Identify and discuss developmental trends in peer interactions in infancy, toddlerhood, preschool, and elementary school.
Describe the roles of peers in socialization and how they influence the child's development through processes of modeling, teaching and reinforcing, and social comparison.
Discuss the typical assessment of peer acceptance. Identify the major factors that determine acceptance by peers, including social cognitive skills, physical appearance, gender, names, and age.
Discuss the Crick and Dodge (1994) five-step model of social information processing and how it relates to social competence.
Identify the short- and long-term consequences of rejection by peers.
Discuss contributions to the stability of peer status.
Describe how parents contribute to children's peer status through parent-child interaction and roles as coaches and social arrangers.
Discuss the role of child abuse in peer rejection.
Describe the role of teachers and various intervention studies in improving children's social skills and peer status.
Describe trends in the development of friendship. Specifically discuss the changes in expectations and obligations of friendships.
Describe the role of romantic relationships in development. Discuss the four myths about adolescent romantic relationships and the changes in these relationships across adolescent development.
Discuss differences in the amount and kind of influence exerted by parents and peers on children.
Discuss the process of peer group formation, organization, and functioning.
Cite different functions of the peer group in different cultures.
