The effect of simulation exercises on the control of aggressive behaviour in children

Abstract.— The subjects consisted of two. matched, extremely aggressive (experimental = ExG and control = CoG) groups of twelve 8–year-old boys. and of one criterion group (CrG) of extrovert, well-controlled boys. Video-tape recording of behaviour was used both in pretest (T₁) and post-test (T₂). Between T₁ and T₂ the ExG was submitted to simulation exercises of 8 lessons given in a period of four weeks. The exercises consisted in social problem solutions on the purely cognitive (imaginary and symbolic) level and in role-playing (behavioral level). The hypothesis was that the combination of cognitive training and observational learning with the aim of making children realise alternatives to aggression in coping with thwarting situations and their after-effects. would influence individuals with strong aggressive habits to abandon theiraggressive reactions in favour of more constructive behaviour. As to aggression, the results supported the hypothesis. For constructive behaviour, (1) the ExG maintained the samelevel of control of social behaviour in T₁ and T₂, while a significant drop occurred in the GoC, and (2) the strategies of problem solution improved significantly in the ExG. In T₂, the behaviour of the ExG resembled more closely that of the CoG than the behaviour of the CrG, as hypothesized.