
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993                   TAG: 9309220312
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By SANDY ROVNER THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STUDY TARGETS PRESCHOOLERS' AGGRESSION

Little boys who can't wait for a treat or reward for less than two minutes are most likely to have behavior problems in school later on, a study by a University of Michigan psychologist has shown.

Sheryl L. Olson, an associate professor of clinical psychology, found that of all impulse control problems in boys ages 41/2 to 5, that of ``delay of gratification'' was the strongest predictor of later problems.

Previous studies have indicated that about half of aggressive preschool boys will carry their aggressions into elementary school. In her study, Olson set out to distinguish just which characteristics will predict later behavior.

She examined a group of 79 children (47 boys and 32 girls), assessing them when they were in preschool and again the following year in kindergarten. She tested them for a series of self-regulation skills, such as having them walk very slowly down an imaginary sidewalk, do puzzles requiring sustained attention and having their teachers rate them for aggression and anxiety.

In the ``delay of gratification'' test, the children sat at a table with the examiner and were given a ``very boring puzzle task to do,'' Olson said. Before the puzzle is started, ``the examiner brings out a brightly wrapped present and tells the child it's his ... but a little later,'' Olson said. Then the examiner puts the present just out of reach, and the child begins the puzzle. ``It's only 90 seconds,'' said Olson, ``not really torture, but the test is whether the child grabs the gift before he finishes.''

One child, she said, ``grabbed the present after a couple of seconds and ran like the wind and hid in a bathroom stall.'' She added that it is not uncommon at any age - like the adult who grabs the Haagen-Dazs without waiting to consider the consequences.

This impatience is not predictive in little girls, she said, for whom it is usually more of a developmental problem they will outgrow. She speculated that the more patient children had a ``clearer understanding of social rules and an understanding of implicit adult expectations.''

The report was published this summer in the Journal of Clinical Child Psychology.

by CNB