Children with developmental disabilities are slower to develop skills at intentional and symbolic communication than typically developing children, and may rely on atypical patterns of preintentional behaviors to support more complex communication development. The present study compared complex gaze engagement behaviors elicited by 25…

The ways in which fathers and mothers communicate with and teach their 6-month-old first-born infants were compared. Twenty-two white, middle class mothers and fathers were videotaped interacting with their infants (11 male, 11 female) on 10 tasks. Trained observers coded the parents' interaction with their infants on the following variables:…

The play behaviors of three groups of preschool children were compared. The physically abused children (N=11) were more antisocial, disruptive, and aggressive yet passive. The 15 sexually abused children were relatively quiet and engaged in more female-type activities, while 10 non-abused control group children exhibited more positive peer…

Explored the simultaneous sequential transition patterns of preschoolers' social play within classroom settings. Found that the proportion of social-play states did not vary during play episodes even when accounting for type of activity center, gender, and SES. Found a reciprocal relationship between parallel-aware and other social-play states…

Eight German and eight Italian children were observed during their first year in preschool. Cultural differences and similarities in play and behavior and sex differences are reported. Findings suggest that strategies that children use to enter kindergarten or a new group exist universally. (Author/RH)

Examines the social behavior of 34 preschool children, observed both at home and in preschool, to determine patterning interactions among siblings and consistency in children's interactions with siblings and peers. Concludes that children's behavior at home is most affected by relative age of their siblings. (HOD)

Background: Children with language impairment (LI) experience social difficulties, including conflict management. This paper is therefore motivated to examine behavioural processes guiding preschool peer conflict progression, which ultimately contributes to overall development. Aims: To describe behavioural sequences in conflicts between children…

Many behavior patterns that impact on physical activity experiences are established in early childhood, therefore it is important that valid, reliable, and feasible measures are constructed to identify children who are not developing appropriate and healthy activity habits. In this study, measures of physical activity derived by accelerometry and…

This study investigated the extent to which data collected on play behavior differ when two different data collection methods, observation alone and observation plus interview, were used. A secondary objective was to compare data collected using both methods in an indoor and outdoor play environment. The social and cognitive play behavior for a…

Studies the frequency with which preschool children used 11 play centers, engaged in social and nonsocial activities in each play center, and interacted positively and negatively with each other. (HOD)

Analyzed free play of 24 preschoolers (3 to 4 years old), half of whom had disabilities. Found that the proportions of time that each child spent interacting with peers and with adults were negatively correlated for 21 of the children. After an adult had initiated an interaction with them, children were less likely to initiate interaction with a…

A total of 136 mothers of preschool-age children participated in interviews about their disciplinary style. Children of power-assertive mothers engaged in more antisocial or disruptive behavior than other children and expected successful instrumental outcomes for hostile methods of resolving peer conflict. (LB)

The study examines and compares free/spontaneous play behaviors of 20 Hispanic (from Ponce, Puerto Rico) and 20 Anglo (from State College, Pennsylvania) 5-year-old children from middle class socioeconomic strata. Within each of the groups there were 10 boys and 10 girls. Each child was observed in a group play setting in four observational…