Br. y. Addict., 1973, Vol. 66, pp. 170-176. E. & S. Livingstone. Printed in Great Britain. Attitude Manipulation in Restricted Environments: IV. Psychologically Addicted Smokers Treated in Sensory Deprivation * Peter Snedfdd,| and Frederick F. Ikard,^ Rutgers University, The State University of J^ew Jersey Snmmary Five psychologically addicted smokers with smoking rates of between 30-50 cigarettes per dt^, underwent a procedur consisting of 24 hours of sensory deprivation with ptriodic taped messages. Two if the subjects were given "booster" sessions two months later. All five subjects reported that their crauingfor cigarettes disappeared during andfor some days after the treatment, and all showed significant reductions in smoking rate (75-100 ^ r cent) for at least two weeks afterwards. Three subjects have quit smoking and have each gone at least one month without any cigarettes or craving for cigarettes. Method Several recent reviews (Guilford, 1966^; Schwartz and Dubitzky, 1968^^ Bernstein, 1970^) have made it all too clear that cigarette smoking is a behavior which is extremely resistant to intervention. A wide variety of techniques has been brought to bear in the attempt, ranging from behavior modification (Keutzer, Lichtenstein, and Mees, 1968') to hypnosis (Johnston and Donoghue, 1970^). Although many studies are difficult to evaluate because of problems in design or in data analysis, those whose results are clear-cut have in general reported low success rates. In an investigation of the effects of sensory deprivation (SD) on persuasibility (Suedfeid, Landon, Pargament and Epstein, in press^^), smoking was used as the target attitude. Campus newspaper advertisements were placed requesting volun- teers for an experiment involving 24 hours of the subject's time in return for $20; smokers among the respondents were randomly assigned to a treatment in a 2 X 2 design. The conditions included a 24-hour SD (darkness, silence, limited mobility) vs. a non-confined control treatment, and a message (a 2-minute tape recording concerning health hazards associated with smoking)-no message treatment. When contacted three months later, subjects who had undergone SD reported a mean 38 per cent reduction in smoking rate resulting in a rate which was significantly lower than that of the no-SD control subjects. The study had been based on the hypotheses that SD disrupts complex cognitive behavior (Suedfeid, 1969^^); that the maintenance of a stable belief structure in the •This research was funded by an NIH Biomedical Sciences Support Grant to the first author. fUniversity College. Now at The University of British Columbia. jFormerly Livingston College and American Health Foundation, New York City. We regret to report that Mr Ikard passed away on 16th June, 1972. 170