Peer Status and Aggression in Boys'' Groups: Developmental and Contextual Analyses

The social transactions of popular, rejected, neglected, and average first- and third-grade boys were examined during their initial encounters with peers. 23 groups of 5 or 6 boys each were observed for 45-min free-play sessions conducted on 5 consecutive days, with sociometric interviews following each session. Social preference in the play groups correlated significantly with classroom social preference after the third and subsequent play sessions for the third graders, and after the fourth and subsequent sessions for the first graders. The observational coding system distinguished 4 types of aggressive behavior that were hypothesized to relate to peer status in different ways. The first, rough play, was not related to peer status. However, rejected boys at both ages displayed significantly higher rates of angry reactive aggression and instrumental aggression than average boys. The relation between bullying and peer status varied with the age of the child. Popular first graders engaged in more bullying than average first graders, but popular third graders did not differ from average in bullying. Other questions concerned the temporal relation between play group behaviors and social preference scores within the group. Socially interactive behaviors anteceded high preference by peers, and low preference in turn led to social isolation in subsequent sessions.     

Social interaction development among behaviorally handicapped preschool children: Research and educational implications

Literature is reviewed that documents the effectiveness of a behavioral approach for increasing the social behaviors of behaviorally handicapped preschool children. However, this literature also suggests that reciprocal interaction between target subjects and significant others seldom generalized beyond treatment settings. The importance of developing positive, reciprocal interaction has been well documented. The results of observational studies suggest that with respect to both quantity and quality of interaction, the child creates his own social environment. For example, the passive, withdrawn child is the more frequent recipient of social rejection than is the more socially active child; the physically aggressive child receives more hostile social bids from peers than less aggressive youngsters; and, of course, the child who initiates positive interaction with peers tends to receive more positive social attention than less socially adept youngsters. Thus, children's behavior patterns tend to set the occasion for that kind of social approach by peers that validates, in a sense, their own approach to peers. If affective education for young handicapped children is to become a reality, additional research is necessary to identify those response patterns that set the occasion for positive reciprocal interaction.     

Development of Inhibited Children''s Coping with Unfamiliarity

In a longitudinal study, 87 children were observed in dyadic free-play sessions with unfamiliar peers at 4, 6, and 8 years of age and were judged by their parents for inhibition. Correlational analyses showed that observed inhibited behavior as well as parental judgments of inhibition became increasingly associated with solitary-passive activity and lost an initial negative correlation with parallel play. Extreme group analyses of the time structure of the behavior of continuously inhibited and control children indicated that with increasing age, many inhibited children spend longer periods in solitary-passive activity, whereas many controls spend longer periods in social behavior. These findings suggest that dispositional inhibition toward strangers becomes increasingly associated with unsociable behavior, which makes it difficult to distinguish between the dispositions of inhibition and unsociability at the empirical level.     

Play and social skills in maltreated and non-maltreated preschoolers during peer interactions

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the study was to investigate whether maltreated children differ from nonmaltreated children with regard to their social skills and play behaviors. METHOD: The social skills and free-play behaviors of 30 3- to 5-year-old maltreated and nonmaltreated children were compared. Fifteen children with a range of maltreatment experiences drawn from a hospital-based therapeutic nursery treatment program and 15 demographically similar children drawn from a home-based Head Start program participated in the study. All children were of low socioeconomic status. Children's free-play peer interactions were videotaped during the first 3 months of attendance in either program and analyzed along social and cognitive dimensions. Teachers and therapists rated children's social skills in peer interactions. RESULTS: Maltreated children were found to have significantly poorer skill in initiating interactions with peers and maintaining self-control, as well as a greater number of problem behaviors. Significant differences were not found between groups with regard to social participation or cognitive level of play. Significant correlations of moderate strength were found between social participation in play and social skills for the sample as a whole: total social skills score was positively related to interactive play, and negatively related to solitary play. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the experience of maltreatment has a negative impact on children's developing interpersonal skills above and beyond the influence of factors associated with low socioeconomic status and other environmental stressors.     

