Effect of Cognitive Modelling on Impulsive Behaviour Among Primary School Children

Abstract

Restlessness has been associated with childhood developmental behaviour. Some children outlive this behaviour while in others, it persist and becomes a problem that prevents them from fulfilling their potentials. If such developmental behaviours are identified early they can be modified, otherwise they develop into serious disorders. Impulsive behaviour is a pervasive characteristic of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), which is known to interfere with successful learning. The present study assessed a cognitive modelling procedure for modifying impulsivity among children. Fifty-four pupils aged between nine and thirteen years were assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment group received training in cognitive modelling with reflective thinking practices, and the control group was given a placebo in reading comprehension in English. Results revealed superiority in response-time and accuracy (to the Matching Familiar Figures Test- 20) of the treatment group over the control group. This result subsisted at one month follow-up measures. It is suggested that the school in collaboration with educational psychologists should establish remedial programmes in which reflective procedures could be employed to nurture impulsive children to approach cognitive tasks reflectively.