Methods, results, and evaluation of research in average evoked potentials.

Of all concepts used by family therapists, the family development framework is among the least studied, in spite of its relevance to understanding spontaneous family change and to facilitating therapeutic intervention. The notion that a "developmental difficulty" underlies the appearance of clinical symptoms has become a time-honored tradition in family therapy just as it has been in individual therapy. Yet, unlike the well-established and well-researched models of child and adult development, those in family development are rudimentary. Despite increasing interest in the family life cycle as a framework for family therapy, relatively little has been done to elucidate the specific dimensions and processes of spontaneous and therapeutically-induced change over the family life cycle. This volume gathers original contributions of some of the most prominent family theorists, researchers, and clinicians of our time to improve our understanding of these important and hitherto neglected domains. The book opens with a comprehensive overview by the editor that outlines contributions to the family life cycle framework from family sociology, and crisis theory. This is followed by a comparative analysis of developmental thinking, explicit or implicit, in the theory and interventions of the major family therapy approaches. Then divided into four parts, FAMILY TRANSITIONS introduces new conceptual models that integrate the temporality of the life cycle approach with systems theory.By their very nature, these models cut across therapeutic orientations and have important clinical applications. In Part II, family therapy's views of development are freed from the confines of the therapist's office, and placed in the context of other disciplines. Chapters provide analysis of changing--or static--sociocultural values that can affect conceptions of development; potential misuse of the concept of "cultural identity" in health, mental health, and education; how "family identity" operates as a vehicle for cultural transmission over generations; and family therapists assumptions about women's development. The role of expected and unexpected events in the family life cycle is the focus of Part III. Chapters on clinical approaches geared to dislocations of life cycle occurrences due to unexpected crises, chronic illnesses, loss, or drug abuse provide illustrations of interventions that utilize, enhance, or potentially detract from the family's developmental flow. Part IV explores the articulation of the life cycle framework within four major family therapy orientations: intergenerational, structural, systemic, and symbolic-experiential. Each of these chapters endeavors to elucidate: what is the place of family development in each orientation; concepts of continuity and change; use of the concept of stages, transitions, or developmental tasks; the specific dimensions that change in most families over time; and the links between family dysfunction and life cycle issues. Finally, each chapter illustrates through clinical example assessment strategies, formulation of treatment goals and interventions as these emerge from a particular life cycle model. FAMILY TRANSITIONS presents a significant advance in our understanding of functional and dysfunctional family development and offers a range of interventions to promote developmental change. It is an invaluable resource for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors that will also interest human development professionals, family sociologists, and family researchers. FAMILY TRANSITIONS can serve as a developmentally oriented textbook for teaching family therapy in academic and professional settings.

From August 25 - 28, 1978 a conference on averaged evoked po tentials was held at Konstanz, West Germany. Research on human evoked potentials has progressed rapidly in the past decade, and a series of international conferences have served to maintain com munication between active workers in the field. Among the organiza tions that have a tradition of supporting such mUlti-national com munication are the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Scientific Affairs Division, the u.s. Office of Naval Research and the German Research Society (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). We have been fortunate to have the support of all three. In the early stages of planning, a committee was formed composed of Professors Rudolph Cohen (Konstanz), Otto Creutzfeldt (Goettingen), John Desmedt (Brussels), A.M. Halliday (London), Anthony Remond (Paris) and Herbert Vaughan (New York). A call for papers was circulated as widely as possible, and this committee carried out the difficult task of selecting a limited number of participants from a large number of excellent abstracts. At the same time Professor Cohen of the University of Konstanz was generous enough to shoulder the task of playing host to the conference. His thoughtful arrangements contributed enormously to the comfort of the participants. He and his colleagues also engi neered an ideal ambience for sharing of ideas and observations, while the University of Konstanz generously provided audio-visual support.