Social Interactions among Preschool Children

1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 248-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Guralnick
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
Developmental Levels ◽  
Play Interactions ◽  
Severely Handicapped ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Integrated Programs ◽  
Parallel Play

To obtain information on the potential benefits of integration, this study investigated the nature and extent of social interactions among preschool children at different developmental levels. Communicative and parallel play interactions of mildly, moderately, severely, and nonhandicapped children were observed during free play across two time periods. The results revealed that (a) nonhandicapped and mildly handicapped children interacted with each other more frequently than expected on the basis of availability, and they interacted with moderately and severely handicapped children less frequently than expected; (b) moderately and severely handicapped children interacted with all four developmental groups as expected by the criterion of availability; and (c) whenever this pattern of interaction changed over time, it was typically in the direction of enhancing the differences noted in the first statement. These findings are discussed in terms of the potential value of integrated programs for children of varying developmental levels.

Instructional Strategies for Improving Toy Play Skills of Severely Handicapped Children

AAESPH Review ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Wehman
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Play Skills ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
Toy Play ◽  
Severely Handicapped ◽  
Play Materials

This article identifies play problems that are typically encountered in severely and profoundly handicapped children. Play problems are primarily limited to the difficulties involved in appropriate interaction with toys and peers. For each problem, several instructional strategies are described as possible solutions for parents and teachers. The problems identified are refusal to play, inappropriate play, lack of sustained play, limited range in use of play materials, isolate play, refusal to initiate social interactions, throwing toys, and inappropriate materials. The strategies suggested for alleviating these problems are developed from a review of relevant research literature.

Using Telecommunications Technology to Instruct Rural Severely Handicapped Children

1979 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Tawney ◽  
Stanley R. Aeschleman ◽  
Sandra L. Deaton ◽  
Robert M. Donaldson
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Data Transmission ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Similar System ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Severely Handicapped ◽  
Teaching Machines

A prototype telecommunications project designed to bring home instruction to severely handicapped preschool children in remote and isolated areas is described. The project demonstrated that a minicomputer control system could serve a large number of families simultaneously. Reliable telephonic data transmission between computer and home based teaching machines was achieved, families accepted the placement of equipment in their homes, and children interacted with automated devices on a daily basis. The feasibility of large scale service delivery through a similar system is discussed.

Effects of Segregated and Integrated Programs on the Participation and Social Interaction of Moderately Mentally Handicapped Children in Play

1987 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Titus ◽  
E. Jane Watkinson
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Activity Participation ◽  
Mentally Handicapped ◽  
Event Recorder ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
Duration Data ◽  
Integrated Programs ◽  
Physical Activity Programs

This study examined the behavior of moderately mentally handicapped children in integrated and segregated programs. Seven subjects 5 to 10 years of age were observed during free play in two programs, one integrated and one segregated, to determine if they would benefit from placement in physical activity programs with nonhandicapped children. Socialization and activity participation were examined using a simple eight-category instrument on videotaped data. The presence or absence of play vehicles was also investigated to determine whether this play equipment would further affect behavior. Some 300 minutes of videotaped data were available for each subject. Behavior durations were recorded using an OS-3 Event Recorder. Inter-observer agreements were calculated on 15% of the data, with mean agreements of .96. Duration data were transformed to percentage of observable time for each subject in integrated and segregated settings, and when play vehicles were and were not available. Results from the study generally did not support the assumption that exposure to integrated programs will increase activity participation and social interaction. Activity participation did not appear to be affected by the presence of play vehicles in the environment. Social interaction levels were reduced significantly under this condition.

Enhancing Prosocial Play between Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Preschool Children

1984 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Poresky ◽  
Dani Jo Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Social Play ◽  
Comprehensive Treatment ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
Solitary Play ◽  
The Social ◽  
Parallel Play

In a single-subject experimental design effects of social toys in a teacher-mediated comprehensive treatment on the social play of three preschool handicapped children was examined. The comprehensive treatment included imitative cooperative lesson plans, environmental structure, and teachers' in-service education. The children's baselines began with solitary play and rose to parallel play in the second comprehensive treatment when the. teachers made greatest use of appropriate prompting and reinforcement. These results illustrate the feasibility of teacher-mediated versus researcher-mediated efforts to enhance the social interaction of handicapped and nonhandicapped preschool children.

