National Conference (October 6, 1983) from different therapy models at &ious necessarily work right off in therapy (al- that the field of marital therapy has yet points. For instance, in his fourth chapter, though I might talk about these “mis- to come into its own, that many of the “Diagnosing Couples’ Problems,” he takes” differently as new information for techniques and conceptual ideas used in gives no rationale for taking many of the the therapeutic suprasystem) or books treating couples are borrowed from in- conceptual ideas from structural and that do not acknowledge the effects of dividual, behavioral, and strategic family therapy. Then, in follow- work in the therapy field on personal lives as well as from other models. This book ing chapters there is no explahation of and vice versa. is a good example of Haley’s point. As why he discusses so few of the basic in- The book succeeds in fulfilling Brod- noted on the book jacket, Broderick pre- terventions from these models, which are erick’s expressed purpose of presenting sents a “wealth of tried and true tech- an ongoing part of marital assessment. a distillation of his ideas and techniques niques” for couples with marital diffi- Second, lengthy clinical examples, on triangular therapy from his twenty- culties (not child problems, multigener- which could have helped indirectly to five years of clinical experience (although ational or divorce problems, or individual elucidate underlying principles of Brod- an index of the techniques and the authors symptoms), techniques that he has culled erick’s eclectic model of marital therapy, referenced would have made the book from communication skills training, psy- are not presented. The case excerpts that more useful). These ideas are available choanalysis, structural family therapy, are the most extensive and seem the most in other writings, however, and the field Gestalt therapy, dramatic imagery, and real are all taken from Broderick’s (1979) of marital therapy would have benefited strategic family therapy. Broderick suc- prior book, Couples: How to Confront considerably had Broderick presented ceeds admirably in providing glimpses of Problems and Maintain Loving Relation- them within a conceptual framework that these techniques, using a folksy but clear ships. Dialogues reconstructed through- strengthened the position of eclectic writing style and excellent organization. out the book often seem unauthentic. For models of therapy. ’ Yet, the book does not contribute to the instance, this conversation is used to open development of a stronger and unique the first chapter: References therapeutic framework for marital ther- Broderick, C. B. (1979). Couples: How to “Good morning. This is the Crossroads confront problems and maintain loving apy, for several reasons. Therapy Center. May we help you?” __re-&nr_Np-Yn-L .-e-- First, the underpinning of the book is “I hope so. Do you help straighten out not a coherent theoretical stance on mar- messed up marriages?” riage, change, and therapy, but Parsons’s “What seems to be the trouble?” (1955) four-stage paradigm of socializa- “Everything! My husband and I just don’t tion adapted to the therapeutic process: communicate. He doesn’t support me with (a) unconditional acceptance of behavior, the children. We argue about money all the , and feelings; (b) uncondi- time. Sex is rotten. Now he’s talking about tional support of each client as a person; leaving, and I think there may be another (c) intervention for change in behavior, woman. Do you think there is any use seeing a counselor? Can you help out of this perceptions, and feelings; and (d) rein- us mess?” (p. 11) 3 -1viorner forcement of new behavior, perceptions, L~G- and feelings. Broderick has divided his Third, although the book acknowl- Revisited book into two parts. The first half deals edges systems thinking indirectly, it does with (a) and (b) and focuses on estab- not tussle with any of the major issues Ernst L. Moerk lishing rapport, providing support, mak- currently being raised in the field-issues The Mother of Eve-As a First ing a diagnosis, and making a contract such as the “braid” of assessment and Language Teacher with the couple. The second half of the intervention versus the more static notion Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1983. book covers (c) and (d) and focuses on of diagnosis, the questioning of the ther- 168 pp. $24.50 achieving and anchoring in change and apist’s role being so instrumental that he Review by disengaging from the therapeutic trian- or she is always regarded as being at the Kenji Hakuta gle; it concludes with a discussion of how top of the hierarchy, therapy discussed training and work in the marital field af- in terms of control and power, or the def- Ernst L. Moerk is professor of