Early Peer Interaction

1

• Early Peer Interaction
• Peer interaction is present in the first 2 years,
  but it is limited
• By 12 months, infants occasionally respond to a
  peers behavior (e.g., smile, gesture, imitate)
• By age 2, reciprocal play is more common

2

• Preschoolers (2-5 years)
• Different Types of Play
• Nonsocial Watching other children play OR
  solitary play
• Parallel Children play near each other but
  dont interact
• Associative Children play separately but
  exchange toys and comment on one anothers
  behavior
• Cooperative Children play with a common goal

3

• Older preschool age children show more
  interactive play, but also continue to engage in
  nonsocial and parallel play

4

• Peer Relations in School-Age Children
• Peer Acceptance Extent to which a child is
  viewed as likable by peers

5

• Peer Acceptance Categories
• Popular Many positive nominations, few negative
• Rejected Many negative nominations, few
  positive
• Controversial Many positive and negative
  nominations
• Neglected No positive or negative nominations
• Average Few extreme nominations (positive or
  negative)

6

• Social Behavior
• Popular Children
• Popular-prosocial
• Cooperative and friendly with peers
• Appropriately assertive

7

• Popular-antisocial
• Tough boys with athletic skills
• Aggressive with peers defiant with adults
• Viewed as cool by peers

8

• Rejected Children
• Rejected-aggressive
• Severe behavior problemsaggressive hostile
  impulsive
• More likely to misinterpret the innocent behavior
  of others as hostile and blame others for their
  social problems

9

• Rejected-withdrawn
• Timid, passive
• Expect peers to treat them poorly
• More likely to be bullied

10

• Controversial
• Show positive and negative social behaviors
• Have as many friends as popular children

11

• Neglected
• Low rate of social interaction
• Considered shy by peers
• As socially skilled as average children

12

• Peer Acceptance and Adjustment
• Rejected children are at highest risk for later
  problems
• Associated with poor school performance, dropping
  out, antisocial behavior, and higher rates of
  psychological symptoms in adolescence
• Rejected status tends to be stable over time

13

• Neglected children
• Usually well-adjusted
• Dont report being lonely/unhappy
• Can interact with others successfully when they
  want to