The primary aim of this research is to develop a laboratory paradigm to observe the normative development of anger expression in peer interaction during middle childhood. Child participants (2nd, 4th, and 6th graders) will interact with a same- sex peer confederate in the context of a computer game which is programmed to give the advantage to the confederate child. Child actors will be trained to make a standard set of provoking remarks as they win rounds of the game, and subjects' facial and verbal responses to the provocation will be monitored. Preliminary research (Underwood, 1993) indicated that the paradigm was successful in inducing a mild degree of anger, and that reliable coding systems could be developed to assess subjects' facial expressions and verbalizations in response to the provocation by actors.Pilot research indicated that this paradigm was not harmful or injurious to child participants. Basic, developmental research on the variety of ways children respond when angered could greatly inform our understanding of emotional regulation, socialization processes, and relationships among children. Research on coping with provocation is also needed because children who express anger inappropriately are at risk for a variety of psychological disorders, both internalizing and externalizing (Parker & Asher, 1987). If psychologists and educators knew more about how children successfully manage anger, we might be able to devise better intervention programs for children who behave aggressively or who have difficulty being assertive. For children in the age range of middle childhood, this application outlines one of the first attempts to develop a laboratory paradigm to asses show children respond to angry provocation in a context which is similar to naturalistic settings. Clinical experience suggests that the type of anger- provoking interactions which are not challenging for children feature taunting related to competence in competitive or achievement related contexts. However, many children frequently experience this type of teasing, bragging, and showing off. Few respond with physical aggression. This application proposes one of the first observational investigations to explore how children cope with interpersonal provocation across the years of middle childhood, to examine how overt behavioral responses correspond with self-reported subjective experiences, and to address the relation between coping with provocation and social status as rated by peers at school.
