The regressive effects of frustration upon the concrete reasoning ability of seven and eight-year-old-boys.
Forty-four seven- to eight-year-old boys were divided randomly into a experimental group and a contro group. All children took Forms A and B of the Concrete Reasoning Test as arranged by Siegelman and Block (12) and originally constructed by Smedslund (13). In the experimental group, each boy took Form A first and then was told that he could win a prize, which he selected from several items offered, if he could put together an easy puzzle (which was difficult in actuality). Each boy was given three minutes to work on the puzzle and was then given Form B. After each item he was allowed to work again on the puzzle for three more minutes. The individuals in the control group followed the same procedures, except that they had a much easier task to perform. It was hypothesized that (a) frustrated boys at a high level of concrete reasoning ability will regress less than frustrated boys at a lower level with the exception that (b) boys in the transitional period of thinking will regress more than those who are not, and (c) those boys who are frustrated will tend to regress more than those who are not. The results supported all of these hypotheses.
D000818:Animals; D001076:Aptitude; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D003423:Critical Period, Psychological; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005639:Frustration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D013732:Test Anxiety Scale