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RESEARCH SUMMARY -- AGES 4 TO 12
I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) for Schools
Raising A Thinking Child for Families
Myrna B. Shure, Ph.D
Teachers as Trainers: Preschool/Kindergarten
Children were studied
over a two year period (Shure & Spivack, 1982). In the nursery year, 113
African-American inner-city children (47 boys, 66 girls) were trained, while
106 (50 boys, 56 girls) served as controls. In kindergarten, 69 trained youngsters
were still available, 39 who would receive training both years (15 boys, 24
girls), and 30 (12 boys, 18 girls) who would receive no further training (to
test for holding power). Of the 62 still-available controls, 35 (15 boys, 20
girls) were first trained in kindergarten, and 27 (12 boys, 15 girls) would
constitute the never-trained controls. All four groups were initially comparable
in age, sex distribution, Binet IQ (range, 70 - 147), and teacher-rated behavioral
characteristics.
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Prior to preschool (in the Fall), 36% of the children to be trained were rated
as behaviorally adjusted (not impulsive or inhibited), and 47% of the controls.
Following the intervention in the Spring, 71% of the trained youngsters were
rated adjusted, compared to only 54% of the controls.
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Of the 44 trained children
rated as impulsive prior to the intervention and 39 controls, 50% of the
trained became adjusted compared to only 31 % of the controls.
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Of the 28 initially inhibited
trained children and 17 controls, 75% became adjusted, only 35% controls.
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At six-month follow-up, 71% of the 80 still-remaining
children adjusted at the end of preschool remained adjusted, compared to 42%
of the 65 comparable controls, and one full year later, with 30 trained and
27 nontrained, 77% of the trained retained their adjusted behavior vs. only
30% of the controls.
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Also at six-month follow-up, 25 of 29 (86%) still-available initially rated adjusted
before ICPS training in nursery maintained that adjustment throughout nursery
and at six month follow-up, compared to only 18 of 31 (58%) of comparable controls.
After one full year, at the end of kindergarten, 8 of 9 still-available youngsters initially rated adjusted
maintained that adjustment compared to only 4 of 10 controls. These findings
suggest a preventive as well as an intervention impact of ICPS training in the
nursery year.
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Of the 35 initially adjusted
children first trained in kindergarten and the 27 controls, 83% of those
trained were adjusted following training, only 30% controls. Of 20 trained
youngsters initially showing either impulsive or inhibited behaviors and 16
controls, 70% were rated as adjusted in the Spring (end of kindergarten),
and only 6% controls.
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The behavior gains together with ICPS score gains being in the same children,
suggest that the behavior gains were associated with gains in the trained ICPS
skills, and the gains were not explained by initial IQ nor IQ change. Linkages
were stronger for solution than for consequential thinking in both the preschool
and in the kindergarten, but consequential thinking linked more strongly in
the kindergarten than in the nursery. Perhaps thinking simultaneously of what
to do (now) and what might happen (later) is developmentally more possible at
age five than at age four. The results also suggest that if training were not
conducted in nursery, kindergarten was not too late. The percentage of adjusted
controls tending to decrease by the end of the two year period suggests the
possibility that impact of ICPS intervention can reverse that trend.
Parents as Trainers:
Preschool
Studied were 40 African-American mother-child pairs, twenty of whom received
training and 20 non-trained controls (Shure & Spivack, 1978). The children
were comparable in mean age (4.3), school behavioral adjustment level, and sex
distribution (10 boys, 10 girls per group). All regularly attended federally
funded day-care. To study the maximum impact of ICPS training by mothers on
the behavior of their children, mothers of children displaying school behaviors
classified as impulsive or inhibited were recruited. Training consisted of 3
initially adjusted, 13 impulsive, 4 inhibited, and controls were 4, 12, and
4, respectively.
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71 % of the trained youngsters
moved from an impulsive or inhibited behavioral classification to adjusted,
compared to 31% of the controls.
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Gains in alternative solution
skills linked more strongly with behavior gains than consequential skills -
a finding similar to the 4-year-olds trained by teachers in school.
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Mothers who improved in their own problem solving thinking skills
and applied "ICPS dialogues" when handling real problems at home had
children who most improved in the trained ICPS skills and behaviors.
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The improved behavior of children trained at home generalized to
the school, suggesting that the benefits of acquiring ICPS mediating skills
are not situation specific.
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Teachers and Parents as Trainers:
K/Grade 1: Five-year longitudinal study
A five-year longitudinal
study of children trained in kindergarten, or kindergarten and grade 1, and
followed through grade 4 (Shure, 1993) was the culmination of twenty years of
research to test the ICPS/behavioral mediating hypothesis.
The primary aim was to address long-term effectiveness on cognitive and behavioral
outcomes of two amounts and two forms of program reinforcement (in school and
at home) in the operation of an already validated mass-targeted competence-building
prevention program designed for young children.
Studied were 542 inner-city African-American low SES kindergarten youngsters
(264 boys, 278 girls). Of these, 120 boys and 132 girls remained throughout
the five years of the study.
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Among the 200 boys and 180 girls still remaining at the end of grade1 (first
program assessment), youngsters trained by their teachers in kindergarten, in
kindergarten and 1st grade, and by their teachers in kindergarten and their
mother in 1st grade were, compared to never-trained controls, ahead in both ICPS skills, especially alternative solution skills, and in mean scores on both
positive and negative behaviors, especially those trained two years by their
teachers, and especially as rated by independent observers (on the Achenbach
Direct Observation Form).
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Beginning in grade 2, ratings
by independent observers were more valid than those by teachers or peers.
These ratings showed that among the 162 boys and 162 girls still remaining,
mother-trained girls were the least impulsive, the least inhibited, and
showed the fewest total behavior problems, with the same being true for boys
trained by teachers one or both years.
