NEO-COGNITIVE LEARNING-THEORY - IMPLICATIONS FOR PREVENTION AND EARLYINTERVENTION STRATEGIES WITH AT-RISK YOUTH

A new perspective has emerged in psychological learning theory which p rovides a more precise understanding of the relationship between cogni tion, emotion, and delinquent behavior. These new assumptions about le arning have now been formalized in the literature as neo-cognitive lea rning theory. The objectives of the present paper are to describe the theory's major principles and assumptions, cite contemporary research evidence which supports each assumption of this new perspective, disti nguish how this model of learning offers a significant advance over fi rst-generation cognitive and reciprocal social learning models of devi ance, and discuss the implications of the neo-cognitive learning persp ective for prevention and early intervention strategies with at-risk y outh.