Use of Programmed Instruction to Improve Communication in Marriage

Author(s): Margaret E. Hickman and Bruce A. Baldwin

Source: The Family Coordinator , Apr., 1971, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Apr., 1971), pp. 121-125
Published by: National Council on Family Relations

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/581905

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Use of Programmed Instruction to
Improve Communication in Marriage*
MAIRGAEr E. HICKMAN AND BRUCE A. BALDWIN**

Thirty couples referred to Conciliation Court because of marital problems

were randomly assigned to three groups: (a) a control group receiving no
treatment; (b) a group receiving eight hours of programmed instruction on
communication in marriage; and (c) a group receiving eight hours of counsel-
ing emphasizing marital communication. Total Semantic Differential scores
were obtained from each couple pretest and posttest, as well as reconciliation
decisions following treatments. Between groups comparisons revealed significant
diferences between control and counseled groups on both criterion variables.
Compared to the control group, the programmed text group changed positively
on these variables, but not significantly. Results were discussed.

Meaningful interpersonal interaction is been recognized as a powerful determi-

an emotionally gratifying experience but nant of the quality of the marriage rela-
nowhere is it as important as in the tionship.
marital relationship. (Winch, 1964) How- Benefits of positive marital communi-
ever, as family size has decreased cation are often prevented by social and
through fewer children and absence of cultural norms which impair develop-
relatives in the living unit, the marriage
ment of open communication. (Hastorf,
relationship has become more vulnerable Schneider, and Polefka, 1970) In many
to communication difficulties. As a con- relationships, self-disclosure is mini-
sequence, the "person" in marriage has mized and the "real" persons involved
assumed more importance in maintain- are scarcely known. (Levinger and Senn,
ing this relationship. 1967) In response to such considerations,
Difficulties in marriage have increas- Fabun (1968) proposed that more em-
phasis be placed on assessment of com-
ingly been viewed as communications
munication processes in troubled rela-
problems and analyzed within that con-
tionships. Harvey (1965) further urged
text. (Bemard, 1964; Raush, Goodrich,
exploration of therapeutic techniques to
and Campbell, 1963; Satir, 1964; Scherz,
marriage.
1962; Smith and Anderson, 1963) Com-
munication is the process by which One promising approach to communi-
things are "made common" between per- cations problems in marriage is through
sons. (Powell, 1969) This process has use of programmed instruction designed
to improve communications skills. Pro-
' Paper based in part on the doctoral dis-
grammed texts are based on sound prin-
sertation of the senior author, Arizona State ciples of learning (Bugelski, 1964), and
University, June 1970. have been successfully used in many con-
"*Margaret E. Hickman, Ph.D., is a psy-tent areas. However, use of programmed
chologist at the Conciliation Court, Superior texts to facilitate communication in mar-
Court Building, 101 West Jefferson St., riage has been relatively unexplored.
Phoenix, Az. 85003. Bruce A. Baldwin, Ph.D., This study was designed to help deter-
is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology, De-
mine the usefulness of a programmed
partment of Psychiatry, University of North
Carolina School of Aledicine, Chapel Hill, text emphasizing communications skills
N.C. 27514. in marriage to influence positively the
April 1971 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR 121

