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 Japanese Social Interactions

The aim of this study was to examine Japanese preschool children's social conflicts and methods of conflict resolution in order to shed light on existing cultural characterizations of Japanese preschool education and social development. Japanese preschool-age children were observed during school-time free-play and they and their mothers were interviewed about teacher methods of conflict resolution in the preschool setting. The results showed that Japanese children's conflicts stemmed from a wide range of issues, including concerns about justice, rights, and fairness. Moreover, teachers encouraged children to work out conflicts on their own, stressing self-reliance and autonomy. Japanese children and mothers chose resolution choices which pertained to the intrinsic consequences of the acts. Japanese children and mothers, however, preferred teacher-directed nonintervention over punishment as a form of teacher response. This was in contrast to previous research which has shown that American children and mothers prefer punishment over nonintervention. The results indicated that issues of independence (e.g., autonomy) and interdependence (e.g., group orientations) were both present in Japanese children's social interactions and in children's and mothers' judgments about teacher methods of conflict resolution.     

Peer Conflicts of Preschool Children: Issues, Resolution, Incidence, and Age-Related Patterns

This study examined 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds' peer conflicts in the naturalistic classroom setting during free-play time. 400 preschoolers from 25 classrooms were videotaped. Only the first conflict event generated by each target-child observation was included in the analysis. Of the 400 target-child observations, 322 generated a conflict event. In general, there was a shift in the issues of conflict from tangible material concerns to those that were more mental and social. 2-year-olds had a higher proportion of distribution of resources conflicts than did 3- and 4-year-olds. Conflicts about play and ideas significantly increased with age while those stemming from physical harm were low overall. Further, child-generated resolutions increased while insistence decreased significantly with age. What changes with development appears to be the issues of conflict and the way they are handled; not the incidence of conflict per se. These findings support the proposal that conflicts are natural contexts in which children develop socially, morally and cognitively. Implications for teaching are discussed.     

Peer Conflicts of Preschool Children: Issues,Resolution, Incidence,and Age-Related Patterns

This study examined 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds' peer conflicts in the naturalistic classroom setting during free-play time. 400 preschoolers from 25 classrooms were videotaped. Only the first conflict event generated by each target-child observation was included in the analysis. Of the 400 target-child observations, 322 generated a conflict event. In general, there was a shift in the issues of conflict from tangible material concerns to those that were more mental and social. 2-year-olds had a higher proportion of distribution of resources conflicts than did 3- and 4-year-olds. Conflicts about play and ideas significantly increased with age while those stemming from physical harm were low overall. Further, child-generated resolutions increased while insistence decreased significantly with age. What changes with development appears to be the issues of conflict and the way they are handled; not the incidence of conflict per se. These findings support the proposal that conflicts are natural contexts in which children develop socially, morally and cognitively. Implications for teaching are discussed.     

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.     

Preschool peer communication skills: the role of social status and interaction context

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between social status and discourse skills in preschool children. Using peer nominations, 48 acquainted preschool children were classified as liked, disliked, or low impact. Children were videotaped in freeplay interactions in which one child entered the play of a pair of same-sex peers. Social status differences were found primarily in skills contributing to coherent discourse. Specifically, liked children were more inclined to direct their initiations clearly, to speak to both interaction partners rather than just one, to respond contingently to others, to acknowledge others, and to reinitiate when rejecting. Liked children were also better able to adapt to the differing social demands of entry versus nonentry contexts in that they were more likely to give information and less likely to express their feelings when entering a group. Deficits in communication skill were greater for disliked children than for low-impact children. Results indicate that communication skills that contribute to coherent discourse are fundamental to social interaction and may influence young children's peer acceptance.     

