Psych 250 Peers Questions and Verified Answers
Peers Correct Answer: Are children who share the same age or maturity level. One of their most
important functions is to provide a source of information and comparison about the world outside the
family. Children receive feedback about their abilities from their peer group. They evaluate what they do
in terms of whether it is better than, as good as, or worse than what other children do.
Are Peers Necessary for Development? Correct Answer: Yes! Good peer relations may be necessary for
normal social development. Social isolation, or the inability to "plug in" to a social network, is linked
with problems and disorders ranging from delinquency and problem drinking to depression
Positive and Negative Peer Relations Correct Answer: Peers who engage in prosocial behavior at age 9
had a higher level of self-control at age 10 those whose peers engaged in deviant behavior at 9 had a
lower level of self-control at 10. Rejection and neglect by peers are related to an individual's subsequent
mental health. For some adolescents, the peer culture is a corrupt influence that undermines parental
values and control. Peer relations are linked to adolescents' patterns of drug use, delinquency, and
depression. A recent study found that low parental control was linked to higher delinquency in
adolescence through its association with deviant peer affiliation
Individual Difference Factors Correct Answer: Among the wide range of individual differences that can
affect peer relations are personality traits such as how shy or outgoing children are. One individual
difference factor that impairs peer relations is the trait of negative emotionality, which involves a
relatively low threshold for experiencing anger, fear, anxiety, and irritation.
Peer interaction is influenced by contexts Correct Answer: which can include the type of peer the child
and adolescent interacts with and also the Situation or Location. As they interact with peers in these
various contexts, children and adolescents are likely to encounter different messages and different
opportunities to engage in adaptive and maladaptive behavior that can influence their development.
Peers play an important role in the development of individuals in all cultures.
At 3 Correct Answer: prefer same-sex playmates, this preference increases in early childhood. During the
preschool years, frequency of peer interaction ( both + and - ), increases, Peer interactions involve
conversing about "negotiating roles/rules arguing, agreeing" Young preschool children are more likely
than older children to have friends who are of different gender and ethnicity
As children enter the elementary school years Correct Answer: reciprocity becomes especially important,
Children play games, function in groups and cultivate friendships. Time spent in peer interaction also
rises during middle and late childhood and adolescence. Increases from peers approximately 10% at 2
years of age to more than 30% in middle/late childhood
In middle and late childhood Correct Answer: there is an increase in the size of their peer group and peer
interaction that is less closely supervised by adults. Peer interactions take varied forms—cooperative and
, competitive, boisterous and quiet, joyous and humiliating. Gender influences not only the composition
of children's groups but also their size and the types of interactions within them
From about 5 years of age onward Correct Answer: Boys tend to associate in large clusters more than
girls do, Boys' groups are more likely to engage in rough-and-tumble play, competition, conflict, ego
displays, risk taking, and dominance seeking. Girls are more likely than boys to play in groups of two or
three. Girls' groups are more likely to engage in collaborative discourse
Coordinated Worlds of Parent-Child and Peer Relations Correct Answer: Parents may influence peer
relations directly + indirectly, through their interactions with their children, how they manage their
children's lives, and the opportunities they provide their children. Basic lifestyle decisions by parents-
choices of neighborhoods, churches, schools, and their own friends-determine the pool from which their
children select possible friends. Children's peer relations are linked to attachment security + parents'
marital quality. A secure attachment to parents is linked to positive peer relations . The link between
mother/peer attachment was stronger than father/peer attachment. The success or failure of parent-
adolescent attachments does not necessarily guarantee success or failure in peer relationships. Children
also learn other modes of relating through their relationships with peers. The are more likely to interact
on a much more equal basis and to learn a mode of relating based on mutual influence.
Perspective Taking Correct Answer: Taking another's point of view. Researchers have documented a link
between perspective-taking skills and the quality of peer relations, especially in the elementary school
years. Perspective-taking is important in part because it helps children communicate effectively.
Social Information-Processing Skills Correct Answer: How children process information about peer
relationships also influences those relationships. Peer relations researcher Kenneth Dodge argues that
children go through five steps in processing information about their social world- Decoding social cues,
Interpreting, Searching for a response, Selecting an optimal response, Enacting it.
Social Knowledge - metacognition Correct Answer: As children and adolescents develop, they acquire
more social knowledge (also sometimes referred to as social intelligence). There is considerable
individual variation in how much one child or adolescent knows about what it takes to make friends, to
get peers to like him or her, and so forth.
Emotional Regulation Correct Answer: Not only does cognition play an important role in peer relations,
so does emotion. The ability to regulate emotion is linked to successful peer relations. Moody and
emotionally negative individuals experience greater rejection by peers, whereas emotionally positive
individuals are more popular. Children who have effective self-regulatory skills can modulate their
emotional expressiveness in contexts that evoke intense emotions, as when a peer says something
negative.
Sociometric status Correct Answer: A term that describes the extent to which children are liked or
disliked by their peer group. Is typically assessed by asking children to rate how much they like or
dislike each of their classmates. Or it may be assessed by asking children to name the children they like
the most and those they like the least.
