Citation

DiLiberto L, Katz RC, Beauchamp KL, Howells GN. J. Child Fam. Stud. 2002; 11(2): 179-189.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1023/A:1015125625312

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) is a "think aloud" method for examining a person's thought content as it unfolds in the situation. We used the ATSS to investigate the cognitive activity of aggressive and nonaggressive male and female adolescents as they listened to an audiotaped depiction of an ambiguous but provocative interaction with another student. Eighty-one adolescents participated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment. The two factors were gender and aggressive vs. nonaggressive background. Students in the aggressive group had a history of aggressive behavior in the past year that was severe enough to warrant their arrest or suspension from school. Students in the nonaggressive group had no such history. As a secondary measure of anger and aggressiveness, we administered the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2). As predicted, males, compared to females, expressed more aggressive intent on the ATSS. Likewise, aggressive, compared to nonaggressive, adolescents expressed more anger and aggressive intent on the ATSS, as well as more intense feelings of anger, less control over their anger, and a greater tendency to externalize angry feelings on the STAXI-2. As expected, scores on the ATSS were related to scores on the STAXI-2. We concluded that the ATSS is a useful method for assessing cognitive activity that may mediate aggressive behavior in adolescents.