The Peer Relations of Preschool Children with Communication Disorders

The peer-related social interactions of preschool-age children with communication disorders were compared to those of normally developing chronological age-mates. All children were previously unacquainted with one another and participated in a series of short-term play groups. Differences between the 2 groups emerged primarily in terms of overall social activity, as children with communication disorders engaged in fewer positive social interactions and conversed with peers less often during non-play activities. Children with communication disorders also were less successful in their social bids and appeared to be less directive with their peers. However, both groups of children exhibited similar patterns of socially competent interactions including the ability to sustain play (group play), to minimize conflict, to join others in ongoing activities, and to respond appropriately to the social bids of others. Based on peer sociometric ratings, both groups of children were equally accepted. These general patterns of similarities and differences were found in settings in which play groups consisted of all children with communication disorders (specialized settings) as well as in settings in which the play groups included both children with communication disorders and normally developing children (mainstreamed settings). However, even during the relatively brief acquaintanceship process, an analysis of peer preference patterns revealed that children with communication disorders in mainstreamed settings were less socially integrated in the play groups than normally developing children. The potential for additional difficulties in peer interactions for children with communication disorders when children become more familiar with one another and play becomes more intricate was discussed in light of interaction patterns formed during the shortterm play groups.     

How Do Sibling Conflicts End?

The endings of sibling conflicts were investigated in 40 families at 2 time periods. Each family included 2 children, studied when they were 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 years of age, and 2 years later, at 4 1/2and 6 1/2 years. Four types of conflict endings were observed in sibling conflicts: Compromise, Reconciliation, Submission, and No Resolution. Results indicate that at both time periods conflicts typically ended with No Resolution, followed by Submission, Compromise, and finally, Reconciliation. Submissions decreased and No Resolutions increased over the two time periods; no changes were observed in either Compromise or Reconciliation. Parents' interventions led directly to a resolution of 16% of the children's disputes (Parent Ending). In those cases, there was a greater likelihood of conflicts ending in Compromise or Reconciliation than when parents did not intervene. Conflicts in which parents intervened but the children ultimately resolved the conflicts themselves (Child Ending with Intervention) occurred 42% of the time. Such conflicts ended more often with No Resolution and less often with children's Submissions to their siblings. The implications of these findings for the development of children's conflict resolution skills and the role of parent involvement are discussed.     

3-6岁幼儿同伴冲突的观察与分析

研究采取行为抽样法对86名3-6岁幼儿的同伴冲突行为进行了观察研究。结果表明:幼儿同伴冲突行为存在性别差异;幼儿同伴冲突在游戏活动中分布最多,其次是过渡活动和教学活动,随年龄增长,幼儿同伴冲突在过渡活动中避渐减少,在教学活动中逐渐增加;小班幼儿同伴冲突着眼于物的因素。中、大班幼儿着眼于人的因素,且在大班出现了由游戏争议引起的同伴冲突;幼儿在解决同伴冲突时最常用声明策略和直接对抗策略;幼儿同件冲突绝大多数是自行处理的,很少有教师干预。     

Childhood sexuality: a decade of study. Part II--dissemination and future directions

OBJECTIVE: One goal in perpetration prevention has been to increase the awareness and competence of professionals and parents in understanding and responding to the sexual behavior of children in order to reduce the risk of children developing sexually abusive behavior. A decade of experience in disseminating information about children's sexual development and behavior is reviewed in this paper. METHOD: Curricula developed at the Kempe Children's Center, University of Colorado Health Science Center, were used to provide training to professionals and paraprofessional caregivers. The information has evolved into a variety of models for different purposes in different settings. RESULTS: Children engage in a wide range of sexual behaviors, some of which adults observe or are told about by other children. Adults can be trained to evaluate what is developmentally expected or problematic, and to respond consistently on the basis of objective definitions and universal goals, rather than relying on the personal beliefs and values of individuals. CONCLUSION: Because children's sexual behaviors may pose a risk to themselves or others, there is a legitimate need for adults to respond to what they see and hear in order to validate or correct sexual learning in childhood. Adults are often not well informed about childhood sexuality and are eager to access objective information to inform their decision making in the care of children.     

