The study aims to systematically review evidence on the effectiveness of peer-mediated interventions (PMIs) on children with ASD. A systematic review of English peer reviewed article journals was conducted. Only studies that had children with autism as participants and examined the effectiveness of PMIs in a school or home environment were…

Two aspects of young children's cognitive representations of peer relationships-peer affiliative motivation and feelings and beliefs about the self and peers-were assessed among a sample of 75 children (37 girls), who ranged in age from 32 to 76 months (M = 58.2 months). Measures of three aspects of discrete social cognition, encoding of social…

Initial progress has been made in the conceptualization and study of attachment stability over time, and substantial evidence has accumulated on the association between attachment classification and biopsychosocial functioning (including social-emotional competence, cognition, physical health and mental health). The literature supports the…

Used a teacher rating scale and coded videotaped observations to examine 30 toddlers' emerging social competence in an unfamiliar peer group during a 4-week summer camp. Found a correlation between the prosocial component of the teacher rating scale and observations of children's interactive-functional play and overall rate of interactive play…

Assessed the classroom and playground behavior of children nominated as either popular or rejected by their peers. Subjects were 631 black South African children between 8 and 12 years old. Found that rejected and popular children did not differ in their initiations of contact with other children, but popular children were the recipients of more…

Examined Chinese kindergartners' play skills and, three years later, subjects' abilities to cooperate in competitive games. Found that although Chinese children conversed more than their American counterparts, who spent more time in social play, social contact scores were nearly identical across groups. Although social play strongly influenced…

Using naturalistic observation, investigates the social behavior, levels of social participation, and sex differences of kindergarten children as they played with blocks. Uses both unit blocks and large, hollow blocks to gain a more complete understanding of the relationship between block play and social development. (DST)