Marital Interaction: Experimental Investigations deals with experimental studies on marital interaction. Emphasis is on the importance of the role of description in the study of social interaction. Methods for the analysis of pattern and sequence, including cross-spectral time-series analysis, are also presented.

Comprised of 15 chapters, this book begins with a historical review of several research traditions that have concerned themselves with families and marriages: the sociological tradition; the family therapy or systems tradition; the social learning tradition; and the developmental tradition. Research that points to the potential importance of the observation of consensual decision-making processes is also reviewed. A model of marital interaction called the Structural Model, which can be used to predict changes in marital satisfaction, is described. Subsequent chapters focus on the Couples Interaction Scoring System, an observational system for categorizing marital interaction; modern concepts of the assessment of reliability, particularly the stringent assessment that is necessary for sequential analysis; differences between well-functioning and poorly functioning marriages; couples' interactional styles in terms of communication skill deficits; and the concept of an individual's social competence.

This monograph will be of interest to psychologists engaged in research on marriage, as well as sociologists and clinical researchers.

Contenu

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Historical Traditions
The Sociological Tradition
The Family Therapy Tradition
The Social Learning Tradition
The Developmental Tradition
Chapter 2 Sequential Analysis
The Importance of Sequence
Communication and Sequence
What Is Information?
What Is Redunancy?
Structure and Pattern in a Sequence of Codes
Sackett's Lag Analysis
Appendix 2.1
Chapter 3 The Structure of Interaction
The Search for Structure
The Content of the Patterning
Patterns of Positiveness
A Review of Literature on Reciprocity
Review of Literature on Dominance
Structural Model of Marital Interaction
Comparison with Other Models
Chapter 4 The Couples Interaction Scoring System
Earlier Work in Identifying Components
The CISS Scheme for Identifying Components
Training Coders
Deriving CISS Content Codes
Nonverbal Codes of the CISS
Processing a Tape
Characteristics of the Summary Codes
Chapter 5 Reliability for Sequential Analysis
Differences Between Classical Reliability Theory and Generalizability Theory
Observer Agreement
Reliability Drift and Decay
Reliability of the CISS
Appendix 5.1
Chapter 6 The Topography of Marital Conflict
Procedures and Methodology
Results on Positiveness
Results on Reciprocity
Descriptive Analyses
Chapter 7 The Generality of the Topography Results: A Recoding Study
The Raush et al. Study
Recoding the Raush et al. Data
Comparing the Results of the Two Studies
Chapter 8 The Issue Focus
Introduction
Improvisation as a Method
Empirically Obtained Domain of Problematic Situations
The Improvisation Study
Positiveness Results
Reciprocity Results: Sex Improvisation
Descriptive Analyses: Sex Improvisation
Reciprocity Results Across Improvisations
Spouse Differences
Detailed Descriptive Analyses-Fun Deck
Summary
Chapter 9 Styles of Marital Interaction in Clinic Couples
Classification on Basis of Observational Data
The Need for Classification for Clinical Intervention
A Proposed Classification System
Summary of Results and Conclusion
Chapter 10 Dominance in Marital Interaction
Introduction to Bivariate Time-Series Analysis
Univariate Time-Series Analysis
Bivariate Time-Series Analysis
Dominance in Marital Interaction
A Precise Interpretation of Dominance
Appendix 10.1
Chapter 11 The Individual Social Competence Hypothesis
Procedures and Subjects
Results and Discussion
Appendix 11.1
Chapter 12 The Couple's Perception of Their Interaction
The Need for a Cognitive System
Operationalizing Behavior Exchange: The Talk Table
Two Studies on the Talk Table
Predictive Validity of the Talk Table: The Markman Study
Relationships Between Perception and Behavior
Summary
Chapter 13 Couples' Interaction at Home
The Issue of Generalizability across Settings
Procedure
Coding of Affect from Voice Tone
Results
Summary
Chapter 14 Clinical Intervention: Applied and Theoretical Implications
Historical Introduction
Conceptions of Marital Distress Prominent in the 1950s
Bad Marriages and "Immature" Wives
Changing Conceptions of Diagnosis and Treatment
The Rise of Systems Theory
The Next Twenty-Five Years of Systems Theory
Behavioral Marital Therapy
Assessment of Behavioral Marital Therapy to Date
Empirical Program Development
Description of an Empirically Derived Marital Therapy Program
Phase One Assessment
Phase Two Assessment
Phase Three Assessment
Summary
Chapter 15 Epilogue: Structure Is Constraint
Appendix
Materials Available from the Author on Request
Computer Programs
References
Subject Index