psychol- fects the personal life of the therapist. inition of the therapist-couple as a larger ogy at Cali$omia State University, Beginning therapists, particularly those therapeutic suprasystem that needs to be Fresno. He is author of Pragmatic and making the shift from working with in- self-reflexive. It is almost as if this book Semantic Aspects of Early Language dividuals, will find that the sequential had been conceived and written several Development. Kenji Hakuta is associ- chapters on the therapy process, along years ago, before the current foment in ate professor of at Yale with the overview of numerous tech- the field. University. He is coauthor with H. Tager-Flusberg and J. C. de Villiers of niques (e.g., rescripting, reflection, ne- Two of the things I particularly like the chapter “The Development of Sen- gotiating behavioral changes, partitioning about this book are the sections, in most tence Coordination” in S. A. Kuczaj’s the pain, establishing symmetrical rap- of the chapters, titled “All the Things Language Development: Problems, port), provide a good overview of how to That Can Go Wrong” and the concluding Theories and Controversies, Volume 1: move into working within a triadic re- chapter on the intertwining of training Syntax and Semantics. lationship rather than a dyadic one. I be- and work in the field of marital therapy lieve that the book would have been much and in therapists’ private lives. These You can judge the contents of Moerk’s stronger, however, if the author had ex- parts provide a welcome relief from books book quite accurately from the title alone. plained why he chose particular ideas that ignore all of the things that do not Yes, it concerns Eve, of the legendary

744 CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY, 1984, Vol. 29,. No. 9 sufficient empirical evidence (and cer- psychology to other schools of thought- scendence as a crucial element of excep- tainly the authors offer none of their own) Zen, !$ufism, and the shamanism of Cas- tional human well-being, for it elevates to support their claim that they know taneda. What these schooJs share is a consciousness at the expense of human what constitutes successful counseling: challenge to the assumption that “ordi- desire. Steinberg (1975) presents an al- The book is well organized to fulfill nary” consciousness is the only way or ternative ennobling vision: its function as a basic text. With the be- the best way of knowing the world. This But if Judaism will have no traffic with sen- ginner in mind, the authors have taken challenge is posed directly to the reader. ’ sualism in one direction, it turns away from pains to use simple language and explicit Sprinkled throughout the chapters are asceticism in the other. In its view, the body, instructions and to avoid professional jar- paradoxical stories, bding parables, and no less the work of God than the soul, cannot gon. I recommend it as a supplementary an occasional blank space, which push be inherently evil. . . .. The Tradition in- text that students will thoroughly en- the reader into experiencing rather than sists it is man’s obligation to enjoy joy. simply analyzing these different per- life. . . . Pleasure then,must be not only spectives. Such values as self-transcen- legitimate but mandatory. (pp. 72-73) dence, giving up control, unity with the world, moving beyond attachments, and Nevertheless, the editors are successful Ennobling Visions: equanimity are proposed as alternative in their task. Their book challenges read- bases of exceptional well-being. ers to examine their own views of the East and West The editors identify and acknowledge exceptional life. Moreover, it offers an in- their own biases and those of their con- troduction to Eastern religion for many Roger Walsh and tributors. The book is organized by the readers. Finally, it suggests points of dia- Deane H. Shapiro (Eds.) contributors’ views of the interface be- logue between schools of thought, psy- Beyond Health and Norinality: tween Eastern and Western notions of chological and religious, that have long Explorations of Exceptional . In chapters by Wilber, been separate. Psychological Well-Being Walsh, Deikman, Kornfield, and Coleman and E,pstein, Eastern conceptions of well- Reference New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, Steinberg, M. (1975). Basic]udoism. New \1983. 