Generalization and maintenance of the reduction of self-injurious behavior maintained by two types of reinforcement

The self-injurious forehead-gouging behavior that had resulted in blindness for a profoundly retarded 27-yr-old male was successfully treated using a combination of differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior during unstructured situations and prevention of escape during compliance situations. After self-injurious behavior was reduced to a low frequency, a reduction of his daily dose of chloral hydrate was accompanied by a large increase in self-injury, but the behavior gradually returned to its previous low level. A large increase in self-injury also occurred following transfer to another living unit, but the behavior again decreased to a low frequency. Treatment gains were maintained following transfer to another residential facility with follow-up observations occurring at 1, 2, 8, 15, 22, 27 and 35 months. The multiple determination of self-injurious behavior in this one S highlights the behavioral complexity of some of these behaviors.     

Agreement between observers when the categories are not specified in advance

To test the agreement between two observers who categorize a number of objects when the categories have not been specified in advance, Brennan & Light (1974) developed a statistic A′ and suggested a normal approximation for its distribution. In this paper it is shown that this approximation is inadequate particularly when one, or both, of the observers place a fairly equal number of objects in all of their categories. A chi-squared approximation to the distribution of A′ is developed and is shown to work well in a variety of situations. The relative powers of A′ and the ordinary X² test for association are dependent on the type of ‘agreement between the observers’ that is assumed. However a simulation for a fairly general type of agreement indicates that the X² test is more powerful. As the X² test is also much easier to apply, it would seem preferable in most situations.     

Family boundary ambiguity: a new variable in family stress theory

The variable, degree of family boundary ambiguity, is increasingly being used in family research to describe and predict the effects of family membership loss and change over time. Boundary ambiguity is defined as the family not knowing who is in and who is out of the system. The family may perceive a physically absent member as psychologically present or a physically present member as psychologically absent. In either case, the family boundary is ambiguous. This review is presented to clarify the meaning of boundary ambiguity and to explore its scope and application as a variable. We focus here on (a) the process of theory development, inductive and deductive, by which the construct of boundary ambiguity was identified and validated as a continuous variable within family stress theory; (b) the historical antecedents of the construct; and (c) the interrelationships of the variable with other factors related to stressed families.     

The resurrection of a magical reality: treatment of functional migraine in a child

A magical world view and logic were used in the treatment of a 10-year-old girl who was referred because of suicidal threats due to migrainous pain. The treatment consisted of a one-session intervention with three-week, six-month, and one-year follow-up indicating elimination of migraine. Within a strategic family therapy, a magical ritual was prescribed that derived from the preoperational logic explicated by Piaget and from the healing practices described in anthropological studies. Such a ritual casts the symptom in a different context, alters the meaning of migraine to the family system, and leads to different interactional patterns. Piaget's theory and anthropological data are discussed as sources of a magical world view to help families and children disengage from a symptomatic system of interactions.     

Dialectical Metatheory in Family Therapy

This paper addresses the controversy in family therapy over basic philosophical issues in terms of a historical opposition between demonstrative and dialectical metatheories. It argues that advances in family therapy are indicative of the growing prominence of dialectical forms of understanding in the social sciences. Several family therapy concepts are explored as representative of the dialectical categories of motion, form, relationship, and transformation.     

The Empirical Evaluation of Family Therapy Training

This paper presents the results of the first comprehensive and empirical evaluation of a family therapy training program. Focusing on the first year of a two-year training program, the study found significant changes in the clinical conceptualizations and in-therapy verbal behaviors of a group of trainees. Additionally, this study involved the development and/or first use of various research instruments and procedures that can be used to facilitate further research on family therapy training.