Date of Award

1991

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Social.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The interest in the present study was on examining the relationship between affective decoding and maladaptive behavior patterns in the classroom. Six- and ten-year-old externalizing boys and controls (classified using the Teacher's Report Form of the Child Behavior Checklist; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1986) were compared on their ability to decode nonverbal signals of emotion as measured by the DANVA (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy Scale; Nowicki & Duke, 1989). Subjects were also compared on their interpretations of various facial expressions (happy, angry, neutral) depicted by a "teacher" to examine whether interpreting anger/hostility by such boys is related to: (1) their expectations regarding their own compliance behavior in hypothetical classroom situations and (2) teacher reports of the subjects' typical compliance behavior in the classroom. Using Multivariate Analyses of Variance, no differences were found between externalizers and controls in performance on the DANVA subtests, which included decoding of facial expressions, gestures, postures, and tone of voice reflecting the emotions of happiness, anger, sadness, and fear (p $>$.05). Older boys, though, were generally found to be more accurate at decoding than younger subjects (p $<$.05). Differences were found between externalizers and controls in the decoding of neutral facial expressions of emotion depicted by a teacher. Specifically, Fisher Exact Test analyses indicated that externalizing boys were more likely than controls to attribute anger/hostility than other emotions to a neutral expression from a female teacher, and 10-year-old externalizing boys were significantly more likely than controls to say they would act in a noncompliant (versus compliant) manner in response (p $<$.05). The findings were discussed within the framework of Dodge's (1986) model which articulates a five-step relationship between social information processing and social behavior.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1991 .Z355. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: B, page: 5008. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1991.

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