*Verbal Communication

This pilot study sought to investigate the verbal cooperative behavior of middle class and lower class children when paired with same and opposite SES partners. The subjects were 12 boys and 12 girls ranging in age from 4-1 to 5-4. In the experimental situation, 2 children were seated facing each other across a table. Each of them had five pictures in front of them that they had previously been trained to identify and match by name. A board in the middle °J. the table prevented one subject from seeing the other's pictures. The subjects were told to point to the pictures, one at a time. If they both pointed to the same picture, they both received token reinforcement that could later be redeemed for toys. To assure a match, one subject would have to tell the other which picture he was pointing to (initiation) and the other subject would have to point to the same one (matching). Contrary to expectation, on both older and younger age levels, lower class children initiated responses more often than middle class children. (MH