THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENCODING ABILITY AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR.

Abstract

While past research efforts have reported a relationship between encoding ability and aggressive behavior in children, the relationship between encoding ability and adult aggressiveness has not been examined. Encoding, an element of attention, refers to the ability to recall and reorder information stored in memory. Using selected cognitive tests and a self-report measure of aggressive behavior in a sample of community college students (n=55), this study investigated the relationship between encoding ability and aggressive behavior, (i.e., physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, hostility, indirect aggression, and total aggression). Aggressive behavior was assessed by the Aggression Questionnaire of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, a widely-used measure of aggressive behavior. Encoding was measured using the WAIS-III Digit Span and Arithmetic subtests. Initial analyses showed no significant correlations between the cognitive measures and the five scales of aggressive behavior. However, there was a significant age-related association between scores on the cognitive measures and the indices of aggressive behavior. Two groups were created, those who reported attention problems and those who did not report attention problems. When the two groups were compared, participants who had a history of attention problems were verbally more aggressive than participants with a negative history of attention problems, and they were generally more aggressive. A composite score, called an "encoding score," was related to scores on the aggressive behavior scales. Moreover, the age-related relationship between these two variables suggests that the relationship is maturational and may disappear as an individual ages. Concerning the latter, participants in the current study were enrolled in junior college. Therefore, persons who had attention problems and were aggressive may not have pursued higher education.