DIGITAL THERAPIST

THIS PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP A DEVICE, THE DIGITAL THERAPIST, THAT MAY IMPROVE EXISTING ASSESSMENTS OF EMOTIONS, PROCESSES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGE, COGNITIONS, ANDAND SITUATIONS AFFECTING BEHAVIOR IN EVERYDAY LIVING. THIS DEVICE COULD ALSO HELP CLIENTS MAKE CHANGES IN HEALTH- RELATED AND OTHER BEHAVIORS BY TEACHING THEM HOW TO BE AWAREOF THEMSELVES IN A MAXIMALLY ADAPTIVE FASHION. DURING PHASEI, SIX PROTOTYPES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED. THESE PROTOTYPES WILL BE MODIFIED MICROCASSETTE RECORDERS THAT WILL BE PRO- GRAMMED BY THERAPISTS USING A LOW-COST MICROCOMPUTER. TWO PROTOTYPES WILL ALLOW RECORDING BY THE THERAPIST OF 30 TEN- SECOND MESSAGES, WHICH WILL BE PLAYED BACK IN RANDOM SEQUENCE TO THE USER. MESSAGE PLAYBACK WILL BE INITIATED BYTHE USER IN RESPONSE TO AN AUDIO SIGNAL FROM THE UNIT AT PREDETERMINED INTERVALS THROUGHOUT THE DAY; THE UNIT CAN ALSO BE ACTIVATED AT ARBITRARY TIMES BY THE USER. THE REMAINING FOUR PROTOTYPES IN PHASE I WILL ALLOW USERS TO RECORD RESPONSES TO MESSAGES FOR LATER REVIEW BY THE USER, THERAPIST, OR RESEARCHER. A GROUP OF CLINICIANS WILL EVAL- UATE THE VARIOUS VERSIONS OF THE DIGITAL THERAPIST FOR EASE OF USE AND PERCEIVED EFFICACY. WEIGHT CONTROL AND HEMO- DIALYSIS CLIENTS WILL PARTICIPATE IN A SERIES OF MULTIPLE- BASELINE-ACROSS-SUBJECT STUDIES DESIGNED TO TEST THE EFFICACY OF THE DIGITAL THERAPIST AS A MEANS TO ACCELERATE CHANGES IN REFRACTORY BEHAVIOR PATTERNS (WEIGHT LOSS AND COMPLIANCE WITH FLUID RESTRICTIONS, RESPECTIVELY). PHASE IIWOULD INCLUDE MORE EXTENSIVE EXPERIMENTAL TESTS COMPARING THE EFFICACY OF THE VERSIONS OF THE DIGITAL THERAPIST TO EXTANT METHODS OF ASSESSING "CONSCIOUSNESS" AND PSYCHOLOGI- CAL CHANGE, AS WELL AS STUDYING THE DIGITAL THERAPIST'S ABILITY TO IMPROVE CLINICAL CHANGE AND FACILITATE MAINTAIN- ANCE OF SUCH CHANGE. IF EFFICACY AND VERSATILITY IS DEMON- STRATED, DIGITAL THERAPISTS SHOULD HAVE CONSIDERABLE APPEAL TO RESEARCHERS, CLINICIANS, AND INDIVIDUALS WHO ATTEMPT TO SELF-DIRECTED CHANGES.