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Toddlers' emerging ways of achieving social coordinations with a peer
C O Eckerman1, C C Davis, S M Didow
1Department of Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706.
Insights
Young children develop social coordination by imitating peers. This imitation, particularly of nonverbal actions, is key for early social interactions before verbal communication becomes dominant.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Social Interaction
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Early childhood peer interactions are crucial for social development.
- Understanding the mechanisms of social coordination in toddlers is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate developmental changes in social coordination among toddlers.
- To identify the role of imitation and verbal communication in peer interactions.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal observation of 14 peer dyads from 16 to 32 months.
- Coding of children's behaviors (movements, actions, vocalizations, gestures) in relation to peer's actions.
- Categorization of peer interactions as Unrelated, Tangential, Coordinated, or Interfering.
Main Results:
- Significant increase in coordinated actions with age.
- Imitation of nonverbal peer actions was the primary driver of developmental change.
- Verbal direction in coordinated play increased but remained infrequent.
- Game frequency development mirrored imitative acts, with imitation often initiating and directing games.
Conclusions:
- Imitating a peer's nonverbal actions is a fundamental strategy for developing social coordination in early childhood.
- This behavioral strategy precedes and supports the development of verbal communication in peer engagement.
- Imitation plays a critical role in establishing shared activities and social understanding between young peers.
Abstract:
14 peer dyads were observed longitudinally at 16, 20, 24, 28, and 32 months to assess developmental changes in social coordinations (both action-to-action thematic relations and extended games). Each child's movements through the playroom, actions upon play material, vocalizations, verbalizations, and gestures were coded for their relation to the concurrent or immediately prior behavior of the peer: Unrelated, Tangential, Coordinated, Interfering. There was a marked increase with age in acts coordinated with those of a peer, and imitations of the peer's nonverbal actions accounted for most of the developmental change. The use of words to direct the peer in a coordinated way increased with age but remained infrequent. Developmental change in the frequency of games paralleled that for imitative acts, and imitative acts both established and set the theme for most of the games. Thus, imitating another's nonverbal actions is a core behavioral strategy for achieving social coordinations during the developmental period preceding reliance on verbal communication in peer interaction.