Solution expectations and behavior planning at interpersonal problem situations in students with Attentional Dysfunction in Gran Mendoza - Argentina

MADDIO, SILVINA; ISON , MIRTA; DE LUCÍA, MARÍA CLARA

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Congreso; 2008 Mid- Year Meeting of the internacional Neuropsychological Society - VIII SONEPSA Meeting; 2008

International Neuropsychological Society - Sociedad de Neuropsicología de Argentina

The attentional mechanism is the one in charge of controlling cognition and action in children. The continuing difficulty to sustain attention is called attentional disfunction (AD). It influences students’ executive functioning, especially those cognitive skills involved in interpersonal problem solving, such as planning actions to ensure the achievement of goals (Ison and col. 2007). We can define solution expectations as the events the child expects will happen in order to solve the interpersonal conflict. Based on what we stated above, two goals were set in the present work: a) to compare the types of solution expectations and behavior planning among students with attentional disfunction (AD) and with no AD at conflictive interpersonal situations and b) to compare accordance rising between the presented solution expectations and the planned courses of action to solve interpersonal problems among children with and without AD. The sample was composed of 80 students aged between 8 and 10 years of age attending public and urban elementary schools in Mendoza, Argentina. The sample was divided into two subgroups, being n= 40 children with AD and n= 40 children with no AD. It was an exploratory descriptive study. The results of the present study could identify cognitive skills that would need intervention in children with AD, and would contribute to the design of cognitive strategies for the promotion of interpersonal skills in boys and girls.