The Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Social Abilities in Childhood: A Research on Flexibility in Thinking and Co-operation with Peers

Abstract

This research is the first part of a project on the relationship between cognitive and social abilities in childhood, with special attention on the analysis of the relationship between ‘exibility in thinking and co-operative versus competitive solutions of social conflicts with peers. Flexibility is defined as the ability to suppress a response in order to ”nd a new one. The hypothesis is that the more ‘exible children are the more able they are to detach themselves from the conflict situation and more able to consider it in an integrated way—therefore they are more able to ”nd a co-operative solution. We studied a sample of 152 7-year-old children. In this research, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task was used for the evaluation of ‘exibility in thinking. To evaluate co-operative and competitive behaviour, an interactive drawing task was used, where children were asked to draw together with tied pencils. Two children, of the same sex and of the same level (high or low) of ‘exibility, were put to work together in the interactive task. Results confirm the hypothesis, and indicate that the more ‘exible children are the more able they are to co-operate with their peers, to take turns, and to verbalise about other topics not related to the task