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 marriage relationship. This technique
was contrasted to no treatment and to a
conventional counseling approach to im-
proving communications in marriage.
Method
Subjects
Subjects were 30 couples referred to
the Conciliation Court (Phoenix, Ari-
zona) for help in resolving marital diffi-
culties. The Conciliation Court provides
counseling for troubled couples who pe-
tition the court for these services. All
couples used in this study requested con-
ciliation services and indicated their pri-
mary problem to be "lack of communica-
tion" on their petition form. Couples var-
ied considerably in socio-economic stat-
us, age, years of marriage, and number
of children. No attempt was made to
control the study on these dimensions.
Ten couples were randomly assigned to
each of three groups: (a) the Control
Group; (b) the Programmed Text
Group; and (c) the Counseled Group.
Instruments
Programmed text. Couples in one
group completed a course of pro-
grammed instruction, Improving Com-
munication in Marrriage. (HJu-nan De-
velopment Institute, 1967) This text was
developed specifically to help married
couples understand factors affecting
comimunication and to improve com-
munication between them. The text con-
tained eight programmed lessons, each
requiring about one hour to complete.
Focus of the text was on cognitive ma-
terial about communications processes.
Major areas covered by programmed
lessons included: understanding personal
feelings; the two-way nature of com-
munication; expression and suppression
of feelings; having feelings vs. acting on viewed to obtain information for court
them; direct, indirect and accusative
expression of feelings; and communica-
tion as a developmental process. At in-
tervals, husband and wife were required
to interact in various ways to emphasize
the affective component of communica-
tion.
Semantic Differential. The Semantic
THE FAMILY COORDINATOR Aprfl 1971
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Differential (Osgood, Suci and Tannen-
baum, 1957) was used to assess changes
in meaning in four concepts related to
thef marriacge relationship. The four con-
cepts used were: (a) communication;
(b) uinderstanding; (c) my relation-
ship to mv spotuse; and (d) my spouse's
relationship to me.
The Semantic Differential for each con-
cept contained twelve bipolar adjective
pairs reflecting three areas of meaning:
Evaluation, Potency, and Activity. Each
adjective pair wvas scored on a seven-
point scale between the polar opposites.
The scales which comprised the Semantic
Differential for each concept were:
Evaluation (good:bad, pleasant:unpleas-
ant, clean :dirty, fair:unfair), Potency
(strong: weak, hard: soft, deep: shallow,
wvide:narrow) and Activity (fast:slow,
active:passive, sharp:dull, hot:cold).
An index of the quality of the marital
relationship N7as obtained by totaling Se-
mantic Differential scores for each coU-
ple, (riving r)retest and posttest totals. In-
creases in total scores reflected improved
aLtLittudes toward the marriage relation-
ship. This index of the conjugal relation-
ship was the primary criterion variable.
Reconlciliation agreement. Decision on
reconciliation was obtained from couples
after treatment to corroborate measured
attitude changes on the Semantic Differ-
ential. The Reconciliation Agreement
used by the Conciliation Court (Phoenix,
Arizona) is a document signed by cou-
ples wishing to continue their marriage
following termination of conciliation ser-
vices. This agreement is not signed by
couples deciding to divorce.
Procedure
After assignment to a treatment group,
(ach couple was pretested and inter-
recolrds. Couples were posttested and re-
conciliation decisions were obtained four
weeks later, following treatments.
Three treatment groups were used in
this study. Couples assigned to the Con-
trol Group received no treatment in the
four week interval between pretest and
posttest.
 Couples in the Programmed Text mantic Differential change scores (Ta-
Group came to the Conciliation Courtble 1) indicated a statistically significant
for
one hour twice weekly for four weeks. difference between the Control Group
During each hour, couples completed one and the Counseled Group. (df 18,
of eight lessons in the programmed text, p < .05) Inspection of mean changes for
Improving Communication in Marriage. the treatment groups indicate the Pro-
(Human Development Institute, 1967) grammed Text Group changed more than
Couples worked essentially alone, but un- the Control Group, but less than the
der nominal supervision of a counselor. Counseled Group.
Couples in the Counseled Group came Assessment of post-treatment reconcil-
to the Conciliation Court for one hour iation agreements (Table 2) revealed a
twice weekly for four weeks. During statistically significant difference between
each hour, couples met with a counselor the Control Group and the Counseled
to resolve their communication difficul- Group. (df = 1, p < .05) More couples
ties. The counselor provided direction in in the Programmed Text Group recon-
the counseling sessions and intervened ciled following treatment than in the
when necessary to facilitate the com- Control Group, but this difference was
munication process. not statistically significant.
The counselor working with tlhe Pro- Discussion
grammed Text Group and the Counseled
Increased numbers of troubled mar-
Group was a doctoral candidate in coun-
ried couples seeking help and advances
seling at the Arizona State University.
in educational technology have posed a
This counselor was experienced in facili-
significant question: To what extent can
tating communications processes and in
programmed instruction on communica-
working with married couples.
tion in marriage improve marital rela-
AnalysL of the Results
tionships? Results of this investigation
Pretest to posttest change scores were
suggest that use of a programmed text
computed on Semantic Differential totals
was more effective than no treatment,
and between groups comparisons made
but less effective than counseling. The
using Student's t-test for differences be-
human factor remains as a most impor-
tween independent means. Groups were
tant element in resolving communica-
compared on number of reconciliation
tions difficulties in marriage.
agreements following treatments using
Both the programmed text and coun-
a chi-square technique. (Siegel, 1956)
seling positively influenced couples' at-
Results titudes toward marriage as indicated by
Between groups comparisons of Se- statistically significant increases in Se-
Table 1. Between Group Comparisons of Pretest-Posttest Semantic Differential Change Scores
Group Mean Change Difference t-Ratio
Control 52.40
Programmed Text 92.20 39.80 1.09
Control 52.40
Counseled 171.80 119.40 3.04*
Programmed Text 92.20
Counseled 171.80 79.60 1.78
*P <.05
Table 2. Comparisons Between Groups on Post-Treatment Reconciliation Agreements
Group Reconciliation No Reconciliation x2
Control 3 7
Programmed Text 5 5 0.21
Control 3 7
Counseled 9 1 5.21*
Programmed Text 5 5
Counseled 9 1 2.14

