Exam 2 - CAS - Chapter 8: Ecology of the Peer Group

Peer groups are significant socializers, contributing beyond the influence of ____

family and school

Experiences with peers enable children to acquire a wide range of ____ that influence their adaptation throughout life

skills, attitudes, and roles

Peer groups are significant to human development because they ____

satisfy certain basic needs

Belonging to a peer group enables one to have ____ with others and have experiences ____

social interactions; independent of parents or other adults

Throughout development, peer relationships contribute to ____, including perception of one’s ____

self-concept; personal identity and self-esteem

True or False: When children begin to play in groups, they have a chance to play a variety of roles that were not available to them in the family context. Such issues contribute to the development of a sense of self and personal identity.

True

True or False: For the younger-years child, the peer group is attractive because it provides opportunities for greater independence

False

True or False: By interacting with others, the child comes to know what is and is not acceptable behavior. Rules are related to morals in that both have to do with established guides for conduct

True

One type, ____ morality or morality of constraint, consists of behavior based on respect for persons in authority. This type of morality fosters the ideal that to obey the will of the authority is good; to obey one’s own will is bad.

heteronomous

____ morality, or morality of cooperation, consists of behavior based on mutual understanding between equals. This type of morality emerges from the mutual respect of the children in the group

Autonomous

True or False: The peer group gives the child opportunities to try out roles learned at home. From the peer group, children receive feedback about their behavior and skills. Children not only learn the sociocultural roles of cooperation and appropriate behavior from each other, but they also learn how to compete

True

____ are sociocultural in that children learn from their peers what is culturally acceptable and admirable for boys and girls

Gender roles

True or False: Boys tend to become interested in small group games in small spaces, games that allow them to practice and refine social rules and roles. Girls tend to engage in larger group games that are more physically active and wide-ranging.

False

Knowledge about the mechanics of reproduction apparently comes from ____, but knowledge about sexual behavior apparently comes from ____

parents and school; peers and the media

From the peer group, children receive ____ about their behavior and skills

feedback

Onlooker play

The child watches others playing and may initiate conversations with them. Two-year-olds engage in a lot of onlooker play.

Parallel play

The child plays alone, but with toys like those that other children are using. Parallel play is common among 2- and 3-year-olds.

Cooperative play

Social interaction in a group characterizes cooperative play. Typical in 4- to 5-year-olds.

True or False: Earlier forms of play may coexist with later forms, rather than being replaced by them.

True

Peer activities differ in infancy/toddlerhood by:

• Peer groups emerge early in the child’s life.

• Observations of babies in institutions have shown that even at 2 months babies

are oriented toward the movements of a baby in an adjoining crib.

• Between 6 and 8 months, babies look at each other and sometimes touch each other.

• Between 9 and 13 months, they sometimes fight, mainly over toys.

• During the second year, toddlers interact positively with peers, once conflicts over toys have been resolved.

Peer activities differ in early childhood by:

• From age 2 to age 5, peer interaction increases in frequency and becomes more

complex.

• Sometime about age 3 or 4, children begin to enjoy playing in groups.

• Preschoolers’ developmental advances in cognition and language enable them

to engage in increasingly complex social interactions.

• They participate in more cooperative ventures, but they also exhibit more aggression.

• They direct more speech to their peers as well.

Peer activities differ in middle childhood by:

• The middle years represent a change in the proportion of social interaction involving peers.

• The settings of peer interaction also change during the middle years, from supervised to more unsupervised.

• Informal groups are initiated and overseen by youngsters themselves, as opposed to formal groups, which are organized by adults.

• As children reach school age, they spend some of their time hanging around informally.

Peer activities differ in adolescence childhood by:

• Adolescents like to “hang out”—talk, watch TV, listen to music, and play video games.

• In early adolescence, most activities occur with same-sex peers.

• In later adolescence, activities that attract and include the opposite sex are favored, such as parties, sporting events, and concerts.

• Adolescents, when not engaged in organized school, sports, or community activities, spend considerable time on their appearance.

The relationships children form when interacting with peers, as well as why some children are successful in making ____, vary based on a variety of factors

friends

The closest relationships and most intimate social interactions, such as sharing feelings, occur with one or two ____

“best” friends

Dynamics in peer ____ include techniques of inclusion and exclusion

cliques

____, which include the different roles girls play in and outside of cliques define how they and others are treated

Clique dynamics

True or False: Higher-status members often co-opt lower-status members to maintain their popularity. Lower-status members might abandon their lower-status friends to gain favor with a higher-status member, moving up the social hierarchy

True

____ serves to solidify the cohesiveness of the group and assure the strength of the group’s position with other groups

Out-group subjugation

____ occurs when high-level insiders harass or ridicule low-level insiders for dominance

In-group subjugation

____ occurs when members commit a serious infraction of the group’s rules or stand up for their rights against the dominant leaders

Expulsion

Finally, there are relationships with the larger, more loosely organized peer group (or the ____).

crowd

Children begin to view the peer group as a ____ beginning about age 7 or 8 and increasing through adolescence

reference group

A child’s ____ by peers and successful interactions with them depend on a willingness to cooperate and interact positively

acceptance

Social competence, which leads to peer acceptance, begins in the ____

family

True or False: Children who are popular with their peers tend to be healthy and vigorous, capable of initiative, and well poised. Studies have shown that, on average, children who are physically attractive are more popular. Children who are more intelligent have been found to be more popular than those who are less intelligent

True

True or False: The reason a child is neglected or rejected may be shyness, lack of social skills, antisocial behavior, or prejudice on the part of the group. Sometimes children are rejected for reasons they cannot change or even understand

True

____ is an intervention to help children who have trouble making and keeping friends learn to relate to others

Peer sociotherapy

By careful ____, adults can assess where the neglected or rejected child needs intervention

observations

____ are methods encouraged by adults to enable peers to be supportive of one another

Collaboration, tutoring, and counseling

Parents can influence whether a child’s peer group experiences are positive or negative by knowing their child’s ____

friends and being involved

How adults mediate, or structure, the social interaction within a peer group— specifically, whether it is competitive or cooperative—influences ____

children’s behavior

____ is aggressive behavior intended to cause harm or distress

Bullying

True or False: It can occur in many forms, including physical violence, teasing and name-calling, intimidation, and social exclusion

True

Unlike face-to-face bullying where there is potential for adult intervention, ____ is extremely difficult to monitor. Hiding behind the anonymity of technology emboldens bullies; children feel free to say things they would not likely say face to face

cyberbullying

A ____ is a group of people who form an allegiance for a common purpose and engage in unlawful or criminal activity

gang

Researchers organize the risk factors for gang membership to five developmental domains: ____

individual, family, school, peer group, and community

True or False: When children do not have their needs met in their families, they often turn to their peers. The peer group may be where existing antisocial behavior due to family factors, social change, personality characteristics, or school problems is reinforced. The stability of the home is an important protector against pressure toward deviant behavior.

True

____ can serve as mentors, models, or tutors, whereas ____ can be apprentices

Expert peers; novice peers

Peer conflict can only contribute to heightened understanding if the disagreement was ____

compromised or resolved