The Development of Social Interchange Patterns from 12 to 42 Months

HOLMBERG, MARGARET C. The Development of Social Interchange Patterns from 12 to 42 Months. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 448-456. The dyadic controls of the social interchange patterns of 12-42-month-olds with their different social partners was the focus of this study. 72 children were observed in their day-care centers in a cross-sectional design. The social interaction behaviors with familiar teachers and peers were written on the spot and simultaneously videotaped to make the dyadic analyses. Measures identified the individual's initial social acts as well as the dyad's pattern of interchange. A surprisingly consistent level of both initiations and subsequent recprocal interchanges in the adult-child dyad was maintained across the 30-month age span observed. In contrast, with peers the frequency of both the initial positive acts and the elaborated interchange patterns increased with age. The absolute frequency of assertive initiations with peers changed very little, but the frequency of assertive acts relative to positive acts decreased. The findings are discussed with respect to (1) the flexibility and range of responses available to teachers to pace their interactions such that social competencies of even the youngest children were facilitated, and (2) the changing capabilities of children that permitted their interchanges with each other to reflect the reciprocal characteristics of the adult-child dyad by 42 months.