This is a series of short invited contributions from therapists and research workers who have volunteered to answer the following question: “If your fairy godmother were to wave her magic wand and give you an immediate answer to a question or questions, without having to do the relevant research, what would you most like to know?”

Despite much evaluative research on alcoholism services, the effectiveness of treatment is still an unsettled matter. The inconclusive results of empirical studies comparing different methods and extensive statistical analysis of their findings do not point a clear way forward for future evaluative efforts. Using a sample of follow-up data from an evaluation study of three residential units (not considered here) this report sets out to demonstrate that dynamics in individual drinking patterns make surveys of studies which have applied different outcome criteria very unreliable. The feasibility of the single controlled study in evaluation is also questioned and attributed to the inappropriate use of a “quality control” model. An alternative approach which avoids the methodological and practical difficulties of the conventional design examines the use made of treatment by clients. A more realistic account based on individual cases is urged which recognizes that seeking help for a drink problem is only one of a number of ways in which the treatment episode fits into the lives of problem drinkers. Some observational evidence is presented and a reinterpretation of Costello' successful and unsuccessful treatment groupings is made in support of a treatment-use approach to evaluation.

Therapist instructions and patient expectations appear to yield good treatment results with placebo pills. In this study the smoking cessation rate was studied after administration of a placebo smoking withdrawal chewing gum. Two groups from two factories were recruited and given instructions that they were to receive an effective chewing gum for smoking cessation. One group was told that the gum contained nicotine while the other was told that it worked through its special taste. At follow-up periods of 1, 3 and 8 weeks those given the nicotine instructions were superior to those given the taste instructions, although not significantly so. When nicotine dependence was taken into consideration it was found that the more nicotine dependent half of the subjects responded significantly better to the nicotine instructions as compared to the low dependent subjects.

The known physiological and cognitive characteristics of vasodepressor syncope were accounted for in the development of an effective multimodal behavioral treatment for recurrent injury-scene-elicited fainting. Skeletal muscle tensing was employed as an immediate coping response to prevent fainting in situ, while cognitive–attentional retraining with graded exposure was employed to modify maladaptive cognitions.

Six patients suffering from obsessional ruminations were treated with prolonged exposure in imagination. Two variants were compared in a cross-over design: (1) relevant exposure, consisting of exposure to the obsessions and (2) irrelevant exposure, consisting of exposure to ordinary frightening experiences. Relevant exposure proved to be significantly superior to irrelevant exposure. The data of this study suggest that habituation training by means of prolonged exposure to obsessions is a valuable treatment but not the panacea for the treatment of obsessional ruminations.

A survey of 982 betting slips collected within a U.K. bookmaker's office concluded that the vast majority of bets were placed just before the start, or off, of a race. Further analysis revealed that the shorter the race the nearer the majority of bets were placed to the off. Three types of bet were identified: the single bet that involved the backing of one runner in one race (type 1), the multiple bet that involved the backing of more than one runner in a single race (type 2), and the accumulator bet that involved the backing of one runner in each race but over a succession of races (type 3). It was concluded that for horse racing the majority of late bets were type 1, whereas in dog racing most late bets were of the type 2 variety. These results are discussed with reference to a number of theoretical interpretations.

This project was undertaken in an attempt to reduce one of the many problems faced by a man with a severe memory deficit following a left temporal tumour. He was taught to remember the names of 10 people he regularly came into contact with by using rehearsal and visual imagery strategies. Rehearsal alone was ineffective, but within a few weeks he could remember all 10 names once a visual image had been introduced. The findings suggest that this procedure may be used to teach other people with severe memory deficits facts which are useful in their everyday lives. The major difference between this project and most of the others using visual imagery is that the present one is of some practical value for the subject. Most of the others simply demonstrate the ability of the neurologically damaged to use visual imagery.

Kiernan and Riddick's programme for training operant techniques was employed to teach behaviour modification to a variety of staff in a children's mental handicap hospital. The aim was to evaluate the course in relation to a carefully defined group of profoundly retarded multiply handicapped children. Evaluation of the course is described and significant improvement in trainees' skills with respect to the use of physical prompting and reinforcement noted. Some problems of staff in implementing the learnt technique are considered. Finally, the relation between the applicability of behavioural techniques and the characteristics of profoundly retarded multiply handicapped children is considered in the light of more detailed studies of their learning characteristics.

The lack of a suitable technique and inadequate data from previous studies presents problems for the practitioner attempting to evaluate parent mediated intervention. Parent-training schemes tend to be either research oriented or service based. The evaluation of a long-term service presents difficulties while research work has limited application to studies of child change or parent–child interaction and attitude change. Teaching parents behavioural methods usually leads to positive child change therefore emphasis must now move to evaluating the teaching skills parents develop by being trained. Difficulties inherent in the use of multiple-success criteria and various modes of measurement are noted. Observational analysis, using V.T.R., is the most useful technique since it provides a direct record of the skills parents acquire. A practical system for evaluating parent behavioural training is suggested which can be adopted by the practitioner.