Selective attention and self-control in delinquent adolescents

Research studies are briefly reviewed to examine the hypothesis that delinquent adolescents may process information in a different manner than non-delinquents. Studies suggest that delinquents may have less control over which information they attend to, may expose themselves to more stimulation, may process information more slowly, and may selectively attend to different information than matched controls. Findings from a recent study are presented in support of the latter hypothesis. A clinical example illustrates how these attention differences may appear in the course of treatment.This work was conducted while Dr. Rosenthal was a Clinical Research Training Fellow in Adolescence in a program jointly sponsored by the Adolescent Program of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, the Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research and Training at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, and by the Departments of Behavioral Science (Human Development) and Psychiatry of the University of Chicago. The training program was funded by Public Health Service grant T32MH14668.A version of this paper was presented at the Conference on the Psychology of Adolescence, Chicago, June 20–21, 1980. Portions of this article are based upon the doctoral dissertation submitted by Frank Lani in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. degree, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois.Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Vanderbilt University. Current research interests include delinquency, hyperkinesis, and evaluation of hospital treatment.Received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Loyola University. Current research interests include social cognition in delinquency.