peer interactions and relationships part 1 Flashcards
what is a peer group
the other children or young people with whom a child or young person with whom a child engages who are of a similar age and not family members
interacting with peers is demanding:
requires social skills that are not required by interactions with adults
adult interaction provides structure, guidance, security
reciprocity, sharing, cooperation, conflict resolution
peer groups - working on same level, same social powers
chronology of development of peer relationships
0-6 mths - touches and looks at another infant, cries in response to crying
6-12 mths - tries to influence another baby by looking, touching, vocalising, waving, generally friendly interaction
13-24 mths - begins to adopt complimentary behaviour (e.g., taking turns), more social play, imaginative play
25-36 mths - begins to communicate meaning
3 yrs - beings to engage in complex, dramatic, cooperative play, stars to prefer same gender playmates
4 yrs - shares more with peers
4.5 yrs - sustain longer play sequences, more willing to accept roles rather than protagonists
6 yrs - peak in imaginative play
3-7 yrs - main friendship goal: coordinated and successful play
7 yrs - stable preference for same gender playmates
7-9 yrs - expects friends to share activities, offer help, be physically available
8-12 yrs - main friendship goal is to be accepted by same gender peers
9-11 yrs - expects friends to accept to admire them and be loyal/committed, is likely to build friendships on the basis of earlier interactions
11-13 yrs - genuineness, self disclosure, common interests, emergence of cliques
13-16 yrs - important friendship goal, understanding of self, beginnings of cross gender relationships
16-18 - expects friends to provide emotional support, increase in romance ties
what shows building blocks for forming friendships
Reciprocal play (cooperation and turn-taking) and positive emotions (enjoyment, encouragement)
mildred parten stages s in social development in 2-4 year olds
NONSOCIAL PLAY: unoccupied, onlooker behaviour, solitary play
PARALLEL PLAY: limited social
participation, child plays near other
Children with similar materials,
does not try to influence play.
TRUE SOCIAL INTERACTION
ASSOCIATIVE PLAY: children interacting with others while participating in the same activity
COOPERATIVE PLAY: child interacting with others in well-coordinated complementary ways that may involve sharing with and supporting each other
Parten thought these developed in stages: later appearing ones replace earlier appearing ones – subsequent research showed that all types of behaviours coexist but non-social behaviours decline with age
what did smith 1978 examine
types of play in preschool children
Found that children divide their time roughly among the 3 categories: non social , parallel and social.
Balance shifts towards social as they get older, into school
what is perspective taking
When children start school exposed to peers who differ from them in many ways: age, ethnicity, achievement, interests, personality.
Increased variety of peers help develop perspective-taking
Perspective taking helps with communication: children better at interpreting others emotions and thoughts and consider this in dialogues.
Engage in games with rules and make-believe play – understand roles and can cooperate.
why is rough and tumble play important
e.g wrestling, rolling, hitting and running away, smiling and laughing
-good-natured, sociable play, NOT aggressive
-found in young of many mammal species
Important for establishing a dominance hierarchy within groups of playmates.
a stable ordering of group members that predicts who will win when conflict arises – children can assess other children to see who will win if conflict arises.
middle childhood - sex segregation Lever 1978
boys:
-larger, mixed-age groups
-competitive team games that more complicated
Evidence of ‘political’ skills in play e.g. leadership, cooperation
girls:
smaller groups or same-age pairs
-emphasis on intimacy and exclusiveness of friendship
what influences children’s peer sociability
age mix of children
indirect parental influence (e.g. attachment type)
direct parental influence (e.g. arranging playdates
how do we measure peer relations
size of network, density, structure of peer networks
accepted, neglected, popular, rejected
3 methods:
-direct observation
-report by parent or teacher
-by asking child: peer nominations, ‘who is liked’
what do sociograms tell us
gives record of interactions and picture of overall social structure of the class
tells us status of children and overall structure of networks
benefits of peer interactions: perspective taking
Perspective taking is a developmental outcome that goes hand in hand with peer interactions and social networks.
Perspective taking helps with communication: children better at interpreting others emotions and thoughts and consider this in dialogues.
what did burke find regarding perspective taking
children in larger networks have superior perspective taking skills because of their network provides more opportunities to use their perspective taking skills
what is the definition of a friendship
a close relationship involving companionship in which each partner wants to be with the other
to adults, friendship indicated by attachment and trust. involves companionship, sharing, understanding thoughts and feelings, caring for, comforting
in young children, starts off more concrete, based around shared activity
the development of friendship, 3 stages
1) Friendship as a handy playmate (4-7 years): a friend is someone who likes you, who you spend time with playing, share toys with them.
2) idea of friendship as mutual trust and assistance, becomes more complex and psychologically based
3) intimacy and loyalty
consequences of having friends and rejection in childhood?
consequences for later educational achievement
help for dealing with stress
provide foundation for future relationships
some friendships have increased aggression and asocial behaviour
2 subtypes of rejected children
rejected aggressive (severe conduct problems, antagonistic)
rejected withdrawn (passive, socially awkward)
what is the function of peer groups
act as a reference group (provide support and guidance)
peer groups support feelings of self worth
what are the three levels of peer groups
dyads: pairs of close friends or lovers
cliques: grips of several friends who interact frequently, similar in background, attitudes, values
crowds: larger collectives of people with similar images and affinities
what influences the crowds and cliques that teenagers join
personality and interests
family factors (parenting style)
what factors are affected by peer pressure
appearance
clothes
hair
places you go
dating
pro social rather than antisocial activities