Type A behavior in preschool children

Type A behaviors were observed in a group of 48 preschool children in different free-play and competitive situations. Interrater reliability was assessed on the Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH), and the children's and their parents' type A scores were compared. Scores on the MYTH were used to classify children as either type A or type B. Comparisons were made between type A and type B children's play in classroom and in laboratory situations. For the laboratory situations, 24 same-sex type A-type B dyads were formed, and the dyads were observed in free play, followed by car racing, by a tower-building contest, and by an interview. Type A children more frequently showed annoyed facial expressions, gross motor activity, interruptions during classroom free play, and gross motor activity and aggressive play with an inflatable Bobo doll during the laboratory free-play situation. Type A children more often won the car race and the tower-building contest, and they answered a greater number of questions and more frequently answered first during the interviews. These data are consistent with other findings on type A behavior in preschool children and suggest that the behavioral dimensions of type A (competitiveness and impatience-aggression) may emerge as early as the preschool years, particularly in competitive situations.     

幼儿冲突与幼儿社会化

幼儿之间常因各种原因发生冲突，但幼儿间的冲突大多是在没有成人干预的情况下自行解决的。冲突为幼儿的发展提供了机会，加快了幼儿的社会化进程，提高了幼儿的语言表达能力。因此当幼儿间发生冲突时，成人不要急于干预，而应多细心观察，必要时可放手让幼儿自主解决矛盾与冲突。     

2～5岁幼儿游戏的年龄特点研究

本研究采用现场观察与录像追踪观察的方法。对2—5岁幼儿在娃娃家、建构区两种游戏背景下发生的游戏行为进行了研究。结果表明：随着年龄的增长，幼儿游戏的社会性发展水平和认知发展水平逐步提高，但会受到游戏情境的显著影响；幼儿的游戏行为没有明显的性别差异；同伴互动能推动幼儿的游戏进程。     

How Do Young Children Misbehave in the Grocery Store and in the School? The Preschoolers' Perspective

This research assessed young children's perceptions about what misconduct behaviors peers are likely to commit across two contexts, the school and the grocery store. In addition, participants heard one of two versions in which the protagonist was either a boy or a girl. The participants were 70 preschool children (40 males and 30 females) and ranged in age from 36 to 77 months (M = 57 months). The results showed that a total of 242 non-repetitive behaviors were generated. Most of the behaviors generated either concerned acts having negative consequences to others (i.e., moral transgressions) or violations of social norms (i.e., conventional transgressions). The results also showed that children generated more moral than conventional misbehaviors. Moral acts were expected to occur more often in the school context than in grocery context, whereas social conventional misbehaviors were expected to occur in both contexts. Children described three specific types of moral misbehaviors: physical harm, property violations, and interpersonal violations. Furthermore, children's expectations of peers' misbehaviors were a function of the gender of the character committing the misdeed as well as the story context.     

Young Children''s Coping with Interpersonal Anger

Although interest in children's stress and coping has increased, little attention has been paid to children's interpersonal coping. During free-play periods, we observed and recorded the causes of preschoolers' (M age = 55.43 months) anger and how they reacted to these provocations (n = 69). Measures of social competence and popularity also were obtained. Preschoolers' coping with interpersonal anger varied in meaningful ways in different contexts and varied for boys and girls. For example, boys tended to vent more than girls, whereas girls tended to actively assert themselves more than boys. Moreover, the findings supported the conclusion that socially competent and popular children coped with anger in ways that were relatively direct and active and in ways that minimized further conflict and damage to social relationships. Results were discussed in light of current research on children's abilities to regulate emotions and social interactions and how these may be related to children's anger-related coping responses.     