Language and Play of Preschool Children Learning English as a Second Language and Native English Speakers

1982 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shavaun M. Wall ◽  
Sarah M. Pickert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Free Play ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Solitary Play ◽  
Parallel Play ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Group Play ◽  
Learning English

To study the frequency and complexity of language in relation to levels of social play, 5 preschool children learning English as a second language and 5 English-speaking peers were observed during free play in the fall and 6 mo. later in the spring. In the fall native English speakers were observed proportionately more often in group play. In the spring, both groups were observed more in group play and less in solitary play. All children spoke more often and used more complex speech during group play than during solitary or parallel play. Observed social interactions were primarily positive for both groups. The relation between developing language and play is discussed in the context of the total social environment.

Social Interaction and Social Organization of Israeli Fiveto Seven-Year-Olds

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz ◽  
Dina Feitelson ◽  
Shoshana Zahavi ◽  
Willard W. Hartup
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
First Graders ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Solitary Play ◽  
Parallel Play

Four hundred and eight children kindergartners and first-graders from three experimental infant schools in Israel were observed in outdoor free play, forty minutes each day, for three continuous weeks. Social interactions and social organization were recorded using a modified version of Parten's (1932) system of categorization. Findings showed that the children engaged mainly in positive-active behaviors (over fifty-four percent). Solitary play and onlooker behavior accounted for thirty percent of children's social behavior. Parallel play occurred less frequently than reported earlier for younger children, although no age differences were observed between kindergartners and first graders. Boys were significantly more active than girls, and exhibited negative social interaction more frequently. Social organization was balanced. Children were observed fifty-seven percent in dyads, twenty-seven percent in groups of three and four children, and fourteen percent in groups with more than five children. Kindergartners participated in significantly smaller groups than first graders.

Communicative Interactions of Mildly Delayed and Normally Developing Preschool Children

1986 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Guralnick ◽  
Diane Paul-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Developmental Levels ◽  
Communicative Interactions ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Information Requests

The communicative interactions of mildly delayed and normally developing preschool children were recorded during free play as they interacted with children at different developmental levels in a mainstreamed program. Analyses of syntactic complexity, semantic diversity, functional aspects of speech, and the use of selected discourse devices indicated that mildly delayed children adjusted important characteristics of their speech in accordance with the cognitive and linguistic levels of their companions. Specifically, speech addressed to less developmentally advanced children was less complex, more diverse, and consisted of a greater proportion of behavior requests but contained proportionally fewer information requests or information statements. These adjustments appeared to be well suited for improving communicative effectiveness and were similar in magnitude and direction to those of normally developing children. In addition, both mildly delayed and normally developing groups were generally successful in obtaining responses to their behavior and information requests. The implications of these findings were discussed in relation to the communicative competence of young children and to early childhood mainstreaming.

What should be the focus of emotion regulation in children? A nonlinear dynamic mathematical model of children's peer interaction in groups

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN MORDECHAI GOTTMAN ◽  
MICHAEL J. GURALNICK ◽  
BEVERLY WILSON ◽  
CATHERINE C. SWANSON ◽  
JAMES D. MURRAY
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Estimation Procedure ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Family Characteristics ◽  
Negative Interaction ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Modeling Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
Preschool Boys ◽  
Play Group

This paper questions the assumption that children's social and emotional competence be placed within the developing child, rather than in the interaction of the child with the range of peer social ecologies in which the children might function. This paper presents a new nonstatistical mathematical approach to modeling children's peer social interaction in small groups using nonlinear difference equations in which both an uninfluenced and an influenced regulatory set point of positive minus negative interaction can be separately estimated. Using this model and the estimation procedure, it is possible to estimate what a focal child and the group initially brings to the group interaction and also how these regulatory set points are influenced by the interaction to determine two influenced regulatory set points. Six-person mainstreamed and specialized groups were established involving three types of unacquainted preschool boys: children with and without developmental delays and a language disordered but intellectually normally functioning group, using a methodology that ensured appropriate matching of child and family characteristics. For each 2-week play group, the social interactions of each child were observed during a designated free play period. Handicapped children were observed in either a specialized or mainstreamed setting. The application made of this modeling process in this paper is generating theory to attempt to understand influence processes. Parameters are introduced that reflect uninfluenced target child and group set points, emotional inertia, and influence functions.

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