Problem-solving skills training for psychiatric inpatients: An analysis of generalization

A program for teaching problem-solving skills was evaluated with six psychiatric inpatients in a multiple baseline across groups design. Subjects received training on 12 problem situations and the generalization of verbal problem-solving to six novel situations was assessed via probes presented by a novel person in an untrained setting. The generalization of overt behavior was assessed via pre/post contrived in vivo assessments that contained six situations used in training. The in vivo situations were integrated within a sequence of ongoing events in an effort to enhance the 'naturalness' of the assessment. The probes revealed some improvement in verbal problem-solving skills, whereas minimal improvement occurred in the post in vivo test. Following the study, an attempt was made to enhance performance by having the trainer conduct a probe and adding verbal prompts to evoke problem-solving during an additional in vivo assessment. Both efforts produced improvements in subjects' performance to a level near that achieved by a normative sample of 20 individuals. The results suggest that in vivo problem-solving may be dependent on the methods used in presenting problem situations as well as situational factors. Issues related to these results and suggestions for future research are discussed.