A–Z Glossary

Social cognition

A child’s developing ability to understand social cues, emotions, relationships, and interactions with other people.

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Search results for: Social cognition

When babies recognize faces

When babies recognize faces

Recognition Starts Before It Looks Obvious When caregivers ask when babies recognize faces, they are often asking several related questions at once. Can a newborn see a face? Can a baby tell one person from another? Does the baby know who is safe, familiar, or emotionally important? These abilities overlap, but they mature at different […]

Problem solving in relationships kids

Problem solving in relationships kids

What relationship problem solving means for children Problem solving in relationships is more than telling children to be nice. It means helping them move from emotion to action without ignoring either one. A child has to notice the conflict, label the feeling, consider the other person’s point of view, and choose a response that protects […]

How peer influence affects children

How peer influence affects children

What peer influence means in childhood Peer influence is the process by which children are shaped by what other children think, say, and do. It includes direct pressure, but it also includes subtler forces such as imitation, social comparison, and the desire to fit in. A child may copy a classmate’s joke, dress style, opinion, […]

Peer interaction teamwork and friendships impact

Peer interaction teamwork and friendships impact

Why peer interaction matters in childhood Peer interaction provides a developmentally meaningful setting in which children learn skills that are difficult to acquire through instruction alone. A child who joins a game must notice other people’s intentions, communicate a preference, tolerate an unexpected change, and adjust behavior to preserve the shared activity. These repeated exchanges […]

Screens replacing real activities and solutions

Screens replacing real activities and solutions

The replacement problem For many children, screens begin as helpful tools: a cartoon during dinner preparation, a tablet for homework, a video call with relatives, or a game after school. The difficulty appears when screens stop being one activity among many and become the default replacement for nearly every pause in the day. In that […]