RASMUSSEN, PAUL RONALD.

This thesis explored relationships between aggression
in elementary school children and two classes of social
cognitions that might influence children's decisions about
whether to behave aggressively. A first study compared
aggressive and nonaggressive children's perceptions of
their abilities to perform aggression and related behaviors
(or their "perceptions of self-efficacy" for the.:se behaviors).
Compared to nonaggressive children, aggressive subjects
reported that it is easier to perform aggression and more
difficult to inhibit aggression, but they did not differ in
reported ease of performing prosocial behavior or engaging
in verbal persuasion. A second study compared aggressive
and nonaggressive children's beliefs about the reinforcing
and punishing consequences of aggression (or their "response-outcome
expectations"). Aggressive children were more
confident that aggression would produce tangible rewards
and reduce aversive treatment. It was suggested that cognitive
models of aggression, such as that proposed by Dodge, may
profit from inclusion of concepts from cognitive social
learning theory.