Orientation to the Social vs. Physical Environment: Relationship to Intellectual Abilities of Preschool Children

In this study, preferences for activities with people vs. objects were examined in preschool children and related to two kinds of intellectual abilities. Children with high object orientation were expected to be relatively advanced in organizing and classifying physical objects. In contrast, children with high people orientation were expected to be relatively advanced in social kinds of knowledge. Subjects used in the study were 38 white, middle class children; their mean age was 4 years and 10 months. Data were gathered from these sources: (1) observation of the children during a free play hour in nursery school; (2) four tests of knowledge of the physical environment; (3) six tests of social knowledge; (4) a sociometric measure of peer popularity; and (5) ratings on the qualitative aspects of each child's play behavior. Findings indicated that object-oriented children did perform better on tests of ability to organize and classify physical materials. No relationship was found between people-oriented children and their social scores. Performance on the social tests was found to be related instead to greater popularity among peers and higher ratings on the quality of social behavior. In conclusion, two interactive models suggested by the results are discussed. (SDH)