Children's recall of aggressive and withdrawn behaviors: recognition memory and likability judgments

This study examined children's recognition memory for descriptions of maladjusted behaviors displayed by hypothetical peers. 144 first-, third-, fifth-, and seventh-grade children (mean ages 6.4, 8.4, 10.5, and 12.5 years, respectively) listened to descriptions of hypothetical aggressive, withdrawn, and nonmaladjusted peers, following which they were asked to identify these descriptions from among a second list of descriptions. The children were also asked about the desirability of these hypothetical peers as friends. Whereas children accurately identified the aggressive and nonmaladjusted descriptors at all grade levels, only at grades 5 and 7 were they equally accurate for withdrawal descriptors. Across grade, they also showed an increasing tendency to identify erroneously novel withdrawal and aggression items, but not nonmaladjusted items, as previously displayed by the hypothetical peer. Finally, whereas the aggressive character was low in likability at all grades, the withdrawn character was viewed as increasingly less likable as grade increased. The relevance of these findings to children's peer assessments of aggression and withdrawal is discussed.