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Attention and social problem solving as correlates of aggression in preschool males

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Abstract

This study examined the relationship between two cognitive processing variables-attention and social problem solving-and aggression in preschoolage boys. The 43 participants were administered two selective attention tasks that assess children's tendency to focus on aggressive versus cooperative social situations, the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving Test developed by Shure and Spivack, and the information and block design subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Aggressive behavior was measured by teacher ratings and observational data. Results indicated that, in contrast to their nonaggressive peers, aggressive preschool boys tend to focus their attention on aggressive social interactions in their environment. They also provide aggressive solutions to hypothetical interpersonal conflict situations more often than their less aggressive peers. Intelligence does not appear to play a mediating role in these relationships. Implications of these results for understanding and remediating aggressive behavior in young boys are discussed.

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This study is based upon data collected as part of the author's doctoral dissertation submitted to the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. It was supported, in part, by a Bush Fellowship from the University of Minnesota. I would like to thank the parents, teachers, and children of the New Life Day Care and Joyce Child Care Centers in Minneapolis, and the Jack and Jill Preschool and Children's Home Society Day Care in St. Paul for their cooperation. I would also like to thank Judith List, Michael Reiner, and David Michell for help in stimulus preparation; Sally Westby, Andrea Easter, and Allyson Pearling for help with data collection; and W. Andrew Collins and Daniel Keating for their assistance throughout the study.

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Gouze, K.R. Attention and social problem solving as correlates of aggression in preschool males. J Abnorm Child Psychol 15, 181–197 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916348

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916348

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