Conflict Resolution in Preschool Social Interactions

Conflict has frequently been hypothesized to play an important role in development, and yet, until recently, little empirical work has been conducted on preschoolers' social conflicts. The aim of this study was to investigate the types of social issues that produce conflicts, the extent to which children respond positively to protests from others, and how conflicts are resolved. Children were observed in two contexts: semi-structured peer groups in which adults did not intervene, and school-time free-play. The results showed that even when adults do not intervene, children are often responsive to protests from others and resolve conflicts on their own. Differences were also observed for the types of issues that generate conflicts in the two settings and the types of conflicts that children respond to most often. These results indicate that children's conflicts are not solely negative or aggressive and that children's social interactions and their social contexts are multi-dimensional. The findings point to interpersonal aspects of settings, such as the differential role of adults and peers, and to contextual features of settings, such as free-play and sustained play, that should be considered by teachers and parents when structuring social interactive opportunities for young children.     

Conflict Resolution in Preschool Social Interactions

Conflict has frequently been hypothesized to play an important role in development, and yet, until recently, little empirical work has been conducted on preschoolers' social conflicts. The aim of this study was to investigate the types of social issues that produce conflicts, the extent to which children respond positively to protests from others, and how conflicts are resolved. Children were observed in two contexts: semi-structured peer groups in which adults did not intervene, and school-time free-play. The results showed that even when adults do not intervene, children are often responsive to protests from others and resolve conflicts on their own. Differences were also observed for the types of issues that generate conflicts in the two settings and the types of conflicts that children respond to most often. These results indicate that children's conflicts are not solely negative or aggressive and that children's social interactions and their social contexts are multi-dimensional. The findings point to interpersonal aspects of settings, such as the differential role of adults and peers, and to contextual features of settings, such as free-play and sustained play, that should be considered by teachers and parents when structuring social interactive opportunities for young children.     

Effects of maternal interference on the attachment and exploratory behavior of one-year-olds

Effects of maternal interference on social behavior toward mother and exploratory play were examined in a laboratory experimental paradigm. Subjects were 40 1-year-olds and their mothers. Mothers of the 20 interference-group infants were instructed periodically to physically interfere with their child's independent object play during the first half of the observation session. A postinterference free-play period immediately followed. The 20 control-group infants were permitted by mother to play freely throughout the session. Groups were matched for exposure to play materials. Despite its aversiveness, interference had no subsequent effect on infant social initiatives to mother, responsiveness to mother's social bids, or exploratory play.     

Using Peers as Trainers to Increase an Autistic Child's Social Interactions

This report presents a data‐based intervention designed t o increase the social interactions between an autistic boy and his nondisabled peers. A “loose training” prompting tactic was used to teach the child to initiate to the peers. After several training sessions the autistic child increased his spontaneous interactions (a) with the training peers in non‐training, generalizationsessions and (b) with non‐training peersin the generalization sessions. The results show promise for the discovery and implementation of generalization tactics that promote the social integration of disabled and nondisabled children.     

Nonsocial Play Patterns of Young Children With Communication Disorders: Implications for Behavioral Adaptation

It has been well established that young children with communication disorders (CD) have considerable difficulties interacting socially with peers in free-play settings. The central purpose of this study was to determine whether behavioral adaptations of children with CD could contribute to their peer interaction problems. To accomplish this, the behavioral patterns of reticent, solitary-passive, and solitary-active subtypes of nonsocial play of children with CD were observed in unstructured playgroup settings and compared to the nonsocial play of matched groups of typically developing children. Also examined was whether the associations with peer social interaction measures and child and family characteristics differed among the reticent, solitary-passive, and solitary-active subtypes and whether the context factors of the developmental status and familiarity of peers influenced these patterns. Results revealed that preschool children with CD do not exhibit distinct patterns of nonsocial play and provide no evidence for situation-specific (i.e., with peers) behavioral adaptations despite difficulties interacting with peers. The developmental characteristics of or familiarity with one's peers did not influence these results. Moreover, the peer social interaction patterns corresponding to each subtype, as well as child and family characteristics associated with each subtype, were also similar for both groups of children. Recommendations for preventive intervention programs to minimize future peer interaction problems emphasizing social-information and emotional regulation processes were presented.     