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In grade 3, with 142 boys, 148 girls still remaining, two-year teacher-trained
boys were the least impulsive and showed the fewest total behavior problems.
Importantly, however, mother-trained boys and girls who most improved in behaviors
were those whose mothers best learned to apply the ICPS dialoguing approach
(involving their child in thinking about what they're doing, and why) when actual problems arose at home.
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In grade 4, now three years after the final training, and with 120
boys and 132 girls still remaining, some dramatic sleeper effects emerged. On
all three factors rated by independent observers -- external (impulsivity),
internal (inhibition), and total problem scores, the two-year trained group
emerged dramatically superior in both boys and girls. Again, in the mother-trained
group, children whose mothers best applied ICPS dialogues were still maintaining
their significant gains at the end of grade 4. |
Teachers as Trainers: Grades 5 and 6
Ninety-two children (47 boys, 45 girls) were studied
in both grades 5 and 6 (Shure, 1984). The primary aims were to study the impact
of interpersonal ICPS training beginning at age 10, in grade 5 as compared to
ICPS training earlier in life, at ages 4 and 5, and to compare ICPS training
with impersonal Piagetian Critical Thinking (CT) skills at that age. Children
trained in grade 5 only or in grades 5 and 6 in either the ICPS or CT groups
were comparable in behavioral adjustment and ICPS test scores prior to the interventions
in grade 5.
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With pretest scores, IQ, and academic ability controlled, ICPS-trained
youngsters gained significantly more than CT-trained controls in the trained
ICPS skills of alternative solutions, consequential thinking, and means-ends
thinking (sequential planning skills), as measured at the end of grade 5, and
maintained those gains through grade 6, especially the two-year trained ICPS
group in alternative solution and means-ends thinking.
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Positive, prosocial behaviors (e.g., liked by others, cares,
shares, cooperates, concerned for the feelings of others in distress), significantly
improved in ICPS- vs. CT-trained youngsters whether rated by teachers, peers,
or independent observers.
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Impulsive peer-rated behaviors as aggression, overemotionality,
and impatience decreased in the two-year ICPS - vs. CT-trained groups by the
end of grade 6 in both sexes, more dramatically in girls.
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Shy peer-rated behaviors were significantly lower in ICPS- than
CT-trained youngsters at the end of grade 6 for both boys and girls.
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Linkage analyses support the notion that ICPS skills, particularly
solution skills are significant mediators of behavior change, especially as
rated by peers, and most powerfully for prosocial behaviors. That is, ICPS-trained
youngsters who most improved in solution skills also most improved in the extent
to which they were liked and sought out by peers, and showed concern for others
in distress.
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While it took only one three-month exposure to decrease negative behaviors in
preschool and kindergarten, it took a repeated exposure (in grades 5 and 6)
to decrease these behaviors in older children. However, some negative behaviors increased in CT-controls from grades 5 to 6, again suggesting a preventive
impact of ICPS intervention.
While it may take longer to affect negative than positive behaviors in older
children, it is not too late for ICPS to have beneficial impact on children's
mental health and early high-risk behaviors at age ten or eleven.
Standardized achievement test scores and reading grade
book levels also improved, suggesting that less stress fostered by ICPS skills
allow children to concentrate better on the task oriented demands of the classroom,
and subsequently, do better in school.
Significance
Impulsivity consists of aggression, and inability
to delay gratification and cope with frustration, significant predictors of
later, more serious problems as violence (a form of hurting others) and substance
abuse (a form of hurting oneself).
Inhibition consists of inability to stand up for one's rights,
and fear and timidity of other children, a significant predictor of later depression
and other forms of mental health dysfunction. ICPS intervention can provide
children with skills to think about how to solve problems when they are very
young, and reduce and prevent these early high-risk behaviors in ways that will
increase their chance of success and social competence in junior high, high
school, and beyond.
References
Shure, M. B. (1984). Problem solving and
mental health of ten- to twelve-year-olds. Final report #35989. Washington, DC: National Institute of Mental Health. See
also Shure, M. B., & Healey, K. N. (1993). Interpersonal problem solving and
prevention in urban 5th and
6th graders. Presented to the American
Psychological Association, Toronto.
Shure, M. B. (1993). Interpersonal problem
solving and prevention. A comprehensive report of research and training. A Five year longitudinal study;
Kindergarten - Grade 4. #MH40871. Washington, DC: National Institute of Mental
Health.
Shure, M. B. & Spivack, G. (1978). In Problem
Solving Techniques in Childrearing, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. See also Shure, M. B., & Spivack, G. (1979).
Interpersonal problem solving thinking and adjustment in the mother-child dyad.
In M. W. Kent and J. E. Rolf (Eds.). Primary Prevention of Psychopathology:
Vol: 3. Social Competence in Children. (pp. 201-219). Hanover, NH: University
Press of New England.
Shure, M. B., & Spivack, G. (1982). Interpersonal
problem-solving in young children: A cognitive approach to prevention. American Journal of Community
Psychology. 10, 341 -356.A
NOTE: All research reported above was conducted
with low-income, primarily African American populations, and funded by the Applied
Research Branch and the Prevention Research Branch, National Institute of Mental
Health.
Research by others nationwide has now replicated the impact of ICPS on a diversity
of lower- and middle-income groups, including Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, Oriental,
and American Indian children, as well as with special needs groups, including ADHD and Asbergers Disorder.
For further information about the research of Shure
and Spivack, as well as others, contact:
Myrna B. Shure, Ph.D
Drexel University
(Formerly MCP Hahnemann)
245 N. 15th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102 |
Ph: (215) 762-7205
Fax: (215) 762-8625
E-mail: mshure@drexel.edu |
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