was a sign of "deep-seated issues", such as to get revenge on
the parents or the world, or to cool off a hot penis (not for Sarah,
obviously, but I'm not kidding about those diagnoses), the
treatment was behavioural. It was the bell-and-pad method,
invented by the Mowrers in 1938.
The method was simple. The bell was a device to wake the child
up; the pad was moisture-sensitive. A few drops of urine would
trigger it. The child would wake up, inhibit urination, change the
pad and the sheets if necessary, and go back to sleep. A week
or so later he or she was dry.
Stephen
Mowrer O, Mowrer W. (1938). Enuresis: A method for its study
and treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry; 8:436-59.
--------------------------------------------
Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Emeritus
Bishop's University
e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca
2600 College St.
Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7
Canada
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