528 pp. $28.50 being, are described as more advanced, York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. more inclusive, more compelling, and Review by more closely tied to the nature of reality Kenneth I. Pargament than are their Western counterparts. Elsewhere, these schools of thought are Roger Walsh, associate professor in the presented as complementary. Shapiro, for Techniques in Search Department of Psychiatry at the Uni- example, points to the value of both ho- of a Conceptual versity of California (Imine) Medical listic and analytic thought as well as the School, is coeditor of Beyond Ego: knowledge and flexibility to use each Framework Transpersonal Dimensions in Psychol- ogy with E Vaughan. Deane H. procws appropriately. Particularly in- Carlfred B. Broderick Shapiro, president of the Institute for triguing is the chapter by Erhard, Gioscia, the Advancement of Human Behavior, and hnbender, who argue for a “paradigm The Therapeutic Triangle: A is author of Precision Nirvana. of paradigms” allowing the individual to Sourcebook on Marital Therapy Kenneth 1. Pargammt is associate pro- recognize and use the strengths and lim- Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, fessor in the Department of Psychology itations of Eastern and Western paradigms 1983. 184 pp. $20.00 at Bowling Green State University. He in a more proactive fashion. contributed the chapter “The lnterface The editors and authors of the book Review by Among Religion, Religious Support Sys- are admittedly favorably disposed toward Janine Roberts tems and Mental Health” to]. D. Eastern religions; this valuable contri- Biegel and A. Naperstak’s Community Support Systems and Mental Health. bution would have been strengthened by Carlfred B. Broderick is professor of a more complete critique of Eastern and director of marriage and thoui;ht. For example, a self-centered fo- family therapy training at the Univer- This is a book about “ennobling visions,” cus runs through much of these descrip- sity of Southern California. He is au- the best that people can be. The editors tions of the exceptional person. Where thor of Couples: How to Confront Problems and Maintain Loving Rela- want to provide “symbols of excellence do values such as family, community, and tionships. ~JanineRoberts is assistant and cooperation, new possibilities and belonging fit in? How does the social sys- professor in the school, consulting, and paradigms for the positive evolution of tem support and/or gain from individual program at the human nature” (p. 31). Appropriate in well-being? With the exception of a brief University of Massachusetts-Amherst. this regard is their citation of Gordon All- chapter by J. Shapiro, on relationships, She contributed the chapter “Working port: “By their own theories of human these questions are not probed. Similarly, With Families With Special Needs ln- nature, have the power of a repeated theme in several chapters is fants and Young Children” to E. - elevating or debasing that same human the value of transcending “lower level” Coppersmith’s Families With a Handi- nature. Debasing assumptions debase individual needs, including physical de- capped Member. human beings; generous assumptions ex- sire, attachments, and self-esteem. Al- alt them” (p. 31). though my Western background and Jay Haley recently commented in his Their search for the highest in human Jewish identification may be showing, I keynote address at the American Asso- potential leads them beyond Western am left uneasy by the notion of tran-. ciation of Marital and Family Therapists’ CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY, 1984, Vol. 29, No. 9 743 Adam, Eve, and Sarah studied by Roger which used data from Adam, Eve, and Brown in the 1960s (where are they Sarah. The mothers were found to provide A Meeting of Minds? now?). The emphasis is on the end feedback not on the syntactic correctness of the Eve-mother dyad. Moerk wishes of the children’s utterances, but rather Robert W. Rieber (Ed.) to accord the mother with the role of on correctness in . It therefore (in collaboration with Gilbert Voyat) teacher. He does not view the mother as comes as somewhat of a surprise that Dialogues on the Psychology of a Chomskian releasing for the Moerk reports that “Eve’s mother re- Language and Thought: Conversations innate Language Acquisition Device with sponds once every 2 minutes with a pos- With , Charles Osgood, which Eve is endowed. Finally, Moerk itive remark about her child’s linguistic , Ulric Neisser manages to squeeze into his title the title productions” (p. 52). This observation, and Marcel Kinsbourne of Brown’s (1973) original, A First Lan- together with estimates based on these New York: Plenum Press, guage. That is what the book is about. samples that some linguistic structures 1983. 