P < .05
April 1971 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR 123

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mantic Differential totals from pretest to shifts in emphasis along the affective-
posttest. (Table 1) In both groups, cou-
ples worked together in treatment for a
total of eight hours. Lack of a neutral
cooperative activity of this duration in
the Control Group has made it difficult
to determine if any of the change in
these groups was due to the effects of
cooperative activity between couples.
However, differences between the Pro-
grammed Text Group and the Counseled
Group did occur, suggesting that treat-
ments did produce substantial effects.
Between group comparisons on both
criterion variables indicated the Control
Group changed least from pretest to
posttest. The Programmed Text Group
changed postively but not significantly,
and the Counseled Group changed sig-
nificantly on both indices when compared
to the Control Group. (Tables 1 and 2)
Several related factors may have con-
tribluted to stronger changes in the Coun- native.
seled Group than in the Programmed
Text Group.
A balance of both cognitive and affec-
tive elements is necessary in any effective
communication between persons. (Bordin,
1955) In the Programmed Text Group
and the Counseled Group, both ele-
ments were available to couples, but in
somewhat different contexts. In counsel-
ing, the counselor utilized verbal and
non-verbal cues and responded to either
cognitive or affective components to fa-
cilitate the communication process. In
contrast, the programmed instruction
presented couples with a more struc-
tured cognitively-oriented communica-
tions training. At times, text instructions
required couples to explore affective ele-
ments in their communication, but choice
was left with couples at these points.
It is known that many difficulties in
communications processes in marriage
result from de-emphasis of the affective
components of communication. Choice in
exploration of affective elements in the
Programmed Text Group may have en-
abled couples to avoid confronting many
key mechanisms necessary to rebuild
sound communication. In counseling, the
adaptibility of the counselor permitted
124 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR April 1971
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cognitive continuum. These shifts in re-
sponse to various cues helped couples fo-
cus on problem areas in their communi-
cation, and decreased the effectiveness
of avoidance mechanisms.
In summary, this study provided evi-
dence that a programmed text on com-
munication and counseling both produce
positive attitude changes in couples to-
ward their marriage, and in decisions to
reconcile the marriage. However, the
programmed text was less effective than
counseling in producing change in the
two criterion variables used. The reasons
for these effects must be defined in detail
before the full implications of pro-
grammed texts in this area can be as-
sessed. In view of these findings, it is
suggested that programmed texts may
be effective as an ancillary technique in
marriage counseling, but not as an alter-
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Bernard, J. The Adjustment of Married Mates.
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Bordin, E. S. Psychological Counseling. New
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Bugelski, B. R. The Psychology of Learning
Applied to Teaching. New York: Bobbs-
Merrill, 1964.
Fabun, D. Communications: The Transfer of
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1968.
Harvey, L. H. Communication, Interaction and
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Australian Journal of Social Issues, 1965, 2
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Hastorf, A. H., D. J. Schneider, and J. Polefka.
Person Perception. Reading, Mass.: Addison-
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Human Development Institute. Improving
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Atlanta: HDI, 1967.
Levinger, G. and D. J. Senn. Disclosure of
Feelings in Marriage. Merrill-Palmer Quar-
terly, 1967, 18, 237-249.
Osgood, C. E., C. J. Suci, and P. H. Tannen-
baum. The Measurement of Meaning.
Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press,
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Powell, J. Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who
I Am? Chicago: Argus Communications,
1969.
Raush, H. L., W. Goodrich, and J. D. Camp-
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Satir, V. M. Conjoint Family Therapy. Palo
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Scherz, F. H. Multiple-Client Intervieving:
Treatment Implications. Social Casework,
1962, 43, 11-16.
Siegel, S. Nonparametric Statistics for the Be-
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Marriage in the Middle Years

Problems faced in the middle years are discussed in a new Public Affairs
Pamphlet, Marriage and Love in the Middle Years, by James A. Peterson.
Based on the author's book Married Love in the Aliddle Years, the pamphlet
utilizes case illustrations typical of couples he has counseled to outline some
of the psychological and physiological changes men and women must cope
with during that part of life. The pamphlet covers such matters as the impor-
tance of sexual success for both men and women in the middle years, alterna-
tives to alienation between husband and wife, and working out conflicts be-
tween generations. Publication number 456 in the pamphlet series, Marriage
and Love in the Middle Years is available for 25 cents from the Public Affairs
Committee, 381 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016.

Future Meetings

Annual meetings of the American Home Economics Association through 1973

are:

1971-Denver, Colorado, June 28-July 2

1972-Detroit, Michigan, June 26-30

1973-Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 25-29

Contact person is Dr. Doris E. Hanson, AHEA Executive Director, 1600

Twentieth Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20009.

April 1971 THE FAMILY COORDINATOR 125

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