Caregiver involvement in infant peer interactions: Scaffolding in a social context

Establishing positive peer relationships is integral to children's social development and is linked to a variety of long-term outcomes and life skills. The present study provides an in-depth examination of the ways in which child care providers guide young children in their early social experiences with peers during infancy, when social competence with peers is first being developed. Findings documented multiple avenues through which child care providers help to scaffold infants’ naturally occurring social encounters with their peers, including creating opportunities for peer interaction, preventing and interrupting peer interaction, communicating to children about their peers and peer relations, providing direct instructions and rules for peer interaction, and modeling social behavior during group interactions. Scaffolding strategies were categorized as adult-centered, child-centered, and group-based. Results also revealed some specific effects of scaffolding on infant social competence with peers over a 6-month time period.     

自闭症儿童同理心表达的教学成效研究

自闭症儿童在社会交往中存在障碍,其中一个表现就是他们无法正确反应别人的情绪,在社交场合中缺乏同理心的表达,无法建立友谊。文章采用单一受试研究法中多基线跨被试的实验设计,针对3名自闭症儿童,采用故事脚本,运用娃娃或木偶通过假扮难过或疼痛引发同理的情境,并采用故事脚本及口语提示系统和强化方式结合的包裹式干预方法教导自闭症儿童的同理心表达。研究结果表明此教学方法对自闭症儿童同理心表达的教学成效显著,且有较好的维持和泛化效果。     

The peer relations of mildly delayed and nonhandicapped preschool children in mainstreamed playgroups

Previously unacquainted groups of normally developing and mildly developmentally delayed preschool-age boys (N = 64) were brought together to form a series of 8 mainstreamed playgroups. Each playgroup consisted of 3 normally developing 3-year-olds, 3 normally developing 4-year-olds, and 2 mildly developmentally delayed 4-year-olds. The delayed children were matched with the normally developing older group for chronological age and with the normally developing younger group for developmental level. Each playgroup operated 5 days per week for 2 hours per day for a 4-week period. During that time, the peer-related social and play interactions of each child were videotaped, and peer sociometric ratings were obtained at the completion of each playgroup. Analyses of social participation and individual social behavior measures revealed that the analogue playgroup setting was appropriate for evaluating peer interactions, as expected developmental patterns emerged despite the presence of children heterogeneous with respect to chronological age and developmental status. The existence of a deficit in peer-related social interactions for mildly delayed children was supported in this investigation--a deficit that could not be attributed to reputational factors, the unavailability of responsive peers, inadequate matching procedures, unusual sample characteristics, or similar factors. Selected observational measures, peer preference patterns during free play, and peer sociometric ratings also indicated that the delayed children were perceived to be less competent and of lower social status. However, despite their relative isolation, important developmental opportunities were available for mildly delayed children in the mainstreamed playgroups. Possible processes responsible for these outcomes were discussed.     

提高自闭症幼儿装扮游戏能力的教育干预研究

为探索提高自闭症幼儿装扮游戏能力的教育干预方法和途径 ,采用了变异 -个案研究法 ,对两名实际年龄为 5 9、6 1个月 ,心理年龄为 30、31个月的自闭症幼儿 ,进行了为时 11个月的教育干预研究。通过量和质的分析检验 ,证明了教育干预的有效性。结果表明 ,教师和家长以及同伴与自闭症幼儿能每天在一起进行 30 - 40分钟的装扮游戏 ,并在这个过程中给予积极的情感支持和鼓励行为 ,能有效地促进自闭症幼儿装扮游戏水平的提高。     