173 pp. $19.50 The title of the first table, “The Outlay are modeled for Eve by her mother as of the Computer Card, Enabling a Quite frequently as 33,120 times a month (Ta- Review by Exhaustive Coding of Each Single Utter- ble 14), leads Moerk to conclude that the Martin Huntley ance,” gives the reader an idea of what child receives from her mother sufficient . to expect. The table is exhaustive, if not information for learning language; he be- exhausting. Coded are the sample num- lieves that it is not necessary to propose Robert W. Rieber is professor of psy- chology at the ]ohn Jay College of ber, hour, page number, utterance num- sophisticated built-in constraints in order Criminal lustice of the City University ber, and date/time of the utterance, of to account for the child’s language ac- of New York. His books include Body more substantive interest, also coded are quisition. and Mind. Martin Huntley is visiting episode boundary (whether continuity of One can argue at length with Moerk’s assistant professor in the Department topic is preserved in the utterance), il- work. The theoretical soundness of the of Linguistics at Brown University. He locutionary force (twenty-two catego- coding categories he used can be ques- is interested in the philosophy of lin- ries), the teaching technique used by the tioned. If one is interested in conversa- guistics. mother (thirty-nine categories), and some tional sequences as units of analysis, one grammatical features targeted for analysis might question the usefulness of Moerk’s (including morphological and syntactic approach, which ultimately uses single This book professes to “provide the levels). One has to admire the research- utterances as the building blocks from reader, in the form of a dialogue, answers er’s fortitude in delaying gratification which the larger units are analytically to some of the most important contem- (plus what I consider to be a remarkable constructed. It is refreshing, however, porary issues in the field of psychology feat of , for he often refers to that Moerk draws his conclusions on the of language and thought. . . making the categories solely by their code number, basis of data, so faithfully reported, so viewpoints of leading authorities available which he apparently finds easy, but which transparent and easy to argue with. to both students and scholars’’ (p. 7). Ac- makes parts of the book extremely dif- The book includes a short commentary tually, it contains a series of “dialogues,” ficult to follow). by Donald Baer, who is quite sympathetic each consisting of an exchange between Once the utterances have been coded, to the work, limiting himself to the cau- the editor and one of the following: Noam accurate counts can be made of such tion against drawing inferences about Chomsky, Charles Osgood, Jean Piaget, things as the occurrences of certain causality from correlational data. I would Ulric Neisser, and Marcel Kinsbourne. grammatical structures in the mother’s have preferred to see the primary merit A set of seven questions was submitted speech or the co-occurrence of different of Moerk’s work, its explicitness, capi- in advance to each of these individuals teaching techniques. Moerk reports nu- talized on by the inclusion of a second in an attempt to provide a common merous analyses of differences in the commentary by a critic of the mentalistic framework for the various dialogues. In- conversational content of Eve and her persuasion. cluded were general questions about the mother and of how they change over time. relationship between language acquisi- He goes beyond the description of single References tion and general cognitive development, utterances by describing and speculating Brown, R. (1973). Afirst language. the nature-nurture issue, and the present Cambridge, MA: about the functions of frequently occur- Press. state and future direction of research in ring sequences of functions. He has taken Brown, R., & Hanlon, C. (1970). the area of language and cognition. There advantage of access to something like an Derivational complexity and order of were also more specific questions about electronic spreadsheet of a huge corpus acquisition in child speech. In J. R. the relationship of verbal and nonverbal of utterances. Hayes (Ed.), Cognition and the akoebpment of language (pp. 155-207). behavior, the research on apes and lan- Moerk reports on the frequency with New York: Wiley. guage, and the relevance of the study of which Eve’s mother provides feedback Pinker, S. (1979). Formal models of ’ pathological behavior. on the correctness of her child’s utter- language learning. Cognition, 7, 217- The book provides a platform for the ances. Whether mothers provide such 283. presentation of what are often deeply feedback is important in determining how conflicting views, but in its choice of the to constrain the types of grammars that format of a dialogue based on a common are learnable by children (Pinker, 1979). set of questions, it promises in addition A look at the learnability literature sug- a meeting, and perhaps confrontation, of gests a common acceptance of an earlier competing paradigms. In this respect it study by Brown and Hanlon (1970), does not deliver what it promises.

