1. Early Peer Interaction
Peer interaction is present in the first 2 years, but it is limited
By 12 months, infants occasionally respond to a peer’s behavior (e.g., smile, gesture, imitate)
By age 2, reciprocal play is more common

2. Preschoolers (2-5 years)
Different Types of Play
Nonsocial: Watching other children play OR solitary play
Parallel: Children play near each other but don’t interact
Associative: Children play separately but exchange toys and comment on one another’s behavior
Cooperative: Children play with a common goal

3. Older preschool age children show more interactive play, but also continue to engage in nonsocial and parallel play

4. Peer Relations in School-Age Children
Peer Acceptance: Extent to which a child is viewed as “likable” by peers

5. Peer Acceptance Categories
Popular: Many positive nominations, few negative
Rejected: Many negative nominations, few positive
Controversial: Many positive and negative nominations
Neglected: No positive or negative nominations
Average: Few extreme nominations (positive or negative)
Assessed using sociometric techniques: Self-report measures that ask peers to evaluate one another’s likability.
Usually conducted within a single classroom
Peer nominations: Asked to select several peers whom they especially like or dislike; for all possible pairs, indicate preference; rate each peer on a scale
Yields 5 categories of children
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6. Social Behavior Popular Children: Popular-prosocial
Cooperative and friendly with peers
Appropriately assertive

7. Popular-antisocial “Tough” boys with athletic skills
Aggressive with peers; defiant with adults
Viewed as “cool” by peers

8. Rejected Children: Rejected-aggressive
Severe behavior problems—aggressive; hostile; impulsive
More likely to misinterpret the innocent behavior of others as hostile and blame others for their social problems

9. Rejected-withdrawn Timid, passive Expect peers to treat them poorly
More likely to be bullied

10. Controversial Show positive and negative social behaviors
Have as many friends as popular children

11. Neglected Low rate of social interaction Considered shy by peers
As socially skilled as “average” children

12. Peer Acceptance and Adjustment
Rejected children are at highest risk for later problems
Associated with poor school performance, dropping out, antisocial behavior, and higher rates of psychological symptoms in adolescence
Rejected status tends to be stable over time

13. Neglected children Usually well-adjusted
Don’t report being lonely/unhappy
Can interact with others successfully when they want to