COGNITIVE-STYLE AND PROBLEM BEHAVIOR IN BOYS REFERRED TO RESIDENTIAL SPECIAL SCHOOLS

Background. The paper considers aberrant behaviour in the context of c ognitive style with reference to both diagnosis and treatment. Aims. T he aims of the study were to investigate whether the style of pupils w ith behaviour problems was different from that of children with no rep orted problems, and also to consider how pupils of different style man ifested their problem behaviours. Sample. The sample comprised 83 male pupils aged 10-18 years from two residential special schools. Method. The sample were given the Cognitive Styles Analysis to assess their p ositions on the Wholist-Analytic and Verbal-Imagery style dimensions. The pupil records of the special school pupils who were at the extreme of the style dimensions were also examined. Results. When their style characteristics were contrasted with a Comparison Sample of 413 12-16 -year-old males attending 10 secondary schools, the special school pup ils had a significantly higher proportion of both Wholists and Verbali sers, than the Comparison Group. Further, the inspection of the record s indicated that the types of social behaviour and behaviour problems exhibited varied with style, and particularly on the Wholist-Analytic dimension. Conclusion. We results were considered to have implications for the origins and treatment of problem behaviour.