Peer RelationshipsBY: CHELSEA SEITZPSYCHOLOGY 1170-CO5

Solitary play

Children are likely to spend some time alone and to play by themselves.

Parallel Play

By 14 to 18 months, two or more children are likely to play together.

They start to take interest in each other and gaze at or make noises at each other.

Associative Play

Toddlers will do their own activities but also join in with others, though short lived.

An example could be a child playing on one bike, then sees another child on the other bike and decides to chase them.

Cooperative Play When a group of children work together to accomplish

goals. It can be constructive or symbolic. Children may be cooperative in building a castle or

playing “house”.

Group-entry Play is related to the development of social skills, a set of

behaviours that lead to being accepted into partner play (group entry).

Children will stand off to the side and observe others before they join the play.

Children with poor group-entry skills are often rejected. Poor skilled children often rely on aggression to others.

Aggression

Behaviour is intended to harm another or damage an object. It usually changes over the pre-school years and on. Almost every young child shows a type of aggression to siblings,

peers, and adults.

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Continued… Physical aggression (reacting with anger, fighting, kicking,

hitting, and biting) starts with toddlers at about the age of two and may begin to decline in the preschool years.

Indirect aggression (indirect harm such as gossiping, saying bad things about another, or telling others to exclude another) starts to increase throughout preschool years to age elven.

Origins of Aggression

Reinforcement plays a vital role in the development of aggressive patterns of behaviour.

Parents are reinforcing aggression to children when they give into their tantrums.

Psychologist Bandura found that children learn specific forms of aggression, such as hitting, by watching others perform that (Modelling).

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Continued… Aggressiveness is likely established by the age of 17 months. Children who are brought up and exposed to aggression and

violence in their homes are twice as likely to be physically and indirectly aggressive.

Children will learn that aggression is a way to solve problems.

Prosocial Behaviour

Behaviour intended to help another person.

It is intentional and voluntary. Some kinds of prosocial

behaviour, such as taking turns, seem to increase with age.

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Continued… Children of the age of 2 or 3 often start sharing toys or offer to

help another child. Children this young are often just learning and understanding

this different type of emotion. Children in preschool or early elementary are often the type to be

more welcome in comforting others.

Parental Influences

If children are raised well and told what to do and not to do, they are more likely to behave altruistically.

Providing positive statements of cause is helpful. Stating rules positively and not negatively. It is also helpful to state the consequence of actions.

Parental Modelling Parents demonstrating consistency between

what they say and what they do. Letting your child help you in simple tasks

like making dinner or sharing a healthy meal with them.

Friendships

It begins at about the age of 18 months where you see hints of preferences in who a child wants to play with more.

By age 3 they have a stable playmate. By age 4 children spend more of their time with another child. An important change in childhood is the formation of stable

friends.