The diachronic approach and solutions to interpersonal conflicts

Abstract

The diachronic approach consists of considering a phenomenon as a stage in an evolutive process. The authors postulate that this approach plays a role at the level of everyday thinking in the discovery of solutions to problems. The present experiment aims at studying the relationships between levels of the diachronic approach in children and their ability to imagine solutions to a conflict between children. Sixty children aged 8 to 12 years were presented first with tasks assessing their level of diachronic tendency (propensity to evoke past or future stages of a present situation), of dissociation of two temporal sequences (absence of covariation of a cause and its delayed effect) and of dynamic synthesis (ability to describe a set of pictures representing the successive steps of an event by a single noun phrase). During a second session, the participants were presented with a drawing representing two boys fighting in the playground and they were asked to explain the reasons for the fight. Participants then had to imagine several solutions to prevent the two boys fighting. Results showed a development in the ability to imagine solutions to a conflict and a significant correlation between the levels of this development and the levels of two aspects of the diachronic approach.

Autobiographical Memory and Social Problem-solving in Asperger Syndrome

“…It has been suggested that difficulties in ''time travel'' are characteristic of autism (Suddendorf & Corballis, 1997), indeed Boucher (1999) suggests that this deficit may be, in part, a causal factor since an inability to represent temporal experience would impair a continuing sense and understanding of self and others. The findings here support this proposition and are in line with Montangero et al (2000) who have found this ability to be positively related to conflict resolution in children. Channon et al (2001) suggest that the problemsolving difficulties faced by individuals with Asperger syndrome may be a result of limited knowledge stores of prior problem solutions or due to problems in accessing prior knowledge.…”

“…The attempt here was to capture some element of the ability to adopt a diachronic approach (cf. Montangero, Pons, & Cattin, 2000) where actions are inserted within a time period rather than just considered in the here and now.…”

Temporal Cognition in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Tests of Diachronic Thinking

“…The materials used in the study were identical to those used in previous studies of diachronic thinking in typically developing children (Maurice-Naville & Montangero & Parrat-Dayan, 1992;Tryphon & Montangero, 1992; a Raw scores of 29 and 27 convert to age equivalents of 9;9 and 9;3, respectively; scores of 26 and 24 convert to age equivalents of 9;00 and 8;06 b Raw scores of 90 and 88 convert to age equivalents of 8;10 and 8;8, respectively, scores of 83 and 90 convert to age equivalents of 8;01 and 8;10 1995; Montangero et al, 1996Montangero et al, , 2000Pons & Montangero, 1999;. The procedures were also closely similar.…”

“…In typically developing children, Tendency develops slowly but steadily between the ages of 7;0 and 12;0 years. Thus, a majority of 7;0 years old describe an object or situation only as it is at the present moment, whereas most 12;0-year-old children make reference to past and/or future states of the object or situation (Montangero & ParratDayan, 1992;Montangero & Pons, 1995;Montangero, Pons, & Cattin, 2000;Pons, Montangero, Quadir, & Bazan, 2002).…”

“…Typically developing children develop the capacity for diachronic Synthesis between the ages of 7;0 and 12;0 years, as is the case for the diachronic Tendency. Synthesis is only rarely seen in 7;0 years old, but is observed in the majority of 12;0-year-old children (Montangero & Parrat-Dayan, 1992;Pons & Montangero, 1999;Montangero et al, 2000). Diachronic thinking appears to be a relatively specific cognitive ability, in that performances on tests of Tendency, Transformation and Synthesis are correlated with each other, but do not relate strongly to measures of general intelligence in typically developing children (Pons & Montangero, 1999).…”