Social Interaction in Same- and Mixed-Age Dyads of Preschool Children

LOUGEE, MICHAEL D.; GRUENEICH, ROYAL; and HARTUP, WILLARD W. Social Interaction in Sameand Mixed-Age Dyads of Preschool Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 1353-1361. Social interaction was studied in pairs of preschool children in which the individuals differed in chronological age by either 2 months (same-age dyads) or 16 months (mixed-age dyads). Videotape records were made of the children's behavior during 2 10-min play periods. Social interaction and verbal communication was least frequent in younger same-age dyads, intermediate in mixed-age dyads, and most frequent in older same-age dyads. The appropriateness of the verbal behavior varied as a function of age mixture in this same manner. Mean lengths of utterance units, however, were similar in mixedand same-age older dyads. Individual accommodation to the developmental status of the companion was indicated, but this accommodation was more consistent in relation to the appropriateness of the communication than to the amount of social interaction. The results indicate that normative data derived from observations of same-age interaction may not be generalized to the mixed-age situation and that the two types of social experience may serve different functions in children's development.