Aspects of attention that affect compliance and general behavior in disruptive and typical children

Currently, there is some controversy concerning whether praise affects compliance and behavior other than compliance (i.e., general behavior) in children with disruptive behaviors. It is unclear whether it is praise or other aspects of general attention, such as descriptions and enthusiasm, that influences children's behavior. The current study examined the effects of enthusiastic praise, non-enthusiastic praise, and non-enthusiastic description on child compliance (measured by the Compliance Test) and general behavior (measured by the Marble-in-the-Hole Game) in 15 children with disruptive behavior problems and 15 typical children. Results indicated that the participants had significantly higher rates of compliance in the non-enthusiastic description condition than in the enthusiastic praise condition across groups. In addition, participants had significantly higher rates of general behavior in the enthusiastic praise condition than in the non-enthusiastic description condition across groups. Results are discussed with regard to the effectiveness of the different types of attention used in different situations.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2000

Author dc:creator

• Filcheck, Holly Ann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cheryl B. McNeil.
• Christina Adams
• Stanley Cohen

• Clinical psychology
• Behavioral psychology

Identifier

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/867

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1870