Conflict Resolution in Japanese Social Interactions

The aim of this study was to examine Japanese preschool children's social conflicts and methods of conflict resolution in order to shed light on existing cultural characterizations of Japanese preschool education and social development. Japanese preschool-age children were observed during school-time free-play and they and their mothers were interviewed about teacher methods of conflict resolution in the preschool setting. The results showed that Japanese children's conflicts stemmed from a wide range of issues, including concerns about justice, rights, and fairness. Moreover, teachers encouraged children to work out conflicts on their own, stressing self-reliance and autonomy. Japanese children and mothers chose resolution choices which pertained to the intrinsic consequences of the acts. Japanese children and mothers, however, preferred teacher-directed nonintervention over punishment as a form of teacher response. This was in contrast to previous research which has shown that American children and mothers prefer punishment over nonintervention. The results indicated that issues of independence (e.g., autonomy) and interdependence (e.g., group orientations) were both present in Japanese children's social interactions and in children's and mothers' judgments about teacher methods of conflict resolution.     

Cultural Differences in Korean- and Anglo-American Preschoolers' Social Interaction and Play Behaviors

48 Korean- and 48 Anglo-American children were observed in their preschool settings to examine the role of culture in organizing children's activities and in shaping their pretend play behavior. Observers recorded the presence or absence of preselected social behaviors and levels of play complexity. Parents completed a questionnaire about play in the home, teachers rated children's social competence, and children were given the PPVT-R and a socio-metric interview. Korean parents completed an acculturation questionnaire. The findings revealed cultural differences in children's social interaction, play complexity, adult-child interaction and play in the home and in the preschool, adult beliefs about play, scores on the PPVT-R, and children's social functioning with peers. The results suggest that children's social interaction and pretend play behavior are influenced by culture-specific socialization practices that serve adaptive functions.     

Mothers' Perspectives of the Peer-Related Social Development of Young Children with Developmental Delays and Communication Disorders

Mothers' perspectives of children's peer-related social development were obtained from matched groups of young children with developmental delays, communicative disorders, and typically developing children. Structured interviews elicited information on numerous issues including mothers' views of the importance of children's social skills development, rationales with respect to why children succeed or had difficulties on specific social tasks, and the socialization strategies mothers employ to promote children's peer-related social development. Mothers also reported on their efforts to arrange play with peers for their child and the degree to which they monitored that play. Results indicated that mothers rated children's social development as highly important, offered primarily internal rationales (e.g., traits, dispositions) for success or difficulties in achieving social tasks, and endorsed moderate and low power socialization strategies. Differences across the three groups were minimal. Mothers arranged play with peers least often for children with developmental delays and communication disorders, but monitored play more extensively for children with delays. These finding were discussed in terms of mothers adopting a developmental orientation to understand children's social development and their implications for maternal participation in peer competence intervention programs.     

Altruism, aggression, and social interactions in young children with a manic-depressive parent

This is an exploratory study of the emotional and social functioning of young children with a manic-depressive parent. Seminaturalistic observations and experimental manipulations of the affective environment were used to assess 2-year-old children's regulation of emotion, as well as their aggression, altruism, and affiliative interactions. Children with a bipolar parent sometimes showed heightened distress and preoccupation with the conflicts and suffering of others, especially disturbances in adults. These children had difficulty in maintaining friendly social interactions, in sharing, and in helping their playmates. They also had difficulty modulating hostile impulses; they showed more maladaptive patterns of aggression toward peers and adults. These interpersonal and emotional problems of offspring of manic-depressives were often similar to those problems of manic-depressives that have been implicated in the clinical literature as possibly associated with the transmission of the disorder. This apparent congruence of findings obtained from different disciplines employing very different research strategies and studying people of different ages, attests to the utility of an explicit interdisciplinary approach in the area of developmental psychopathology.     

Dissociations, developmental psychology, and pedagogical design

Although dissociations in children's responses are sometimes about "getting it right" for an experimenter, they might also often reflect differences between conscious and subconscious processing that are not geared to correct performance. Research with adults also reveals many cases of dissociation, and adults can more easily be subjected to neuroimaging methods that might help shed light on dissociation. Finally, much of the research on dissociations shows that human cognition is optimized in some contexts over others. School environments often correspond to less optimizing contexts. Research on dissociation could be used to inform pedagogical design.