ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between social status and discourse skills in preschool children. Using peer nominations, 48 acquainted preschool children were classified as liked, disliked, or low impact. Children were videotaped in freeplay interactions in which one child entered the play of a pair of same-sex peers. Social status differences were found primarily in skills contributing to coherent discourse. Specifically, liked children were more inclined to direct their initiations clearly, to speak to both interaction partners rather than just one, to respond contingently to others, to acknowledge others, and to reinitiate when rejecting. Liked children were also better able to adapt to the differing social demands of entry versus nonentry contexts in that they were more likely to give information and less likely to express their feelings when entering a group. Deficits in communication skill were greater for disliked children than for low-impact children. Results indicate that communication skills that contribute to coherent discourse are fundamental to social interaction and may influence young children's peer acceptance.
Subject(s)
Communication , Interpersonal Relations , Peer Group , Social Desirability , Child Behavior , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Sociometric TechniquesABSTRACT
A new approach to in situ observations of trace reactive species in the stratosphere is described. A balloon-borne system, floating 40 kilometers above the earth's surface, successfully lowered and then retracted a cluster of instruments a distance of 12 kilometers on a filament of Kevlar. This instrument cluster is capable of detecting gas-phase free radicals at the part-per-trillion level. The suspended instrument array has excellent stability and has been used to measure atomic oxygen concentrations in the stratosphere.