CONTEMPOkY PSYCHOLOGY, 1984, Vol. 29, No. 9 745 -

* The various contributions are mostly was premised on legal mandates for dialogues in name only. One, that of Pi- HOWSystematic a school-based assessment. The book, al- aget, makes no pretense to being a dia- Behavioral Approach? though suggestive of a behavioral ap- logue. In fact, it cannot all be attributed proach (e.g., Mash & Terdal, 1981). ac- tually incorporates a number of con- to Piaget himself, since much of it is ap- John P. Quirk and John C. Worzbyt ceptual, methodological, and specific parently the development by a “collab- The Assessment of Behavior Problem orator” (presumably Voyat) of Piaget’s Children: A Systematic traditional assessment procedures within sketchy, written answers to the questions. Behavioral Approach a somewhat broad model. Although the other chapters are in dia- Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas, The first part of the book presents an logue form, the editor’s contributions to 1983. 214 pp. $19.75 . overview of the MAS. The following four the dialogue are generally (with the par- sections discuss the modules within the tial exception of that with Chomsky) little system: referral source assessment, sit- more than prompts that guide the con- Review by ’ uational and historical assessment, indi- versation along the lines set by the ques- Thomas R. Kratochwill vidual assessment of a child, and individ- tions. ual educational program development. Accordingly, the book passes up the The authors are afiliated with lndiana In the section on referral source as- opportunity to advance the theoretical University of Pennsyloania. John €! sessment, the authors discuss the impor- debate among the competing positions Quirk is Of the Depart- tance of teacher-parent conferences, as represented here. So, for example, the C. Worzbyt,Of professor of counselor‘Iohn ed- well as conferences with the child. The contributors’ summary dismissals of each ucation and coordinator ofthe Elemen- section on situational and historical as- others’ views (e.g., Chomsky on Piaget, tary School Guidance Program, is au- sessment focuses on observational and p. 38; Osgood on Chomsky, pp. 78-79; thor of Elementary School Guidance: peer assessment. In the section on indi- Piaget on Chomsky, p. 109) are allowed Program Planning, Organization, vidual assessment of the child, the authors to go by without challenge. And there and Implementation. Thomas R. review a five-phase format that purports / are frequent specific claims made that Kratochwill is professor and director to take into account multidimensional could be at least usefully illuminated by of the Program at causation of children’s behavior. Specif- directed challenges from other contrib- the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ically, they note that theetiology of chil- utors. Why, for example, believe that the A past recipient of APA’s Lightner Wit- dren’s behavior can be grouped into five structural characteristics that Chomsky mer Award, he is author of Selective Mutism: Implications for Research and basic areas. (a) problems due to faulty claims to be unique to the “language fac- Treatment. operant conditioning in a child’s envi- ulty’’ (pp. 37-38) are not shared by such ronment, (b) probleqs related to the in- other cognitive systems as those of arith- appropriate influence of anxiety on be- metical and musical competence? And Psychological assessment of children ex- havior, (c) problems related to media- what independent criteria are there for periencing behavior problems within ed- tional factors such as unrealistic identifying “the underlying, prelinguisti- ucational settings is a high priority for perceptions of oneself or others, (d) cally determined, cognitive structures” research and practice. The need for qual- problems related to learning di5culties, (p. 71) that Osgood’s “Naturalness Prin- ity assessment of children’s behavior and (e) problems that involve physiolog- ciple” presupposes can be correlated stems from recognition of the importance ical or neurol~gicalfactors. with sentence surface structures? of psychological services for children, re- Thereafter, the book focuses on the Thus, although the book is interesting cent mandates through federal legislation individual educational plan (IEP) and its 1 as a display of a variety of personal, in- for assessment and psychological/edu- development. Included within this section tellectual styles, .it fails to rise to the cational services, and research advances of the text are such topics as data orga- challenge offered by its format. It is also that cast doubt on some traditional as- nization and analysis, specific develop- very poorly produced. There is no bib- sessment approaches. In The Assessment ment of the EP, and performance mon- liography, despite the fact that there are of Behavior Problem Children Quirk and itoring. The book concludes with some many citations by author and date scat- Worzbyt promise to provide an alterna- examples using the MAS and tered through the text. And there is an tive to some of the major forms of psy-’ various assessment instruments that have inexcusably high incidence of nonsen- chological assessment currently practiced been developed specifically for the MAS. tences, incorrect words, and misspellings, in educational settings. The authors draw At first glance, the book might appear indicating inadequate proofing. (One to problems of linking assess- to have a behavioral orientation (as im- particularly intriguing example from the ment and intervention as well as to the plied in the title), however, its orientation rather sketchy and arbitrary index is the resistance of many professionals to be- is not completely clear after a careful references to “epistemolinguistic,” which havioral assessment procedures in applied reading of the book. To begin with, the turn out to refer to “epistemological” is- settings. book does not review the empirical sues.) m The authors propose a systematic be- knowledge base or even a conceptual havioral approach based on an assessment framework for the behavioral orientation strategy developed and field tested by purported to be used by the authors. them. The approach, called the Modular Currently, the field of behavioral assess- Assessment System (MAS), was developed ment and therapy is quite diverse, in- from their work on assessing children who cluding components of applied behavior were not progressing as rapidly as they analysis, mediational stimulus-response should have in remedial programs, and it approaches, and social learning theory,

746 CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY, 1984, Vol. 29, No. 9