Social knowledge. Within the peer culture, norms develop con-cerning the appropriateness of behaviors for specific social situa-tions and children appear to develop skill concepts that can be used to represent this information and guide their future behavior (cf. Asher & Renshaw. 1981: Ladd & Oden, 1979: Corsaro. 1981). As conceive d here, a skill concept entails at least three aspects of social knowledge: (1) knowledge of the goals or purposes of social in-teraction. (2) knowledge of the behavioral strategies that may be used to reach socia l goals, and (3) knowledge of the contexts in which each strategy may be appropriately applied. Children may experience interpersonal difficulties because they act on the basis of skill concepts that are, relative to agemates, inac-curate or deficient in one or more areas of social knowledge. For in-stance, children may inappropriately define the purpose of a game as "to win at all costs*' rathe r than "to have fun with other kids" and. thus, act in ways that discourage peer liking and friendships (Asher & Renshaw. 1981: Renshaw & Asher. in press). Children may also lack knowledge of appropriate strategies fo r achieving social goals (e.g.. how to gain inclusion into on-going peer activity) and. therefore, avoid or withdraw from interaction or perhaps ex-periment wit h strategies that have a low probability of success. Several studies indicate that, relative to specific goals like making a new friend or helping a distressed peer, popular children are more aware o{ socially effective or appropriate strategies than less well-liked children (Asher & Renshaw. 1981: Gottman, Gonso, &. Rassmussen. 1975: Ladd & Oden. 1979). Finally, some children may be less aware of peer norms and conventions for specific social situations or have less knowledge about how changes in interactive contexts may alter the function or appropriateness of specific social behaviors. Children who lack knowledge of situationally ap-propriate behaviors may risk rejection or exclusion by acting in ways that violate peer norms and conventions. Ladd and Oden (1979 ) found that the strategies suggested by unpopular children for helping a distressed peer tended to be unique among classmates and often situationally inappropriate. Skill proficiency. Even with considerable skill knowledge some children may encounter interpersonal difficulties because they lack the ability to produce and skillfully perform the corresponding social behaviors. Although "to act" once on e "knows" about the action may seem automatic for many social behaviors, evidence from skill training investigations with children casts doubt on this