Self-reinforcement by recorded telephone messages to maintain nonsmoking behavior.

61 recent ex-smokers who had stopped smoking as part of a televised "clinic" were assigned to either a tape-reinforcement or nonreinforcement condition and were followed up 1 mo later. The group that had been sent a special phone number that they could call to receive different prerecorded reward messages on a daily basis (tape reinforcement) had significantly fewer recidivists (10 of 29) upon follow-up than the group (nonreinforcement) that had not been sent the number (21 of 32). Results indicate that such a self-regulated reward system can be an extremely cost-effective tool in preventing short-term recidivism among neophyte ex-smokers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)