The effect of cognitive role-taking on the classroom behavior of aggressive boys

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of cognitive role-taking training in decreasing aggressive classroom behavior in adolescent male pupils. Thirty males, ages 13-19, identified by their teacher and counselor as aggressive, participated in the study. Students were assessed on four dependent measures including a privileged information role-taking task designed by Flavell et al. (1968), an aggression role-taking task designed for this study, the teacher report form of the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrook, 1980), and observation of each student in his classroom by a trained assistant. Assessment occurred before and after training and was about 12 weeks apart. Assessment data on the dependent measures was gathered using a double-blind procedure in which a trained assistant collected the pretest and posttest data on the measures and the principal investigator conducted the training sessions. The 30 subjects were randomly assigned to training, placebo, and control conditions. The training group met 1 hour a week for 8 weeks and had the opportunity to learn role-taking skills. This was facilitated through structured and unstructured role-taking and role-switching activities and the use of questioning and discussion similar to that employed by Chandler (1973). The placebo group met 1 hour a week for 8 weeks to control for any potential Hawthorne effect. This group participated in telling stories to one another with little interaction and feedback from the investigator. The control group participated in the pretesting and posttesting phases of the study only. Results indicated that of the four dependent variables examined, only performance on the Flavell role-taking was significantly improved for the treatment group. There were also significant negative correlations between pretest scores on the Child Behavior Checklist and the aggression role-taking task and between the classroom observation and the Flavell role-taking task. Implications for conducting research and therapeutic interventions in schools are discussed.