When experts are influential: Comparisons with respect to success and consistency in judgment tasks

The effects of experts' judgment behavior on the utilization of expert guidance were investigated in four experiments. In all experiments the subjects received written information about the judgments performed by two independent experts concerning a fictitious medical task. The experts' judgment behavior varied with respect to success (i.e. competency), complexity of judgment rule and consistency. The tasks varied with respect to task predictability and complexity of judgment rule. The results indicated that consistent judgment behavior on part of experts is an important premise for proper utilization of expert guidance. Inconsistency on part of experts may induce underestimation of the judgmental competence expressed by the judge, i.e. influence tended to be inappropriately low.     

Behavioral Marriage Therapy. IV. Take Two Aspirin and Call Us in the Morning

The Jacobson-Weiss critique of the Gurman-Knudson and Gurman-Kniskern discussions of behavioral marriage therapy (BMT), while scholarly, derives from such a narrow conceptual set that, with only minor exceptions, Jacobson and Weiss have failed basically to comprehend the essence of our theoretical and logical criticisms of BMT. Moreover, a careful reanalysis of the research cited by our critics as evidence for the efficacy of BMT reveals the strength of the empirical foundation of this approach to have been greatly exaggerated. While few of our concerns about a preominantly behavioral approach to marriage therapy have been ameliorated by Jacobson and Weiss' commentary, some success seems to have been achieved in terms of our original purpose: to stimulate critical thinking about the premises and process of marital therapy.