Betty Zan

First Graders' Interpersonal Understanding During Cooperative and Competitive Games

Differences in childrens social interactions during cooperative and competitive games were investigated. Thirty-seven children from two first grade classes with cooperative classroom climates were videotaped while playing a cooperative and a competitive board game. Childrens social interactions were coded using Selmans Levels of Enacted Interpersonal Understanding. Small but significant differences were found between game conditions, with more higher-level negotiation strategies and shared experiences occurring during the cooperative games. No differences were found in lower-level strategies. The benefits of using both competitive and cooperative games in early childhood classrooms are discussed.

Interpersonal Understanding Among Friends: A Case-Study of Two Young Boys Playing Checkers

Abstract This one-year case-study explored the development of interpersonal understanding in young children in a naturalistic setting. Subjects (two best-friend boys, aged 4 years, 5 months at the start of the study) were studied as they played checkers together in their preschool classroom at a university laboratory school. Ten classroom sessions of checkers, one laboratory session of checkers, and two laboratory sessions of a teacher-made board game were videotaped and transcribed. All interactions were coded according to Selmans conceptualization of Enacted Interpersonal Understanding, and all conflicts were isolated and coded for resolution. Results showed a decrease in impulsive strategies and an increase in reciprocal strategies from the beginning to the end of the year, an increased ability to resolve conflicts, and a decrease in the extent to which play sessions were dominated by conflict. Results also showed a difference between classroom sessions and laboratory sessions. Findings are discussed ...