ABSTRACT
Marital research within the social learning tradition began with a strong emphasis on the role of reinforcement (cf. Stuart, 1969) and the patterns of behavior exchange of husbands and wives (cf. Birchler, Weiss, & Vincent, 1975). However, the role of mediating cognitive factors is central to the social learning view of human functioning (Bandura, 1969). Simply stated, an individual does not respond to the environment per se; but rather, the individual responds to his or her perceptions and interpretations of the environment. This position accords well with the dominant perspective in traditional social psychology (Manis, 1977). Accordingly, it is not surprising that as researchers in the marital area have become more interested in cognition they have borrowed extensively from the social psychology literature. Indeed, this is a partnership that remains potentially fruitful for the future.