Peers Correct Answer: Are children who share the same age or maturity level. One of their most
important functions is to provide a source of information and comparison about the world outside the
family. Children receive feedback about their abilities from their peer group. They evaluate what they do
in terms of whether it is better than, as good as, or worse than what other children do.
Are Peers Necessary for Development? Correct Answer: Yes! Good peer relations may be necessary for
normal social development. Social isolation, or the inability to "plug in" to a social network, is linked
with problems and disorders ranging from delinquency and problem drinking to depression
Positive and Negative Peer Relations Correct Answer: Peers who engage in prosocial behavior at age 9
had a higher level of self-control at age 10 those whose peers engaged in deviant behavior at 9 had a
lower level of self-control at 10. Rejection and neglect by peers are related to an individual's subsequent
mental health. For some adolescents, the peer culture is a corrupt influence that undermines parental
values and control. Peer relations are linked to adolescents' patterns of drug use, delinquency, and
depression. A recent study found that low parental control was linked to higher delinquency in
adolescence through its association with deviant peer affiliation
Individual Difference Factors Correct Answer: Among the wide range of individual differences that can
affect peer relations are personality traits such as how shy or outgoing children are. One individual
difference factor that impairs peer relations is the trait of negative emotionality, which involves a
relatively low threshold for experiencing anger, fear, anxiety, and irritation.
Peer interaction is influenced by contexts Correct Answer: which can include the type of peer the child
and adolescent interacts with and also the Situation or Location. As they interact with peers in these
various contexts, children and adolescents are likely to encounter different messages and different
opportunities to engage in adaptive and maladaptive behavior that can influence their development.
Peers play an important role in the development of individuals in all cultures.
At 3 Correct Answer: prefer same-sex playmates, this preference increases in early childhood. During the
preschool years, frequency of peer interaction ( both + and - ), increases, Peer interactions involve
conversing about "negotiating roles/rules arguing, agreeing" Young preschool children are more likely
than older children to have friends who are of different gender and ethnicity
As children enter the elementary school years Correct Answer: reciprocity becomes especially important,
Children play games, function in groups and cultivate friendships. Time spent in peer interaction also
rises during middle and late childhood and adolescence. Increases from peers approximately 10% at 2
years of age to more than 30% in middle/late childhood
In middle and late childhood Correct Answer: there is an increase in the size of their peer group and peer
interaction that is less closely supervised by adults. Peer interactions take varied forms—cooperative and
, competitive, boisterous and quiet, joyous and humiliating. Gender influences not only the composition
of children's groups but also their size and the types of interactions within them
From about 5 years of age onward Correct Answer: Boys tend to associate in large clusters more than
girls do, Boys' groups are more likely to engage in rough-and-tumble play, competition, conflict, ego
displays, risk taking, and dominance seeking. Girls are more likely than boys to play in groups of two or
three. Girls' groups are more likely to engage in collaborative discourse
Coordinated Worlds of Parent-Child and Peer Relations Correct Answer: Parents may influence peer
relations directly + indirectly, through their interactions with their children, how they manage their
children's lives, and the opportunities they provide their children. Basic lifestyle decisions by parents-
choices of neighborhoods, churches, schools, and their own friends-determine the pool from which their
children select possible friends. Children's peer relations are linked to attachment security + parents'
marital quality. A secure attachment to parents is linked to positive peer relations . The link between
mother/peer attachment was stronger than father/peer attachment. The success or failure of parent-
adolescent attachments does not necessarily guarantee success or failure in peer relationships. Children
also learn other modes of relating through their relationships with peers. The are more likely to interact
on a much more equal basis and to learn a mode of relating based on mutual influence.
Perspective Taking Correct Answer: Taking another's point of view. Researchers have documented a link
between perspective-taking skills and the quality of peer relations, especially in the elementary school
years. Perspective-taking is important in part because it helps children communicate effectively.
Social Information-Processing Skills Correct Answer: How children process information about peer
relationships also influences those relationships. Peer relations researcher Kenneth Dodge argues that
children go through five steps in processing information about their social world- Decoding social cues,
Interpreting, Searching for a response, Selecting an optimal response, Enacting it.
Social Knowledge - metacognition Correct Answer: As children and adolescents develop, they acquire
more social knowledge (also sometimes referred to as social intelligence). There is considerable
individual variation in how much one child or adolescent knows about what it takes to make friends, to
get peers to like him or her, and so forth.
Emotional Regulation Correct Answer: Not only does cognition play an important role in peer relations,
so does emotion. The ability to regulate emotion is linked to successful peer relations. Moody and
emotionally negative individuals experience greater rejection by peers, whereas emotionally positive
individuals are more popular. Children who have effective self-regulatory skills can modulate their
emotional expressiveness in contexts that evoke intense emotions, as when a peer says something
negative.
Sociometric status Correct Answer: A term that describes the extent to which children are liked or
disliked by their peer group. Is typically assessed by asking children to rate how much they like or
dislike each of their classmates. Or it may be assessed by asking children to name the children they like
the most and those they like the least.
