Irene M. Glenn & Jesse Dallery (2007).
Effects of internet-based voucher reinforcement and a transdermal nicotine patch on cigarette smoking.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
40, 1-13.
Nicotine replacement products are commonly used to promote smoking cessation, but alternative and
complementary methods may increase cessation rates. The current experiment compared the short-term
effects of a transdermal nicotine patch to voucher-based reinforcement of smoking abstinence on
cigarette smoking. Fourteen heavy smokers (7 men and 7 women) completed the four 5-day phases of
the study: baseline, patch treatment, voucher treatment, and return to baseline. The order of
the two treatment phases was counterbalanced across participants. In the patch treatment
condition, participants wore a 14-mg transdermal nicotine patch every day. In the voucher
treatment condition, participants received vouchers contingent on abstinence from smoking,
defined as producing carbon monoxide (CO) readings of ~4 parts per million. Participants
e-mailed two video clips per day showing them breathing into a CO monitor and the resulting
CO reading to clinic staff. In the voucher treatment, 24% of samples were negative,
and 5% of samples were negative in the patch treatment. Results suggest that contingent
vouchers were more effective than transdermal nicotine patches in promoting abstinence.
DESCRIPTORS: cigarette smoking, transdermal nicotine patch, voucher reinforcement, abstinence, nicotine