Children's Social Behavior

Contributors Preface Part I Development of Children's Social Behavior 1. A Contemporary Perspective on Social Development Introduction Some Comments on History How Interactions Develop and Function Development and Change Organization of Social Patterns Interpersonal Bias Social Inertia: The Conservation of Social Patterns Direction and Control Concluding Comments References 2. "A Chip off the Old Block": Some Interpersonal Characteristics of Coercive Children across Generations Introduction Cross-Generational Continuities: An Overview of the Literature Accounting for Cross-Generational Continuities Development of the Matching Process New Directions References 3. The Peer Relations of Young Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Children Introduction Development of Peer Interactions of Nonhandicapped Children The Peer Relations of Young Handicapped Children Peer Interactions in Mainstreamed Settings A Framework for Assessment and Treatment Summary and Conclusions References Part II Assessment of Children's Social Behavior Conceptual Issues in the Assessment of Social Competence in Children Introduction Social Skill as a Behavioral Construct Social Competence versus Social Skill Definitions of Social Skill Conceptualization of Social Skill Problems Methods of Social Skill Assessment Assessment for Intervention-Therapy Social Validity: Conceptual Issues Conclusions and Future Research Needs References 5. Naturalistic Observations of Children's Social Behavior Introduction Methods of Observation Methodological and Conceptual Issues Conclusions References 6. Sociometrics: Peer-Referenced Measures and the Assessment of Social Competence Introduction Sociometrics and Social Competence: Definitions and Commonly Employed Rationales Methodology Correlates of Sociometric Measures Relationship of Sociometric Measures to Other Measures of Social Competence Sociometrics and the Assessment of Social Competence References Part III Modification of children's social behavior 7. Social and Language Skills for Preventive Mental Health: What, How, Who, and When Introduction Question 1: What Goals Should Take Priority? Question 2: How May One Most Effectively Promote the Aforementioned Skills? Question 3: Who Should Be the Change Agents Who Implement These Methods in the Service of These Goals? Question 4: When Should Preventive Intervention Best Be Begun? Conclusions References 8. Modification of Children's Prosocial Behavior Introduction Methods of Promoting Prosocial Behavior Pragmatic Aspects of Training Untested Innovations Final Considerations References 9. Social Skills Training with Children: Research and Clinical Application Introduction Definitions of Social Skills Social-Skills Training Methods Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving (ICPS) Summary Conclusion Generalization Programming References 10. Programming the Generalization of Children's Social Behavior Introduction A Case Study in Generalization The Concept of Generalization Generalization of Children's Social Behavior Conclusion References Index