Other perception and play-group entry in a preschoolers class

Abstract

Kindergarten children accumulate classmate information through their experience of spending time and doing things together. In the course of preschool lives, a class changes from an aggregation of children to a peer group with own history of interaction and involvement. In such a peer group, whether a child becomes a play-group member is likely to depend not only on his/her social skills, but also on perception based on classmate information, especially whether the other is seen as someone whom the child would like to play with. Relationship between such perception and play-group entry was investigated in a kindergarten class for two years, from entrance as four-year olds to graduation. At the beginning, the two were unrelated, but they became related in later periods. A child was accepted into a play group without trouble when the group members thought he/she was someone they would like to play with. These results supported the hypothesis that other perception based on classmate experience and group history influenced the entry into classroom play groups.