Robert L. Weiss

The marital status inventory: Development of a measure of dissolution potential

Abstract The development of a 14-item intensity scale measuring likelihood of marriage dissolution is described. The Marital Status Inventory (MSI) forms a Guttman-like scale. Preliminary discriminant validity data are presented for the self-report scale indicating that couples presenting with marital problems score significantly higher than couples seeking parent-child related therapy. The predictive validity of the scale remains to be demonstrated, but the MSI is reported for use by researchers and clinicians.

A behavioral analysis of problem solving in distressed and nondistressed married and stranger dyads.

The present study compared the problem solving behavior of distressed andnondistressed married couples, and explored the “state” vs. “trait” nature of problem solving behavior through comparison of married and stranger dyads. Behavioral codings obtained from spouse and stranger interactions around a standard conflict eliciting task provided the measure of problem solving behavior. Distressed married couples, relative to nondistressed married couples, emitted a significantly greater proportion of negative problem solving behavior, and a significantly smaller proportion of positive problem solving behavior. As compared with stranger dyads, the problem solving behavior of nondistressed marital dyads tended to be more negative and more positive, whereas distressed marital dyads were more negative and less positive. The implications of these finding for marital therapy and research were discussed.

On Producing Random Responses

This paper has surveyed studies of response patterning in an attempt to illustrate the various ways in which this fact of behavior has been used in psychology. The view is expressed that response biasing takes on significance as an important dependent variable when we note that human Ss are unable to generate binary choices in a random sequence even when instructed to do so. Production of random sequences may be intimately related to processes of set and attention; success in generating responses randomly indicates ability to maintain an appropriate set for randomness. Techniques for measuring response patterning, or variability, were reviewed, and a new method was described. Data were presented to illustrate the difficulties encountered by students and psychiatric patients when instructed to generate a random sequence of binary choices. Almost nothing is known about the correlates of ability to maintain a set for randomness, yet there are marked individual differences in this ability. Generating random choices is basically a very non-stimulating task, so that differences in arousal may be of particular importance, when studying this particular kind of set.

VARIABLES THAT INFLUENCE RANDOM-GENERATION: AN ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS.

An alternative to Tunes memory hypothesis is proposed as the basis of the relative inability of Ss to generate a random sequence of responses. The memory hypothesis is inconsistent with results of studies showing decreased response stereotypy as a function of (a) time spent working on a task and (b) presence of potentially distracting extratask stimulation. Success at randomizing choices requires reduced awareness of previous responses and minimal sources of distraction to prevent Ss from “giving up the set.” Research implications of this attention-distraction hypothesis are discussed.

RESPONSIVITY OF PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS TO VERBAL CONDITIONING: "SUCCESS" AND "FAILURE" CONDITIONS AND PATTERN OF REINFORCED TRIALS

A sample of 64 psychiatric patients was used to study responsiveness to minimal social reinforcement by means of operant verbal conditioning procedures. As in previous work with college students the effects of two types of situational variation were studied: pattern of reinforced trials and examiners evaluation of performance. Ss told TAT-like stories and on selected trials the use of emotional words was reinforced. Highly significant conditioning was found, indicating that psychiatric patients are responsive to minimal social reinforcement. Significant group differences were not found, however, for either the success-failure dimension of examiner evaluation of performance, or for reinforced vs extinction trials. The results for patients agree with those reported earlier for students only insofar as the initial conditioning is concerned. In general, patients show initial responsiveness to examiner reinforcement, but they are not readily influenced by situational variations occurring later in the session.

Marital Violence: Issues in Conception, Assessment and Intervention

This paper discusses current issues in the literature on marital violence. Issues in three areas are discussed from a research and clinical perspective: conceptions of marital abuse, assessment of marital aggression and issues in treatment. Although there are specific cognitive-behavioural treatments reported in the literature, a position of caution is advocated here. Before intervening there are issues that the therapist should consider carefully. (1) Assessment must first answer whether conjoint marital therapy is appropriate at all. (2) Therapists must define their own position and estimate availability of supporting resources (e.g., legal, medical) when working with abuse. (3) Although all couples should be screened routinely for the nature and frequency of their aggressive patterns, neither the sensitivity nor specificity of currently available screens is yet established. Examples of current approaches to assessing spouse abuse are presented.

Managing Marital Therapy

Marriage, the most intimate adult relationship most people experience, is perceived by the majority of adults as their primary source of support and affection (Levinger & Huston, 1990); high quality marriage is a strong predictor of adults’ reports of global life happiness (Glenn & Weaver, 1981). Most unmarried adults expect to marry at some point in their lives and for that marriage to be life long (Millward, 1990).

Anxiety and Response Stereotypy: An Experimental Critique

Studies of the relationship between the level of anxiety and degree of response stereotypy have reported findings which not only contradict one another but in varying degrees are inconsistent with both clinical and drive theory. The clinical expectation is that anxiety and response stereotypy are positively related, whereas drive theory predicts a negative relationship when response choices are equipotent. A study is reported wherein Ss were required to randomize choices regarding the outcomes of an “unbiased” coin. The essential feature of this task is that Ss must maintain a set for randomness. The results indicated: (1) high anxious Ss were more stereotyped than low anxious Ss, (2) the anxiety-stereotypy relationship depended upon the length of the response sequence analyzed, and (3) upon the temporal stage of the task (i.e., first vs second half). It was concluded that the drive-theory model is not applicable to measures of response stereotypy derived from binary choice tasks. An alternative hypothesis was presented which takes account of both experimental manipulations of drive level and changes in response stereotypy in terms of individual differences in attention responsiveness.