Selection Criteria for Family Therapy

The patient selection criteria for most modalities of psychotherapy have not yet been clearly articulated. This paper presents a decision-tree model outlining the factors that incline a clinician to perform a family evaluation, then to decide upon family treatment instead of another form of therapy, and finally to settle upon the particular duration and intensity of family treatment. We have compiled screening criteria, based on research and clinical opinion, to be applied in the utilization review of the decisions made at each of these steps. This method can be used to evaluate the appropriateness of care and render decision-making explicit and accountable; it may also have considerable value in training and research.     

A Behavioral Interactional Model for Assessing Family Relationships

A behavioral interactional model (B.I.M.) of the family is described, which is based upon Bertalanffy's definition of a “system.” The model has a logical structure derived from the formal properties of dyads. The features of dyadic interaction, combined with the “constituent analysis” of protocols, provide a method of analyzing and comparing views about family relationships. The method is illustrated by analyzing two parents' views of their family.     

Assessing Individual Family Members' Constructions of Family Problems

Much contemporary family therapy theory and practice takes into account clients' cognitive constructions of their family problems. Recent calls for therapists to elicit and work with clients' causal explanations and narratives parallel accumulating evidence in the social-clinical literature about the predictive importance of attributions in family relationships. In this article, we introduce the Constructions of Problems Scale (CPS), provide preliminary evidence of its reliability and validity, and suggest ways in which it can be used clinically to reveal new areas for questioning and to generate new ideas. The CPS is a brief questionnaire that can be used to create a profile of each individual family member's private constructions. To complete the CPS, each family member writes a free-form narrative of the presenting problem and then rates his or her perceptions of the contributing causes. The CPS profiles can be used to compare the perspectives of different family members and to assess cognitive constructions at different points in treatment. We discuss its potential for these and other clinical uses.     

Assessing Family Coordination in Divorced Families

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and partner relationship difficulties commonly co-occur among Veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF-OIF). This study reports upon results for six male OEF-OIF Veterans with PTSD and their female relationship partners who completed cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for PTSD (CBCT for PTSD), which is a treatment that targets reductions in PTSD and couple distress. Case- and group-level data supported reductions in Veterans' PTSD symptoms and female partners' relationship distress. These findings suggest that CBCT for PTSD may be a promising intervention for OEF-OIF Veterans' PTSD and their partners.     

Unravelling Criteria for Assessing the Performance of Salespeople: A Causal Analysis

Abstract

In the past, academic research on sales force performance has used either objective performance data or subjective managerial ratings to measure sales performance. Consistent with corporate practices, objective and subjective performance measures were used in this research project. The relationships among three components of performance: specific task behaviors, specific goal achievement and overall performance were examined. A casual analysis suggests that managerial evaluations of overall sales performance are influenced by their perceptions of specific selling behaviors and the degree to which sales people attain specified performance goals.     

Assessing and Measuring Spirituality: Confronting Dilemmas of Universal and Particular Evaluative Criteria

The spirituality of humanity is increasingly acknowledged, but it is variously defined and interpreted because of the diverse normative frames of reference for evaluations. Many of these are based upon religious and philosophical ideologies that disagree with each other about the characteristics of spiritual health and illness. Indicators of spiritual wellness acceptable in some groups often are inappropriate for groups with different values. An inescapable reductionism complicates all spirituality measurements. Scales intended to be universally valid have many deficiencies. They override distinctive norms of minority groups and contribute to their mistreatment and victimization. Using only universal measures contributes to the loss of verifiable knowledge. Suggestions to resolve such problems combine particularistic and universal strategies for clinical assessments and scientific research.     

Criteria for suicide-by-cop incidents

17 criteria for suicide-by-cop incidents were applied to 39 such incidents and 18 control incidents. Analysis indicated the criteria differentiated the two groups and may be useful for investigators.     

Criteria for logical formalization

The article addresses two closely related questions: What are the criteria of adequacy of logical formalization of natural language arguments, and what gives logic the authority to decide which arguments are good and which are bad? Our point of departure is the criticism of the conception of logical formalization put forth, in a recent paper, by M. Baumgartner and T. Lampert. We argue that their account of formalization as a kind of semantic analysis brings about more problems than it solves. We also argue that the criteria of adequate formalization need not be based on truth conditions associated with logical formulas; in our view, they are better based on structural (inferential) grounds. We then put forward our own version of the criteria. The upshot of the discussion that follows is that the quest for an adequate formalization in a suitable logical language is best conceived of as the search for a Goodmanian reflective equilibrium.     

青年价值观构建的重要力量:亲情

亲情是近年来备受重视的议题之一.亲情教育对于当代青年来说几乎是价值观教育的盲点,而亲情关系是人类最基本的关系之一.关注当代青年的亲情现状,加强对当代青年的亲情教育,提高他们的人际交往的能力,培养当代青年对家庭和社会的责任感应成为当前价值观教育的重要内容.     

Performance Criteria for Stabilometer Learning

A method for collecting multiple dependent variables (DVs) on stabilometer performance is described. The relative sensitivity of 6 measures of stabilometer performance was determined within a 2 × 2 × 2 × 6 (blocks of 5 trials) factorial design. Two levels each of Plane of Balance, KR, and Starting Position were independent variables. Ss (N=80) performed 30 trials with a 30-sec. intertrial rest. Univariate ANOVA revealed significant changes across blocks on four of the six DVs measured. Multivariate ANOVA of the three treatment effects revealed KR significant, p<.01. Discriminant function analysis indicated a measure of S’s variability about a chosen balance point as the best discriminator for the KR factor. Recording continuous analog information of S’s response revealed the stabilometer sensitive to S’s learning. Results were discussed in terms of the role of KR, task criterion manipulations, and the use of the stabilometer as a motor task within theoretical frameworks.     

Metaphilosophical Criteria for Worldview Comparison

Philosophy lacks criteria to evaluate its philosophical theories. To fill this gap, this essay introduces nine criteria to compare worldviews, classified in three broad categories: objective criteria (objective consistency, scientificity, scope), subjective criteria (subjective consistency, personal utility, emotionality), and intersubjective criteria (intersubjective consistency, collective utility, narrativity). The essay first defines what a worldview is and exposes the heuristic used in the quest for criteria. After describing each criterion individually, it shows what happens when each of them is violated. From the criteria, it derives assessment tests to compare and improve different worldviews. These include the is‐ought, ought‐act, and is‐act first‐order tests; the critical and dialectical second‐order tests; the mixed‐questions and first‐second‐order third‐order tests; and the we‐I, we‐it, and it‐I tests. The essay then applies these criteria and tests to a concrete example, comparing the Flying Spaghetti Monster deity with Intelligent Design. For another application, it draws more general fruitful suggestions for the dialogue between science and religion.     

Criteria for a good death

This brief paper advances the concept of a "good death," outlines ten specific criteria for a good death, and proposes a simple golden rule for optimal dying.     

Hume's Dual Criteria for Memory

In his brief treatment of memory, Hume characterizes memory using two kinds of criteria: ideas' phenomenal character and their correspondence to the past experiences from which they derived. These criteria have seemed so perplexing to interpreters, both individually and jointly, that Hume's account of memory is commonly considered one of the weakest parts of his philosophical system. This paper defends Hume's criteria by showing that they achieve two theoretical aims: a scientific classification of ideas and a definition of ‘memory.’ In particular, I argue that Hume's definition of ‘memory’ is cogent in light of Putnamian considerations about definitions.