Children learn the words of their native language(s) from interactions with their caregivers. Although previous research has found that the language children hear during those interactions predicts vocabulary outcomes, few studies have investigated how qualitative features of social interactions work together to affect children's vocabulary…

Purposes of study were (1) to explore differences in quality of child-child and adult-child interactions and (2) to examine preschool children's reasoning about their own compliant behaviors. Data are discussed in support of theorists' assertions regarding difference in peer and adult interaction and literature on children's reasoning and…

Tabulated the frequencies of dyadic and group interactions in single-sex playgroups of 4- and 6-year-olds. Found that boys and girls at both ages engaged in similar frequencies but in different patterns of dyadic interactions. Only 6-year-old boys interacted in groups. (BC)

Used an event-based approach to study the nature of coordination in 3- and 6-month olds during interaction with their caregivers. Found that infants coordinated their vocalizations and facial actions more than expected by chance. When two communicative events were temporally associated across modalities, one event tended to be embedded within the…

Explores the variable of social distance between teacher and learner by observing the pattern of interaction between Anglo- and Mexican-American mothers and their own preschool sons, boys from a similar background, and boys from a different ethnic and social class background. (Author/SDH)