Communicative Adjustments during Behavior-Request Episodes among Children at Different Developmental Levels

Abstract

GURALNICK, MICHAEL J., and PAUL-BROWN, DIANE. Communicative Adjustments during Behavior-Request Episodes among Children at Different Developmental Levels. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 911-919. The communicative adjustments of nonhandicapped preschool children addressing developmentally delayed companions were evaluated for their effectiveness and appropriateness through analyses of behavior-request episodes in which initial failure had occurred. Sequences of interactions were tracked within episodes until some form of resolution was achieved. Primary analyses focused on nonhandicapped children's communicative interactions directed to mildly, moderately, and severely delayed as well as to other nonhandicapped children in a dyadic tutorial setting. Assessments of the adaptiveness of the strategies used to obtain compliance, their diversity, and level of success as well as the differential use of specific strategies and combinations of strategies to the 4 companion groups clearly suggested that nonhandicapped children were competent communicators even to children differing widely in developmental level. These results were discussed in terms of their relevance to understanding communicative competence as well as their clinical implications for educational programs that include handicapped and nonhandicapped children.