ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters, we focused on the influence of cognitive and metacognitive training programmes in academic areas (such as reading and mathematics). In this chapter, we turn our attention to social behaviours that occur in classrooms and also to specific behaviours such as aggression and depression. While a considerable research base has been established in the academic domain, comparatively little has been written about the cognitive aspects of social skills. In part, this is due to the continuing influence of behaviourism which has dominated the field. The one exception is in the area of social skills training in which the use of alternate approaches, including socio-cognitive approaches, has begun to emerge as an alternative to teaching behaviour skills in isolation from the situation in which they occur. This chapter begins with a review of the influence of behavioural approaches.
