Krystal feels we are using archaic models in our attempts to develop an object relations theory. He believes that many of our assumptions about early object relationships do not take into account the current status of the theory of affect development and general information processing provided by modern cognitive theorists. “Affect tolerance represents the means of maintaining one's affective responses in the bearable range of intensity, so that the optimal information processing can take place.” In a far-ranging fashion, he discusses how these concepts of affect tolerance development and information processing affect the development of object relationships. He focuses on the infant's and mother's abilities to regulate negative affects as primarily important in information processing, which he sees as essential to the development of object relationships.