Assessment of Social Information Processing in Early Childhood: Development and Initial Validation of the Schultz Test of Emotion Processing—Preliminary Version

Abstract

Crick and Dodge's (Psychological Bulletin 115:74-101, 1994) social information processing model has proven very useful in guiding research focused on aggressive and peer-rejected children's social-cognitive functioning. Its application to early childhood, however, has been much more limited. The present study responds to this gap by developing and validating a video-based assessment tool appropriate for early childhood, the Schultz Test of Emotion Processing-Preliminary Version (STEP-P). One hundred twenty-five Head Start preschool children participated in the study. More socially competent children more frequently attributed sadness to the victims of provocation and labeled aggressive behaviors as both morally unacceptable and less likely to lead to positive outcomes. More socially competent girls labeled others' emotions more accurately. More disruptive children more frequently produced physically aggressive solutions to social provocations, and more disruptive boys less frequently interpreted social provocations as accidental. The STEP-P holds promise as an assessment tool that assesses knowledge structures related to the SIP model in early childhood.

Impact of Short-term Training in Social Cognition in Preschoolers with Externalizing Behavior

“…The SIP training session used two sets of materials: stories illustrating social situations with bears from the "Social Information Processing Interview for Pre-schoolers" (SIPI-P, Ziv & Sorongon, 2011) and video-based SIP illustrating social situations from the "Schultz Test of Emotion Processing-Preliminary Version" (STEP-P, Schultz et al, 2010).…”

“…The goal acquisition category contained videos in which children attempted to attain a goal. The emotions category contained videos in which either an emotion-eliciting event occurred or a child displayed emotion-related behavior (Schultz et al, 2010). Each child in the SIP group was presented with one story from SIPI-P and three videos from STEP-P.…”

Assessment of disruptive behavior disorders: Tools and recommendations.

“…This may lead to a more aggressive response than if the child believed it happened by accident. Clinicians may use the computer-based Schedules for the Assessment of Social Intelligence (Skuse, Lawrence, & Tang, 2005) or the DVD-based Schultz Test of Emotion Processing-Preliminary Version (Schultz et al, 2010) to assess for social cognition.…”

New Developments in Developmental Research on Social Information Processing and Antisocial Behavior

“…This is contrary to several hypotheses that frame RED processing as a stage of SIP that is likely highly susceptible to emotional experiences (e.g., Fontaine 2008a; Fontaine and Dodge 2006;Lemerise and Dodge 1993). Schultz et al (2010/In press, this issue) also focused on the role of emotion in the development of SIP. In this study, the question of how young children process and understand others' emotions was explored.…”