Abstract
Evaluated a behaviorally oriented program for training groups of children in social skills. The 8 areas defined for training included smiling, greeting, joining, inviting, conversing, sharing and cooperating, complimenting, and grooming. Treatment consisted of modeling, coaching, and behavioral rehearsal. 30 3rd-5th graders were selected on the basis of low peer acceptance ratings and were assigned to skills training (SK), attention-placebo (AP), or waiting-list control (WC) groups. Measures included a role play of peer interactions, classroom observations of interactions, assessments of social skills knowledge, and peer ratings. Relative to Ss in the AP and WC groups, SK Ss demonstrated increased skill in a role play situation, a greater verbal knowledge of how to interact with peers, and more initiation of peer interactions in school. Future training and research should focus on procedures to enhance the generalizability of treatment effects, developing more sensitive assessment procedures, and extending the findings to deviant populations. (32 ref)
