ABSTRACT
On one occasion, one of the present authors was visiting the home of an eight-year-old child, Simon, who, although highly intelligent and often friendly with visitors, frequently found himself in conflict with parents and teachers. Seated in the family living room, the child had repeatedly engaged in a variety of attention-seeking behaviours such as waving household materials in front of an open fire, switching television channels with the remote control and jumping on the furniture. When admonished by his mother, he immediately sought to engage her in an argument and clearly delighted in her subsequent inability to manage him.