Self‐modeling as a treatment for increasing on‐task behavior

The study investigated the effectiveness of self‐modeling as a treatment to increase on‐task behavior. A multiple baseline design across 3 students was employed to determine the treatment effects. In addition, classroom peers' on‐task behavior was employed as comparison data. The results indicated immediate, substantial, and durable changes in students' on‐task behavior that generalized across academic settings. The 3 students evidenced an increase of on‐task behavior from an average of 33% of the intervals observed at baseline to 86% during treatment. At 6‐ and 8‐week follow‐up, the students' percentages of on‐task behavior was essentially indistinguishable from their classroom peers. Consumer data indicated that the teachers and students were satisfied with the procedure. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The learning potential of online student-constructed tests with citing peer-generated questions

In view of contribution-based pedagogy and observational learning theory, students’ perceived uses, preferences, usage, and selection considerations with regard to citing peers’ work were examined in an online learning environment targeting student-constructed tests. Data were collected from 84 fifth-grade students who participated in online student-constructed tests with and without citing in an 11-week study. Quantitative and qualitative data in response to an end-of-session questionnaire and actual online citing behaviour were analyzed. Several major findings were obtained. First, significantly more participants supported and preferred “citing” over “no citing” for online student-constructed tests. Second, data with regard to perceived uses, preferences, and reported usage all supported the potential of citing for providing an observational learning space. Third, citing allowed the participants to attend to areas pinpointed by their peers but initially ignored by them, thus making social construction of knowledge possible. Fourth, the quality and the author of the item are the two determining factors affecting citing decisions. Fifth, a statistically significant positive correlation between students’ academic achievement and their generated questions cited by peers was confirmed. Finally, actual online citing behaviour varied greatly among participants, with the majority using the citing function during online test-construction to various extents.     

Aggressive Boys in the Classroom: Biased Attributions or Shared Perceptions?

This study of 32 aggressive (AG) and 32 nonaggressive (NA) boys applied a social information processing analysis to interactions between children and their teachers. In a cue reading task, AG and NA subjects estimated teacher anger in ambiguous situations where the targets of the teacher behavior were the subjects, NA peers, and AG peers. AG boys predicted that greater teacher anger would be directed toward themselves than did NA boys. However, this could not be interpreted as an attributional bias specific to AG boys, because both NA and AG boys predicted that greater hostility would be directed toward AG boys. Target status was the primary determinant of cue interpretation. AG boys were more likely than NA boys to choose aggressive solutions to problems involving teachers and to judge aggressive solutions to be competent. The results suggested that NA subjects were actually more effective than AG subjects in enacting an aggressive response.     

Getting Angry at Peers: Associations with Liking of the Provocateur

We examined how preschoolers coped with anger in interactions with well liked and not well liked peers. The free-play interactions of preschool-aged children ( M age = 66.27 months) were observed for 6 months. The frequency, causes, and intensity of children's anger, as well as their anger-related reactions, were compared for incidents provoked by peers who were "really liked" to those provoked by peers who were liked only "a little bit." Although there were no differences in the intensity of anger provocations by well liked and not well liked provocateurs, children's responses to provocations by well liked peers were more controlled than was the case for anger provoked by peers who were not well liked. In general, boys were more responsive to how they felt about the provocateur than were girls. These findings suggest that anger episodes with well liked children were less stressful than those with peers who were not well liked.     

Changes in the Social Skills and Behavior Problems of Homeless and Housed Children During the Preschool Year

This study examined the social competence and mental health of homeless and permanently housed preschool children enrolled in the Head Start program. Mothers and Head Start teachers rated the social skills and behavior problems of 38 homeless and 46 housed preschoolers twice during the school year. The researchers compared the behavior of the homeless and housed preschoolers soon after they entered Head Start, as well as changes in children's behavior six months after their initial assessment. Both parents and teachers reported that homeless children exhibited more behavioral problems than housed children at the beginning of the study, but perceived no significant differences in the two groups' social skills. Mothers reported significant declines in homeless children's compliance relative to their housed peers at the conclusion of the study, while teachers noted significant declines in homeless children's compliance and expressive skills. Both mothers and teachers reported that homeless children exhibited significantly greater increases in behavior problems than their housed peers over the study period. Findings indicate the need for Head Start and other early childhood programs to develop interventions designed to moderate the negative effect of homelessness on young children's social-emotional development.