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Biomedical subjects

R M Knudson

Publications and source records attributed to R M Knudson.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Anhedonia: a construct validation approach.

Investigated the convergent and discriminant validity of the anhedonia construct using a multivariable-multimethod design. The 100 subjects displayed a wide range of scores on the Physical Anhedonia Scale, many comparable to the original validation sample of diagnosed schizophrenics. Twenty-one variables were assessed by tests, 16 by subject self-ratings and 16 by peer ratings of the subject. The resultant intercorrelation matrix was analyzed by Golding and Seidman's (1974) two-step principal components procedure. Five of the six second-order components showed good and conceptually meaningful cross method convergence and were named: Pleasureless Introversion, Neurotic Maladjustment, Dependency, Hedonic Deficit #1, Hedonic Deficit #2, and Coarctation. Hedonic Deficits #1 and #2 were shown to be independent from neuroticism, depression, and guilt. The high degree of relationship between anhedonia and introversion, long suggested by clinicians, is confirmed and discussed. Notes on the construct validity of Chapman et al.'s (1976) Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales and Watson et al.'s (1970) MMPI Anhedonia Scale are included.

Adolescent

Interpersonal perception and mode of resolution in marital conflict.

The present study examined the relationship between changes in couples' perceptions of each other during a conflictual interaction and their mode of conflict resolution. Thirty-three volunteer married couples were videotaped while recreating a conflictual interaction that had occurred previously. During a subsequent replaying of the videotape, husbands' and wives' verbal descriptions of perceptions of self and spouse were elicited at three different stages of the conflict, using a method for eliciting perceptions derived from Laing. Phillipson, and Lee's multiperspective interpersonal perception technique. The interpersonal perceptions of couples who resolved the conflict by engaging the issue at hand were contrasted with those of couples who resolved the conflict via avoidance. Statistically significant differences were found between the groups, suggesting that engaging the issue was associated with an increase in spouses' access to one another's interpersonal perceptions, whereas avoidance was associated with decreases in consensually valid perceptions. Substantive and methodological implications of the study are discussed.

Adult

Behavioral marriage therapy: I. A psychodynamic-systems analysis and critique.

After briefly summarizing the major theoretical premises and treatment strategies of Behavioral Marriage Therapy (BMT), five major clusters of implicit assumptions in BMT are identified and critically examined: I. "The Rational Observing Ego Shall Conquer All"; II. "Behavior Should Not Mean, But Be"; III. "What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander"; IV. "Repression Is Good for Your Marital Mental Health"; V. "The Folly of the Therapist as Technician." Throughout this analysis, the conceptual and clinical limitations of a strictly or predominantly behavioral approach to couples therapy are described, and BMT is reconsidered in the light of object relations theory and communication theory perspectives on marital dysfunction and its treatment.

Behavior Therapy

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.

Behavior Therapy