Date of Award:

5-1978

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Human Development and Family Studies

Department name when degree awarded

Family and Human Development

Committee Chair(s)

J. Craig Peery

Committee

J. Craig Peery

Committee

Gerald R. Adams

Committee

David R. Stone

Abstract

Thirty-eight preschool children (20 male and 18 females) w ere filmed in a seated dyadic interaction with an adult experimenter. Frame- by-frame film analysis was done for head and arms of subjects and head, arms, and legs of experimenter for experimenter and subjects approach and withdrawal movements. Chi- square analysis were performed for the data both between and within zones with the following cells: approach-approach (A-A), experimenter and subject approach each other; approach-withdrawal (A-W), experimenter approaches and subject withdraws; withdrawal-approach (W -A), experimenter withdraws and subject approaches; withdrawal-withdrawal (W - W), both subject and experimenter withdraw.

The most frequent and significant movements for each zone and body part were A-Wand W -A. It was found that in the 3 foot zone the A-W cells (of the 2 X 2 contingency table) were the most frequent dyadic movements. For the 2 and 1 foot zones the W -A cells were the most frequent. For all three one-foot zones the W-W and A-A were respectively the least frequent dyadic interactional patterns. The intimate zone of personal space was found to be larger than the 18 inches previously identified for adults; it was found to be over 24 inches. Modifications for personal space and equilibrium theories to accommodate present findings are advanced.

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