The relationship between family interaction and the psychological functioning of individual family members has been a productive area of research for several decades. However, most of this research has attempted to associate specific family behaviors with children's psychiatric hospitalization, delinquency,

Two experiments were conducted to examine the interrelation of the attributional principles of covariation, discounting, and augmentation. In Experiment 1 the presence (vs. absence) of covariation information was manipulated orthogonally to the number of plausible causes for an effect (one vs. two). In Experiment 2 the number of plausible causes for an effect (one vs. two) was manipulated orthogonally to the presence (vs. absence) of an inhibitory factor. The major findings of this research were interpreted to mean that the covariation principle may be appHed concomitantly with the discounting principle and that the latter principle pertains to a different aspect of the attributional process than does the augmentation principle. Implications of these findings for the further development of attribution theory were considered.Attribution theory (Kelley, 1967) is concerned with the manner in which persons analyze cause-effect relations. Kelley (1971) has suggested that in carrying out such analyses the naive attributor rehes on a number of principles. The purpose of the research reported herein was to clarify the theoretical relations among three such principles, covariation, discounting, and augmentation, and to explicate the role of each principle in the attribution process. Covariation and DiscountingThe covariation principle states that "an effect is attributed to the one of its possible causes with which, over time, it covaries"

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Therapeutic hours conducted by analytically oriented, experientially oriented, and nonprofessional ("inherently helpful" college professors) therapists were rated along eight process dimensions-therapist exploration, therapist directiveness, feeling attention, task orientation, therapeutic relationship, patient exploration, patient negativism, and patient psychic distress. Between-group differences were obtained on six of the eight dimensions. Only patient negativism and patient exploration failed to yield significant effects. These results substantially replicated the findings of previous analogue investigations.Although nonprofessional therapists often assume major responsibilities for mental health care, little is known about how the untrained but "inherently helpful" nonprofessional conducts therapy. In simulated interviews, untrained "therapists" tend to make directive interventions rather than exploring patients' feelings or experiences (cf. D'Augelli, Danish, Si Brock, 1976). Nonetheless, in similar mock interactions, nonprofessionals (e.g., untrained college students; Pope, Nudler, VonKorff, & McGee, 1974) were as warm, genuine, and empathic as experienced therapists. Indeed, the interviewees felt more accepted and were less anxious in interviews with nonprofessional, as opposed to professional, therapists.Previous discussions of professional-nonprofessional differences have not taken into account the effects of therapists' theoretical orientations. However, evidence from surveys of therapists' self-described techniques (cf. Sundland & Barker, 1962) and from studies of therapists' responses in analogue interviews (cf. Strupp, I960) suggests that analytically oriented therapists rely on interpretive techniques, whereas Rogerian or experiential therapists focus on establishing warm, personal relationships.