The results are reported of a meta-analysis of 143 outcome studies, published over a 5-year period, in which two or more treatments were compared with a control group. Consistent with previous reviews, the mean of the 1,828 effect size measures obtained from the 414 treated groups approached one standard deviation unit, and differences among treatment methods accounted for, at most, 10% of the variance in effect size. The impact of differences between treatment methods was outweighed by the combined effects of other variables, such as the nature of the target problem under treatment, aspects of the measurement methods used to assess outcome, and features of the experimental design. However, multiple regression analysis suggested that differences between treatments were largely independent of these other factors. Direct comparisons between pairs of treatments figuring together in the same subsets of the data suggested some consistent differences, with cognitive and certain multimodal behavioral methods yielding favorable results. The practical implications of the conclusions drawn were limited, however, by the predominantly analogue nature of the research reviewed and its unrepresentativeness of clinical practice.Recent reviews of the comparative psychotherapy outcome literature (Frank, 1979;Luborsky, Singer, & Luborsky, 1975;Smith &Glass, 1977;Smith, Glass, & Miller, 1980), together with the results of the widely acclaimed study by , have converged on the conclusion that diverse therapies are modestly, but equally, effective. On the other hand, proponents of behavioral therapies, such as Eysenck (1978), Kazdin andWilson (1980), have denounced this conclusion as being based on misconceived aggregation of data from unsound research studies and contradicted by the results of specific, wellconducted studies alleged to favor certain behavioral methods (Bandura, 1977;Franks

This study is concerned with the effects of prior experience on a deceptive reasoning problem. In the first experiment the subjects (students) were presented with the problem after they had experienced its logical structure. This experience was, on the whole, ineffective in allowing subsequent insight to be gained into the problem. In the second experiment the problem was presented in “thematic” form to one group, and in abstract form to the other group. Ten out of 16 subjects solved it in the thematic group, as opposed to 2 out of 16 in the abstract group. Three hypotheses are proposed to account for this result.

Findings obtained in the course of a meta-analysis of 143 outcome studies, published over a 5-year period, in which 2 or more treatments were compared with a control group, are used to evaluate the quality of such research. The statistical conclusion and internal validity of the research reviewed are generally satisfactory, although construct validity is insufficient to rule out the influence of nonspecific and demand effects. The construct and external validity of the work reviewed are severely limited by its unrepresentativeness of clinical practice. Several studies are marred by nonreproducible accounts of treatments, inadequate description of clients, therapists, and design features, and faulty data presentation. It is concluded that this meta-analysis underlines the urgent need for greater methodological diversity and clinical realism in therapy research.

Tics or habit spasms have been described in various ways, but perhaps the most useful definition is that of Kanner (1937) that they are “quick, sudden and frequently repeated movements of circumscribed groups of muscles, serving no apparent purpose”. Children with this symptom not infrequently present to the paediatrician or child psychiatrist with accompanying symptoms of emotional disturbance, and by the age of seven years approximately five per cent of children have a history of such movements (Kellmer Pringle et al., 1967). Less commonly, adolescents who have suffered with tics from an earlier age develop vocal tics and coprolalia (compulsive swearing) symptomatic of Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome. Tiqueurs are rarely seen for treatment in adult life, except in a few well-documented cases where Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome persists (Fernando 1967).