I CAN PROBLEM SOLVE (ICPS)

OVERVIEW

I Can Problem Solve (ICPS), previously Interpersonal Cognitive Problem Solving, is a school based intervention teaches problem solving and conflict resolution skills to young children. Designed for low income pre-school and kindergarten classrooms the intervention teaches children to think about interpersonal problems in terms of feelings, motives, consequences and solutions. ICPS attempts to teach children how to think interpersonal problems through daily classroom activities for the course of twelve weeks. ICPS has been found to reduce impulsive and inhibited classroom behavior and promotes social adjustment and increases problem-solving skills in young children.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Preschool through sixth grade children from low-income neighborhoods at risk for at risk for behavioral problems.

I Can Problem Solve (ICPS), formerly Interpersonal Cognitive Problem Solving, is a school-based intervention to teach young children (nursery through kindergarten) interpersonal problem-solving skills. Led by a teacher, children participate in daily twenty-minute sessions that focus on listening to and observing others and emotional awareness through games and group discussions for eight weeks. The remaining 4 weeks incorporate the learned skills into a problem solving curriculum using pictures, puppets and role-playing to help children consider the solutions and consequences to presented hypothetical interpersonal problems. All twelve weeks of lessons are fully scripted and implemented by teachers to groups of six to nine children.

Training costs approximately $1,000 per day. Materials required for the program are available at http://www.researchpress.com/product/item/4628/

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Shure, M.B & Spivak, G. (1980). Interpersonal Problem Solving as a Mediator of Behavioral Adjustment in Preschool and Kindergarten Children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1, 29-44.

Evaluated population: 219 African American children in federally funded preschool or kindergarten.

Approach: Researchers identified black children attending federally funded preschool. Ten centers were exposed to the intervention and ten different centers served as the control. In the second year of the intervention half of the children from the ten control centers were exposed to the intervention in kindergarten while the other half remained controls in the study.

Problem solving skills and behavior measures were obtained from children prior to and post intervention. Children were tested with the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving (PIPS) Test to measure Alternative Solution Thinking Abilities. Children were given a series of situations for which they were asked about how they might solve the problem presented. Problem solving skills and Consequential Thinking abilities were also measured with the What Happens Next Game (WHNG) in which series of actions were presented to children for which they were asked about what might occur next as a response to each situation. Children were also assessed with a Causal Test that measured each child’s ability to conceptualize cause-and-affect when presented with a stated outcome. Behavioral adjustment was assessed by teacher report of child impatience, emotionality and dominance-aggression.

Results: No pre-test differences were observed between intervention and control groups. Results from the PIPS test indicate that children in the intervention group improved in the number of alternative solutions given between pre- and post-testing compared to control group children. On average, children in the intervention group improved in Consequential Thinking as measured by the WHNG as compared to control group children. Children exposed to the intervention showed an increased ability to conceive of a number of consequences to proposed scenarios. Additionally, children that received the problem solving training increased their ability to conceptualize cause-and-effect as measured by the Causal Test. Teacher reports of Behavioral Adjustment indicated that post-intervention significantly more children in the intervention group had improved behavior compared to the control group

Shure, M.B. and Spivak, G. (1982). Interpersonal Problem-Solving in Young Children: A Cognitive Approach to Prevention. American Journal of Community Psychology, 10(3), 341-356.

Evaluated population: 219 four and five year old African American children in federally funded preschool or kindergarten.

Approach: In a follow up study of the effects of ICPS the same children 113 children who participated in the intervention through ten federally funded preschool centers and 106 children from ten federally funded preschool centers who constituted the control were evaluated to investigate the effects of ICPS in the second year. Of the original 113 children who received the intervention in the first year 69 continued to participate in the study in the second year. The children in the original intervention group were split into two groups: one to test intervention holding power which did not receive more training (30), and to evaluate length of training which received additional training (39). Of the original 106 children in the control group, 65 children continued to participate in the study; 35 of these children received the intervention for the first time in kindergarten and 27 continued as a control group. Children’s Interpersonal Cognitive Problem Solving (ICPS) skills were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the PIPS test, the WHNG, and the Hahnemann Preschool Behavior (HPSB) Scale, a teacher report scale of child interpersonal behavior.

Results: Problem-solving skill assessments indicate that children exposed to the intervention increased in cognitive problem-solving skills as compared to the control group. Teacher reported behavior measurements indicate that children who began the program with behavioral problems and were exposed to the intervention had improved behavior. There was a significant difference between the intervention and controls group in behavior improvement. Children who were trained twice did significantly better than those trained once. Additionally, children exposed to the intervention in only one year did significantly better than those who were never exposed.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://www.thinkingpreteen.com/icps.htm

To order materials:

http://www.researchpress.com/product/item/4628/

Raising a Thinking Child Workbook ($20)

http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Thinking-Child-Workbook-Conflicts/dp/0878224580

References

Shure, M.B & Spivak, G. (1980). Interpersonal Problem Solving as a Mediator of Behavioral Adjustment in Preschool and Kindergarten Children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1, 29-44.

Shure, M.B. and Spivak, G. (1982). Interpersonal Problem-Solving in Young Children: A Cognitive Approach to Prevention. American Journal of Community Psychology, 10(3), 341-356.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 4-5

Ranges in the Guide: Early childhood

Program components: child care/early childhood education; school-based

Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development; social and emotional health and development

Keywords: Preschool, Kindergarten, Children, Males and Females, African American, Cost, Manual, School-based, Skills training, Social Skills/Life Skills, Other behavior problems

Program information last updated 10/21/10

		© Child Trends 2004